An Open Letter To All,
Racial and social inequality is a dire topic and one that needs to be addressed in this country. In the land of the free and the home of the brave we are seeing too much oppression and fear. The United States is not united, and the divisions are becoming more pronounced. The feeling of “us” versus “them” is infecting more than our national policy, it has its hands in every crevice of our society. How can we, as Americans, get over the tensions and tribalism and become the nation that lives up to our ideologies? The only answer I can dream up is to bring people together, those of all types, and form the bonds that cross the lines of our limited experiences, to open the door to positive interaction between the many walks of life that exist in this great country.
I am an Army veteran, I have served with people of many backgrounds, religions and mindsets. I have come to love people whom I would not normally associate with outside of the Army, as our tastes and hobbies differ, yet forming that bond of brotherhood and sisterhood has come from being around those who are outside the normal comfort zone of who we call friend and associates, having positive interaction and forming those bonds. By building relationships with people of all walks of life, it reduces the fear of the unknown, breaks down some barriers in who is considered “us” and who is considered “them”. We are all people, living our lives to the best of our abilities, and by forming associations that are positive and constructive, we can overcome our bias; re-write our way of thinking about those around us and those we meet who do not normally come into our sheltered worldviews.
I believe the perception of racial bias comes from social injustice, to be sure, as those of color and who are in the minority are more apt to be in the lower class income range, and are more exposed to crime and degeneration based on the availability of affordable housing for these people. We cannot do much in regard to this in an easy manner, yet overcoming the stereotype and mindset that those of color are more apt to be criminals can and needs to be addressed. Anyone who walks down the street and sees a person of color and becomes fearful needs to have their connections re-wired, as they are a victim of social class corruption. The fear response is not always unwarranted, there are bad people out there, but these people come from all walks of life. To be fearful of someone just based on their skin is an irrational fear, yet it pervades our society like a cancer, ever growing, and our media does nothing to treat the condition. I have seen my fair share of drug addicts, schizophrenics and mentally ill people around my home city of Los Angeles, and many of these people are Caucasian. Being afraid of walking alone by a group of people is warranted, avoiding someone who is screaming in the middle of the street or talking to themselves is warranted, but being afraid of someone who is not acting strangely or, were they of a different skin color wouldn’t trigger that response, is not warranted.
The job of a police officer is a difficult one, especially those who are out in the streets dealing with gangs and situations where their lives could be in danger at any moment. To have these people however, ingrained with a bias toward people of a certain look cannot happen. If these police officers are serving in a community of predominantly black or Hispanic peoples, then their duty is to protect and serve the people of that community, and they, more than anyone, should have the feeling of connection with the people of color in those communities. These officers need to be sensitized to the lives and people of their area of service, they cannot feel that people of color are a danger to them at any moment, and this can only come about through community outreach and spending time and developing bonds with the people around them.
My idea, and one I wish for communities to regard and hopefully develop into reality, is to conduct outreach between the police forces and the communities they serve. These need to be recurring events that happen more than once a year as well, the only way to form bonds of kinship is to have frequent, positive interactions. The ideal goal would be to have a monthly gathering of police and the public, to have these interactions on as frequent a basis as possible. The exact details of the gathering will no doubt be area specific, the interests of each community differs from place to place, but the ideals and the outcome should be the same. Having the police force host a picnic in the park, a chili cook-off, a carnival, anything in which people can come together, eat together, play and laugh together and be exposed to the officers who are in their communities would be wonderful. Areas where people are impoverished or malnourished, the police force could pass out food, water, fruit, perhaps local farmers could become involved as well. A police meet-and-greet farmer’s market may even be an easy route to take. Finding sponsors or funding to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to impoverished communities would go a long way to forming bonds between the police and those more unfortunate in their communities.
I do not pretend to be a sociologist or psychologist, I am a natural science major who, up until now, has been most concerned with environmental issues. The way things are going in our country right now, the division of Americans, has made me come forward to share my views. I have thought at length at what, if anything, I could do to help the situation, and without the ability to make considerable donations to existing groups or the time to organize rallies or demonstrations, I decided my best course of action would be to try and inspire someone else who has those means to make the change do so. We, as Americans, cannot harbor racism in our hearts. Only by addressing the issues within our immediate communities can we strive to make that difference in our hearts, and in turn this connection will spread, and the infection which is undermining our society will be cured by the connection of our people, Americans.
Sincerely,
Sgt Ryan R Moradi
