The United States of America is falling apart.
Our cities are in flames. Journalists are being arrested on live TV. More of our citizens have died of a horrific disease than those of any other nation. I can see armored national guard vehicles in front of my local shopping center. The world is watching with a mixture of dismay and barely suppressed glee at our human rights hypocrisy.
The Jim Crow era may be dead, but racism is still very much alive. The past few weeks have yet again made that fact abundantly clear. Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd’s brutal murders were captured on camera, and their deaths have been watched by millions, catalyzing a nationwide movement even as we fail to adequately honor their lives.
And injustice is not limited to the sensational. Black Americans are still subjected to harassment in public spaces, such as when a White woman in Central Park was asked to put her dog on a leash and responded by calling the police, falsely claiming a peaceful Black bird-watcher was threatening her life. In my own hometown, there has been a shocking juxtaposition: Heavily armed individuals marching through the streets protesting the governor’s stay-at-home order, possibly in violation of state law, remained largely undisturbed, while activists protesting police brutality were met with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Meanwhile, we are also in the midst of a once-in-a-generation health crisis. More than 100,000 lives and more than 26 million jobs have been lost to a pandemic that has disproportionately harmed people of color. People across the country are wondering how they will put food on the table and how they will protect their families in the absence of an effective national strategy to fight either the coronavirus or the resulting economic devastation.
America is crying out for leadership, for a new generation of inspirational figures that can begin to heal our country while pushing us closer to our nation’s founding ideals — ideals which we have never fully embodied but are continually striving toward. Instead, we have a president whose instinctive response to any bad situation is to blame the Democrats, a president for whom taking responsibility is a sign of weakness and who seemingly believes national healing is not part of the job description.
In this environment, how do we move forward? I don’t pretend to have the answers. There are many ways we can fight the pandemic, combat racism, and build a more just, equal society. But they all require us to come together, to agree that we once again want to be a nation that is capable of doing big things. Right now, it’s hard to believe we can find it within ourselves to do that.
With even greater challenges on the horizon, ones sure to continue to pull at the fabric of our society, my hope is that we can find it within ourselves to move forward with compassion. Compassion for Black Americans and all others who have been subject to injustice for far too long. Compassion for the business owner who, having already taken on debt to get through the coronavirus crisis, finds herself with a costly repair bill she may not be able to pay. Compassion for those who have lost loved ones, missed major milestones, or are simply afraid to go outside because of the pandemic. Compassion for the honorable police officers, like Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields, who are spending sleepless nights trying to figure out how to better serve their communities and regain respect for their profession. And compassion for those who feel like they have no way to make their voice heard and who have been ignored for far too long.
Compassion is a source of hope, even in times of great despair. We can all be inspired by the Michigan sheriff who marched with protestors and the Miami officers who prayed with activists. By the thousands of healthcare professionals from around the country who answered the call to volunteer in New York’s public hospital system. And by the Black men in Louisville, Kentucky who protected an officer separated from his unit during a protest.
More broadly, however, it is incumbent upon each of us to have more empathy for our fellow citizens. In an age defined by consumerism, by a constant refrain of “me, me, me,” we have to relearn how to care for our friends, our colleagues, our neighbors, and our fellow citizens. We have to remember what it is to sacrifice for the greater good, to inconvenience ourselves to protect the most vulnerable members of our society. We have to stand up against injustice, following the lead of those we’re fighting for. And we have to reaffirm the importance of civic education in order to teach our children how to build a better world for the future.
There is no single way to show compassion. For some, it is protest, standing in solidarity and fighting for change. For some, it is volunteerism, delivering meals to the elderly in a pandemic or rebuilding homes after a natural disaster. For some, it is a donation of money or resources. For some, it is public service, sacrificing other opportunities to serve their community in elected office or other governmental roles. For some, it is all of the above. At the end of the day, compassion is not an action; it is a mindset.
Our country is at a low point, but we cannot lose hope. We have faced similar challenges before, and they have often catalyzed generational change. The present moment offers an opportunity, a chance to rebuild a nation worthy of the patriotic tales we tell ourselves. I believe that most people are good, that my neighbors also want to build a country that is fairer, healthier, stronger, more just, and more united. To do so will require that we all stand together, that we’re all able to recognize our common humanity. And to do so, we should start with compassion.
Image Credit: Flickr/Lorie Shaull