deep and dire

I am thinking of the South Carolina AME church shooting victims and their families, especially the mother of Tywanza Sanders who will never be able to kiss her beloved son again. 

Regrettably, racism is alive and well in America, constantly stoked by people like Rush Limbaugh, slighted by politicians afraid to enter its discourse or remove blatant symbols of its roots, denied by conservative news organizations, manifested in police brutality, fueled by ignorance and false fears then blamed on its very victims.

I look at this snapshot taken a just few hours before the massacre last Wednesday, and I realize how fortunate I am not to be the target of a hate crime simply because I am white. I never have to think about it . . . but I do, on behalf of all of my dear friends and fellow Americans who have little choice but to ruminate on the color of their skin and the deep and dire consequences it represents in this so-called great country of ours.

Photo by Charlie Muller