Like most people across the globe, I have followed Putin’s war (you should check Troy’s piece on this available here) on Ukraine with utter dismay. The unbridled greed for power and blatant disregard of human dignity on one hand, and the unnecessary and avoidable loss of innocent lives on the other. Scales tip.
To borrow a leaf from Troy’s piece, what Putin’s war has taught me is that even amidst war and chaos, there shall always be time for racism. To read reports and watch video footage of black people being turned away/blocked from accessing safety by law enforcement officers no less, while their white colleagues are allowed through, is the lowest of lows.
Human dignity: A concept thought to be widely understood but only selectively applied.
The comments from one of Britain’s ITV correspondent in Poland live rent free in my mind: “This is not a developing third world nation. This is Europe.”
These words (like all the rest said in regards to people from the Middle East and Asia) were as distasteful as they were telling. That black lives (matter or do they?) are of a lesser value than others. That humanity and empathy is first shared out among white people, and just in case there’s some left, the rest can fight for the crumbs.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr must be turning in his grave right now. Putin’s war shows that the human race has learned nothing from all the wars that preceded it. In particular, we missed MLK’s class on intersectionality. That:
“Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.“
As we continue to fully rally behind all the efforts to restore peace in Ukraine and it’s environs, may this also be a moment of introspection.
Has evolution gotten to a point where we are now humans without the humanity?
Can we really continue to argue that we don’t see color?
Do all lives truly matter?
More importantly, how can we conquer the enemy outside when we harbor an even more dangerous within?
*Siri, play that Blacked Eyed Peas song stuck in my head*
People killing, people dying 🎶 Children hurt and women crying 🎶 Would you practice what you preach 🎶 Would you turn the other cheek 🎶 Father, Father, Father help us 🎶 Send your guidance from above 🎶 People got me questioning, where’s the love?