I stopped at the carwash to vacuum out my van. It's a 12 passenger and the things that hide in cracks would scare Jacob, so I try to get it done under the radar, even if it means doing so 10 days before baby is due. :)
I pulled up to my favorite vacuum, the one with the best suction, and stepped out. Aaron, Eli, and Kenna picked up all of the trash for me. As they were working, I stood next to the van. There was a woman with her minivan doors slid open on the other side of the vacuum island. She too was cleaning out her vehicle. Her sweet little boy was neatly buckled in his seat watching his mama work.
We visited about various things, mostly family. She came from a family of 7 children, and she had three children herself. Their ages were 6, 4, and 2. I praised her son for being so good to allow mama to work and just being so sweet in his seat. Meanwhile, Kyra was pulling on her carseat straps, anxious to join her siblings in the revelry of picking out the trash. This woman was kind and we had a lot in common. We laughed some, talked, and had an understanding that happens when your lives are so similar. But we were different. She was black. We were both finishing up, when something happened.
He pulled in on the other side of my van. Jacked up Chevy pickup, baseball cap, jeans, and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. On the back of his truck, he was proudly waving the confederate flag. I looked over at the woman next to me. I studied her reaction some. She looked up, took in the view in an intentional but not obvious way, and packed her van with a spirit that seemed more hurried. I sat in my driver seat and slowed our leaving down. I was not going to leave this woman alone. Not that this man had any ill will toward her. Honestly he didn't even seem to notice either one of us, and he may not have been racist at all. The representation of a stereotype was there though. I smiled at my friend and we waved as we both drove away, my van following hers out of the lot.
I don't believe that the government should restrict the lessons taught about the Civil War. We shouldn't wash it down until it feels comfortable. It wasn't comfortable. I don't believe that we should restrict the right one has to fly the confederate or any other flag for that matter.
I do think as people we should consider how our actions and exercising of our rights affect others. None of us operates in a vacuum. I have a real problem with what I saw today. A woman, walking in fear, so that her fellow countryman could fly a flag on his pickup. For me, I'll willingly lay down my right to fly that flag, but don't let the government tell me I have to. That's not the role of government.
1 John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."
Romans 14:19 "So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding."
