Look Before You Leap (to conclusions)


Confession time:  I am NOT perfect.  I have done stupid things.  I have said hurtful things.  I have passed judgement without knowing all the fact.  I have acted poorly.

Does this make me a bad person?  I hope not.  What it DOES make me is HUMAN and flawed.  It is something we ALL are.

But we are all also capable of changing, learning and growing.  However, we need to make that choice.  It is up to us.

What got me thinking about this was a video that went (as many do) viral over the weekend.  Taking place in Washington, DC the video showed a Native American man playing a drum and a large group of teen boys who seemingly surrounded him.  Quickly posted by I don't know who (my error #1), I was quick to judgement and condemnation based on what little I knew AND influenced by what the video SEEMED to show.  I was ALSO very clearly influenced by the poster(s) slant and words of condemnation. 

Over time, more details emerged and the picture, which still wasn't incredibly pretty, changed somewhat. 

What I do want to make perfectly clear here is that NO ONE involved (and I do mean NO ONE) was perfectly innocent or saintly.  But I does appear that we all were in a rush to judge; including myself.  I was NOT heeding my own earlier advice:  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/asking-why.html .

My bias (and perhaps yours as well) came from what little information I did have and what the teens were wearing: Red MAGA hats...Which SHOULD have made me stop and think.  I own a red baseball cap that I sometimes wear when I am out walking.  The hat advertises a certain brand of rum, but I have wondered what people might think if they DIDN'T look closely.  IF they thought I was wearing a MAGA hat and not one that advertises alcohol...I don't want to be judged...Yet I am not worried that someone will judge based on what the hat actually says but what people MIGHT THINK it says.  What does that say about me?  What does that say about our society?  Maybe I should have thought of that BEFORE I rushed to judgement. 

Again, I want to point out that NO ONE is innocent.  Choices were made by all the parties involved.  BUT, no one should be condemned without all the facts.  We should not judge based on a brief video clip without full context.  We NEED to look at the full picture before we leap.  We should not just judge because of the way someone looks, be they dark skinned or light, or what they are wearing be it hat or hoodie.

Before condemning or condoning; praising or shaming we need to make sure we are seeing the full picture.


Finally, if you completely disagree with me; that's all right.  If you want to express that; I'm ready to listen...hopefully with an open mind and heart.  I hope you will do the same.





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