Balance

Balance is an important thing to me and to my family. I have often seen people with great ideas or beliefs but they just go so incredibly far with that one thing and forget everything else. People do this a lot with the bible. Pick a few scriptures and ignore the rest. But it is all true. Jesus both loved people, and hated their sin. He had great compassion and still gave harsh correction. You do not have to be one or the other. The world does not exist in only black and white.

I am not a police officer, nor do I know one closely and personally. Both Brian and I at one time in our lives had considered becoming police officers, but life did not go that way. So I acknowledge that I have a very limited perspective in this area. I have also learned from many classes of speech and debate, that your argument is only weaker if you do not acknowledge the other side. While there are officers who make life ending costly mistakes that end innocent lives, these are the few. The heroes, they are the many.

I am for Women's rights, but that does not mean I am against men. I am for justice, but I am not against mercy. I am for breastfeeding, but I am not against formula. I am for healthy eating, but I am not against ice cream. And I am also for fair treatment of minorities, but I am not against white people (After all, I am white that would be pretty ridiculous). I am for accountability and consequences for teachers who do wrong, but I am not against Teachers ( I am one and most are amazing servants). I am for accountability and consequences when police officers do get it wrong, but I am not against police officers (Most of them are amazing and brave community servants).

The hard thing about being a police officer, is that your mistakes are far more costly then most professions. If a Teacher screws up, in this area (racial issues) like this one (Teacher fired over pro segregation post) he or she may lose her job and respect. However, If a police officer makes a snap judgement (which they are forced to do many times), but that snap judgments is wrong, people die. When citizens do this they are held accountable by the law. My opinion is that police officers should be also. However, the culture of the force often prevents that from happening. But, my belief that there should be fair accountability for police and citizens does not mean that I am against police. I know full well that the overwhelming majority are brave amazing community servants and we need them. They do things most people would never be willing to do. The sacrifice their safety for ours, and I want to honor them for that.

And so in honor of all of the amazing police officers in this world, the men and women who put their lives on the line daily to protect us, the people who walk above reproach and seek to being peace and justice to this world, I want to honor you. I am a Teacher, which is a very different position and career, but I can identify with being in a profession that used to get a lot of respect but no longer does. I get and understand going into an honorable career because you care and want to help people, but getting constantly criticized and put down and being talked about like what you do is never good enough. I can not possibly understand what it is you go through fully, but I am grateful that you are willing to go through it.

So to all the men and women who daily sacrifice their safety so that they can keep us safe, I want to say Thank You. Thank you for serving your communities. Thank you for choosing a difficult career that not many are willing to do. Thank you for serving and serving and serving, even if you never do get thanked. I get that, I do it too, but with a far smaller degree of risk and danger. I honor you for your hard work, I grieve with you for the unimaginable things you must see and endure. My heart breaks for you. It is an impossible position that you are put in and day in and day out you have to make impossible decisions when you are only human.

The world needs you and your incredible strength and bravery, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. 

Here are some wonderful examples of the many police officers that go above and beyond the call of duty to serve their communities:

There are several wonderful police officers that stop by the school that I work at to build good relationship with the kids in the Fairfield community while they are young. I just adore that. Here is one I saw this past year on my way to my classroom who was showing the kids everything on his uniform, his car and handing out "badges".....

These amazing officers saved the lives of two people who crashed into a tree while they were trying to speed away to avoid being pulled over:

(Read the story here)

This officer saved the life of a woman who was being attacked.

This officer saved the life of a mother and daughter who's car was submerged in water.

And there are countless more stories like these. 

Thank you to our community heroes!

Back Story

Hi, I'm Megan. Many of you reading probably already know me, probably already have a set idea of who you think I am, but I want to share just a piece of my story as it relates to another blog I just wrote about race.

I am a white woman, married to a gorgeous and godly black man, and together we have a beautiful caramel colored baby boy. So I am sure many of you noticed this. You may think this is why I think the way that I do on racial issues, but for me it started much much earlier.

I was born into a poor family, and as long as I can remember we were always struggling financially. Once, our story was even featured in the newspaper so people could donate things we needed to us like jackets and such. We weren't poor because we were lazy. My Dad, who is awesome by the way, worked his tail off everyday to provide for us, but he did it largely alone. A single father raising two girls. He worked hard, but it still was always hard.

We lived in Natomas when I was in elementary school and we went to daycare after school until my dad was off work. It was a pretty diverse area. I had two very best friends then, we were a little trio, we had lots of fun. One girl was Black, Ali, and one was Mexican, Raquel and me. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Except once when I went on a trip with Ali's family, who were all black. I noticed then, and I felt a little out of place, especially when people stared at us. I loved those girls and they were goody two shoes girls like me, we never got into much trouble.

Around this time I did start to notice and pay more attention to conversations I heard around my extended family. I heard a lot of negative things about black people from them. But even then, I didn't like what I heard. I went to school with and was close friends with many minorities and they never seemed anything like the kind of people that my family talked about. I would get angry every time I heard these conversations as I got older. I even began to get into arguments with them about how wrong it was.

Once, at a family gathering, two young boys who were black came to our door and asked if we wanted to buy newspapers to help support their sports team. I was shocked and disgusted as my uncle began to yell at them. Eventually he and his brother chased them down the street and out of the neighborhood. They then called the police and told them that the boys were casing the house (checking out to come back later and rob it). This was utterly false. Those boys did nothing. They just were going door to door trying to raise money for their team, But they were treated like criminals, these children. I shudder when I think of how they must have felt, and I pray no one ever treats my son that way.

Another time, my mom, who managed the office of a very well known Pediatrician in Sacramento, told me that the doctor told her she was not allowed to hire anyone who was black or anyone who was fat, because these people are lazy.  I was disgusted.

Many times as I grew up and began dating I would hear nasty comments, from strangers, and from friends, about who I chose to date, simply because of the color of their skin.

One guy I dated was pulled over and had his car searched. He was not cited for anything and when he asked the officer why he was pulled over and why his car was searched, he was given no answers.

Before I went on the first date with my now husband, I was excitedly showing everyone his picture (we were set up by a friend and talked before we met in person). One of my good friends (who still is, and is a lovely person) said that he looked like "just another ghetto black guy." Now let me say, this woman had never before and never after has done or said anything like this. But at that time, in that moment, that was her first thought. That is the culture we live in, that is what I am sure many people might have thought. But those of you who know Brian, know, he is a man of impeccable character. One who stands upright in all things. No one has ever treated me better. I have never respected a man as much as him, and many say this of him. He is well known for being an amazing man of God. But, simply by looking at his pictures, this is what my friend thought. And I do not doubt that even if they wouldn't say it, that it would be lots of people's first thoughts about many black men.

These are just a select few events that have stood out to me in my life. Some of these things are what led me to take a class at American River College called Minorities in America. This was an eye opening class. I wanted to better understand the racial issues in my country. I learned many things there but the one thing I never understood before I took it was white privilege. Now growing up poor and without a mom raising me, I never felt very privileged. But after learning what the daily lives are like for those who don't look like me, I got it. I saw the pain. I saw how it felt to over hear those conversations I used to overhear as a child. I saw how people were treated. I watched as one guy dressed in baggy jeans and a beanie went into a store and was ignored, and I saw when another guy wearing the exact same thing went into the same store later and was followed the entire time. I listened to the pain these things have caused people. And it changed me, forever.

In that class I learned that I could not stand by and just let these things happen. In not saying anything, and in not doing anything, I was saying it was OK, it was fine. But it is not fine. It is not OK. And I will say something. I will fight for this. I will do whatever is in my power to bring understanding. Even if people who don't understand will hate me for it.  And so my friends, it is with that, I have decided to take more action. I am starting a project that I hope will shed more light on this issue. And I will share more about that with you all soon :)

Our Children

I have realized that many people simply do not understand why there are so many racial issues coming up in the news. People sometimes get tired of hearing the "race card" being "pulled." Now sometimes things have nothing to do with race, but sometimes they do. 

For many many years, minorities were by law treated as lesser than and not worth what white people were. We all know this to be unfair, but it was law and people enforced those laws. Many people still think his way, as it was what they were taught by parents or grandparents, maybe not by word, but by actions and behaviors. Our legal system has a long history of protecting white people, but not minorities (internment camps, jim crow laws, slaughter and take over of Native American land). Now by no means am I stating or implying that this is not a great country, it is. It's still been way more fair and better to live in then most of the world. But that doesn't mean we haven't made mistakes. 

People are often embarrassed of these mistakes and so they don't talk about them. They want to forget it. But the families, mothers, fathers, grandparents and great grandparents who were targeted by these unfair laws, well most of them can't forget it. Many teachers even skip past or make light of these parts of our history because it is uncomfortable. However, I was always told that the reason it is important to learn about history is so we don't repeat the mistakes of our past. 

Many people see the things happening in the news and are reminded of our sordid history. They just want justice and fair treatment. They want to be heard and valued. 
But so many aren't willing to listen, so many aren't willing to be compassionate. But these are... people. People who were created in the image of God and are loved by him. The bible says that if you love those who love you it is no credit to you because even sinners do that, it asks us to love those we consider enemies to be merciful and kind (Luke 6:32-36). So I think it is highly important as Christians that we love those people we don't understand, those we don't agree with, those who look different, act and talk different, those who believe different than us, those who have different political associations than we do. We need listen to them, ask questions and start conversations that will enhance our understanding. 

Everyone has their own perspective, based on the life they have lived. And I get it, we haven't seen all seen or experienced the same things. You may have a brother, a father, a sister or cousin who is a cop and who would never act according to race, who works his or her tail off and gets spit on in return. You may know many like this. But, that doesn't mean all cops, or all people are this way. Some people, and even some cops, do believe in racial stereotypes, and they do act accordingly. It does happen. It is my hope that as people who love the Lord, people who say and claim to follow Jesus would..... have compassion, not only for officers, but for children of all colors, for mothers and sisters and brothers, who despite their color are no different. Who just want the best for their children, the same way we all do. Who just want to be treated fairly. They just want their families safe. 

And please don't tell me they aren't taught to respect authority. I have never met a mother more hard on her kids about respecting authority, especially police, than a black mother. She would never want her baby to become  a hashtag, so believe me when I say, they are respectful. 

(Side Note: In the most recent events, many may not have even noticed or seen just how polite, well mannered and respectful the children in the video were. The young man forcefully sat on the ground was respectfully saying, "Sir, please. We were just going to a birthday party sir." The young girl (of 14 or 15) was leaving, not because she was avoiding arrest, but because he told her to leave (watch it again, you can see and hear). And even when the officer ran after her, and dragged her back, and violently threw her to the ground, she did not curse him, she did not try to get up and run, she just said to her friends, "somebody call my mom." This girl child's face was smashed into the ground and had a knee jammed in her back. She was not under arrest, and even when manhandled did not resist. The officer even admitted his over reaction, his chief publicly stated he was wrong and that was not what he was trained to do. His chief said the 11 other excellent officers there already had it handled properly. And still many people defend only the officer, and do not see the child. Why? I just ask why? Is it because she must have deserved it? What makes you think that? Ask yourself, is it possible that you may believe stereotypes too?)