If Democrats Truly Supported Diversity, They Would Step Down

If white Democrat members of Congress truly believed in embracing diversity, each would agree to establish a date to step down and spend the interim mentoring a person of color to replace them in the next election cycle. The fact they have not made such a commitment, suggests their recent actions are merely political theater meant to pander to a constituency that democrats rely upon for maintaining power. 

The most senior members of the Democrat Party in Congress, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, donned shawls made of Kente cloth, which is associated with Ghana, while they knelt on the floor of  the US Capitol building for eight minutes and 46 seconds to show solidarity for Black Lives Matter. However, this same cadre of hypocrites has spent the last 3 1/2 years wasting taxpayers' money in the singular effort to remove Donald Trump from office rather than working together with Republican colleagues to shore up the country's crumbling infrastructure, which would provide jobs for millions and increase each worker's standard of living. However, cultivating divisiveness has been the object in order to regain and retain political power.

The writings of George Orwell have never been more timely, despite his death in 1950, within a year of publishing 1984. Consider  his observation  that "No advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimeter nearer."  This is essentially because politicians, once they have achieved power, do not want to relinquish it.  No matter how much the Democrat leadership preaches to its own choir, they do nothing to actually create more diversity within their political party. If they truly believed in promoting diversity, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders would not be their most viable candidates for the presidency. The septuagenerians running the party would retire and support the candidacies of a new generation.

Struggling With Destruction

As an American citizen who believes in the beauty of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, I am struggling with the  violence against people, destruction of property and desecration of monuments that accompany the peaceful protests associated with the unconscionable murder of Mr. Floyd. My parents raised me and my siblings to treat every human with equality, respect, courtesy, kindness and welcome. My husband was raised the same way. We were raised in middle class families in the Midwest with parents that worked hard to put food on the table, educate us, instill us with values, and to do the right thing. We grew up during the turbulent 1960s, saw the devastation caused by the riots, wept when Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, and watched the events unfolding in the conflict that could not be won in Vietnam.

But history cannot be reviewed in a vacuum. The sins of the fathers should not be foisted on the sins and daughters. While I may vociferously disagree with the attitudes and choices of those who came before me, I did not walk in their shoes or inhabit their skins. At this juncture I do not blame those of prior generations, people of history that were not enlightened, those that lived by the codes of the times.

Instead I blame parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, fellow students, gangs, leaders,  associates, coworkers, employers, media, politicians and social media for the unconscionable attitudes pervasive in today’s world. The problems today are not the sins of the past. Instead, it is the attitudes of people who know better. It is the political divisiveness that is perpetuated by purported leadership of both major parties to gain votes. Our leaders divide us for political and personal gain. None of them actually care about constituents. These are wealthy insulated people that revel in the quest for power. They are all out for themselves.  It is all theater of the absurd. Think about it...they all go to parties and out for drinks togethet🤔

Conundrums in Today’s World

Throughout history there have been winners & losers,  conquerors and conquered, explorers and native inhabitants, governors and governed, elites and peasants, lords and commons, rulers and ruled, leaders and followers, free and subjugated, employers and workers, educated and illiterate, successes and failures, wealthy and poor, celebrated and vilified. Much is contingent on time and place, birth, geographic location, the phase of the moon, or just luck.

However, I do believe that in the western world people in the 21st Century have the ability to transcend the fates of birth. Despite the fact that we as a collective people have achieved progress that was unfathomable in my youth, there is still much work to be done to reach a Nirvana in our society. Rather than decry the sins of the past, we should instead celebrate the strides that have been made.

Forty years ago today the old Commercial Union Assurance Company hired me, a woman, as an outside claims adjuster in Indianapolis. The following year they hired a black man. We were both quota hires, anomalies in a field peopled by middle aged white men wearing sans-a-belt pants, shiney jackets, and carrying clipboards. We were not welcome. The establishment tried to get us to quit. Instead a Larry and I paved the way. Now, the Claims departments in the insurance industry afford opportunities for all. I never would have imagined that when I showed up for my first day on the job on a June 9, 1980.

When one considers the progress made in just 40 years, there should be some celebration of those inroads. Yes, more progress is needed. There are still individuals that do not embrace diversity. But those individuals are lesser and poorer for their inability to embrace the current world. Rather than hate them, feel pity and sadness for their lack of enlightenment. Most people I know just accept folks for who they are. That is the beauty of today.