No doubt by now you’ve read about football players not standing during the singing of the National Anthem. They are using their visibility to make a statement that they stand against our country allowing police to do bad and sometimes horrible things to African Americans.
I believe they could turn that important energy elsewhere. Yes, it’s a horrible problem. But malaria kills thousands of times more Africans than American police kill unarmed African Americans..
I lived in a malaria-prone country for five years. I love that country. Overall, people there seem happier than Americans, in spite of the significant challenges of daily life.
Malaria was not a problem for me there, as we were privileged to have been taught ways to prevent the disease. Many there aren’t – or simply don’t have the $10 for a mosquito net.
I know that no NFL football player will ever read this, but for the rest of you, Unicef is just one place you can give to help prevent deaths caused by malaria.
Hey Paul…a long comment to make a point (I hope)
Moïse is married to my cousin Rachel. He’s perhaps one of the kindest, gentlest men I’ve met. He’s a senior computer systems analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. He joined us on our bike tour last summer and challenged us with deep, wise perspectives of following Jesus. He was born in the Congo.
We arrived back in Fort Collins on Sunday evening about 5 PM following the tour. Because of work commitments, Moïse needed to be back in Kansas City during the day on Monday. That meant he had to drive overnight, alone, through Kansas.
That trip frightened him, and it terrified his wife. Why? He was a black man traveling alone through a white state.
He’s been profiled, stopped, pulled from his car, questioned on more than one occasion…because police officers thought he was driving where he didn’t belong. “Neighbors” have called 911 when he knocked on their door to retrieve a soccer ball.
Any wonder that he and his wife feared what might happen in the middle of nowhere when he stopped for gas at 2 AM and some redneck decides the big black guy doesn’t belong?
My cousin Rachel is a tall, blond white woman who’s involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. You’re absolutely right…she could leverage her efforts in other areas and perhaps impact more lives. It’s surely important to use resources where they’ll do the most good.
Rachel would say every life matters equally and she can’t turn away from injustice in her own neighborhood.
Thank you, Rich, for taking the time to give a very thoughtful reply.
I’m glad your friend was able to share his difficulty with you – something that I have experienced in reverse, being white & living in Africa.
Ultimately, you are right – all lives matter, and I should not be saying one cause is greater than another. It was just the scale of comparison that shocked me when I found it out.
Because this is such a sensitive topic, I’m not sharing my post on Facebook (and not many people find my blog!).