Woke

Welcome to the era of woke people in America. I am going to strive to explain what this means to my family and perspective. I think that the term that is being thrown around in the media for me means awareness. I looked up the many definitions available and it seems to me that this is a political term used to describe perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racism. This describes a consciousness.

I have gotten some feedback about my perspective. There are some who dislike the perspective and call it not open to others’ pain. Some say my perspective lacks kindness and compassion. Others pick apart words and phrases to disagree with and find distasteful in nature. My answer to all of this is that this is MY perspective. I am not here to try and convince you to change your perspective and experiences. Those matter. However, what I do say is that just because I do not choose to agree with you, does not mean that I am not kind or compassionate. That is not how this works.

I treat EVERYONE I meet as an individual, or a blank slate. I do not, despite the rhetoric being thrown at us, believe that skin color matters. I hope those that I choose to be friends with do not think that this matters either. I judge people by the content of their character, period. This is where it begins and it ends for me. It is my highest of standards. I will argue this with anyone who chooses to debate.

Some think that if I do not like Black Lives Matter and the concept of White Privilege that this makes me racist. I will tell you right now, I think that I have given my perspective and personal beliefs on why I choose to not buy into this nonsense. This does not make me racist. It makes me question things that are buzzwords, rhetoric and propaganda. I think the racism lies in not judging a person by their character. I think when we make it only about race, as many of the conversations as of late in this society are, that this is fundamentally racist in nature. It diminishes real cultural, economic and class obstacles that are solvable issues among many communities.

I will agree that I am woke personally as of late. I am aware that as a mother to male children in this world, that this society has demonized them. I am also aware that as a wife of a police officer that I have a perspective that is different from most. It has become increasingly unpopular, but this is because people are inherently complacent by nature, and it is really very hard to do your research people. It is hard to find non-biased studies and facts. It is hard to argue and offer a perspective that many have made undeniably unpopular. I will continue to speak, do my research and offer perspective. This is not to be insensitive. It is to offer information and PERSPECTIVE.

I know full well that many people will not understand, comprehend or even listen and this is ok. We still live in a democracy. We still are afforded the benefits of free speech. We can still have conversations and speak about what makes others uncomfortable. We can still exercise freedom of religion and gain our strength from that. We can still live together with out being in agreement on everything, or anything for that matter. We can all be woke in our own ways. This is what this blessed country is all about.

I will not engage in yelling, slander or speaking ill of others. I will take into consideration their experiences, but this is not about creating a perfect world for anyone. It is about an imperfect world, filled with God-fearing, imperfect people who can and will live together. Working hard, loving God, building family and serving others will all be lessons we continue to teach in this family. If you choose to follow this, so be it. If not, we can still live side by side. Please hear me when I say this though: if you attempt to take any of those values and say that they are not mine to have, you will be met with challenge and I will not back down from that fight.