My thoughts on BLM and other

Last post was about me being an RN. This post is about being an intelligent woman and concerned with educated thoughts and opinions. Sometimes it's so easy to live in my "mom bubble", consumed by meal plans, the last time all the kids pooped, and endless loads of laundry and dishes. But that is not all I am. And there have been so many thoughts and feelings swirling in my head over the past weeks, that it's time for me to finally let them out. (Consider yourself warned).

Things bothering me
-people assuming racism is not "a thing" here
-people assuming all police officers and violent, brutal, racist, bascially just horrible people
-defunding the police is going to solve all the issues
-people posting memes, quotes, tweets, that are inflammatory, biased, not based on facts and assume because you are not doing the same, you support "the other side"
-people causing division and polarization instead of trying to create unity and understanding
-people looting, vandalizing, and participating in illegal activity in the name of their cause
-people I have literally never seen post one thing about a cause, now parading themselves on social media like they've been championing said cause all along, because it's the issue we're focused (or the media) is focused on right now
-people assuming everything has some type of hidden political agenda or discriminatory message
-people assuming I have to give my kids in depth history lessons to teach about how to respect other cultures
-people underestimating basic kindness and respect


Disclaimer: When I refer to "people" I am NOT referring to one culture, nationality, or race.

Things I believe
-racism occurs. And not just towards one race. It is wrong and will always be wrong.

-there are horrible people in every profession. There are condescending teachers, untrustworthy nurses, and bad cops. People who literally gives their lives to their career deserve more than a universal label.

-the defund the police movement, to me, is very complex, and the proposals to add additional community supports, mental health workers etc is an admirable start (because we definitely need more of those), but I think it's an oversimplification to say that's the magic fix needed to solve these problems. And I've seen several posts picturing idealistic and unrealistic views of how this will look. It's rarely that black and white or pink and fluffy in the real world. Don't get me wrong, I would love it if law enforcement could be used solely for serving and protecting our citizens, when no other options exist.
However, there will be times when law enforcement is needed for both safety of the people involved in the crisis, and the support workers dispatched to help. On my last shift we had to call peace officers to restrain a patient who was becoming violent (and we have A LOT of other tools/strategies at the hospital that we try to employ first). I just hope that increased community supports are not seen as a cure-all so that law enforcement's ability to intervene quickly if needed is compromised. Everyone's safety should remain top priority. There seems to be lot of knee jerk reactions to things by governments nowadays so they look like they're taking action, but not always with a lot of forethought or insight.

-please fact check before you post. And just because I don't choose to use my social media platform to communicate my political,  please don't mistake that for a lack of caring on my part. I don't think sharing popular tweets on Facebook is an effective way to contribute to last change.

-stop making it an "us" and "them" situation. We need to find common ground to move forward.

-two wrongs don't make a right. Never have, never will. I personally have a hard time listening to someone who thinks being disrespectful is a way to start a conversation about respect.

-if you really want to champion a cause, put away the memes and start with yourself. Educate yourself. Examine your personal attitudes. Where are you lacking? Where can you improve? Move on to your family and community. Challenge others (civilly!) when you hear a racist or unkind remark. Be a genuine friend.

-give people the benefit of the doubt. People often have good, if sometimes, misplaced intentions. If their well-meaning actions have offended you, don't publicly humiliate and criticize them. This creates defensiveness and puts up walls. Speak to them personally- this is how real relationships are built and barriers are broken.

-I don't feel like I need to read specific books on racism to "educate my kids". My children have friends of all different nationalities. We have many talks about how we are all children of God, no matter what we look like (and not just skin colour), and how everyone deserves respect and to be treated as we would want to be treated. We have had discussions about how groups of people have been mistreated because of their skin colour and how that is wrong. My kids just see friends. And instead of reminding them of and highlighting the differences we may have, I remind them of how we are equal and the same.

-When our church was founded and in its early years, our members were persecuted, driven from their homes, and murdered (we even had an extermination order put on us). They also knew what it was like to be mistreated because they were different. I believe that kindness is a necessary foundation for any society to thrive. Our prophet President Russell M Nelson said it best
"We need to foster a fundamental respect for the human dignity of every human soul, regardless of their color, creed, or cause.
And we need to work tirelessly to build bridges of understanding rather than creating walls of segregation."