Like many, I dig a good underdog story. Righteous martyrs are the best. We're talking humans who have the moral fortitude to overcome their flaws, to lead by compassionate example. Imperfect pacifists like Gandhi (the pacifist sexual abuser,) Dr. King (the pacifist adulterer) and John Lennon (the pacifist wife beater.) Then there's the perfect, non-misogynist pacifist, the King of all Sacrificial Lambs, Jesus of Nazareth. Talk about sacrificing yourself for the greater good!
But when I see how George Floyd’s murder has triggered his 6-year-old daughter to declare that, “Daddy changed the world,” it breaks my heart.
I’m a children’s librarian. I read stories and sing silly songs with 6-year-olds. I know how heroic their daddies and mommies are in their eyes. It makes me want to barf when I hear this precious child say the words, “Daddy changed the world,” knowing full well that he didn’t have the luxury to change the world by living long enough to see her grow up and reach her full potential. George Floyd was not granted the time on this earth to reach his full potential as a daddy, as an American, as a human.
I’m sick of all the sacrificial lambs leading humanity's herd. I’m tired of the best and the brightest amongst us, those whose work truly honors “the least of these my brothers and sisters” being assassinated by the insatiably power-hungry wolves of the world. When will we begin to understand how absurd it is to expect the best of us to have to die to change the world?
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