So, as I'm fully aware, this month is Black History Month. Twenty-eight days of remembering how Blacks have made contributions to the world. While this is a time for many, including myself, to celebrate Black accomplishments, not everyone shares in its joys.
Last year, at the University of Missouri, there was an incident during this month of celebration, that was meant to mock the rich Black American culture. A group of intoxicated white, male fellow MU students decided to scatter cotton balls around the entrance of the Black Culture Center. For those of you who do see the offense in this, using COTTON balls, specifically, is a reference to slavery times when Blacks were forced to pick cotton for the wealth of slave owners. It's from this fact during slavery, that some have developed the derrogatory reference to Blacks as "cotton pickers." So, for these students to put cotton down in front of the Black Culture Center, perhaps with the hope that the Black students who go there will be forced to pick up the cotton ("living up" to the image, so to speak), it was very offensive, not just to the Black students in the community, but to all those who support the community and diversity. These offenders ended up getting off with a vandalism charge. That was less than a year ago. And then this past weekend...
Saturday, February 11 I received notification (first via Facebook and then many hours later from the school's dean) that another racially-driven act of vandalism occurred. This time, it was a bit more vulgar. Someone had spray-painted something to the effect of "F@#$ N*33#r's Month" on the side of one of the dorm halls. It was frustrating to hear this had happened AGAIN. Reading this occurrence was just another rude reminder of the what I experience everyday; the ignorance of so many about what it means to love all people.
I didn't dwell on the event, though. I refuse to let such ignorance frustrate me to the point where I exhaust my energy from being offended. Then something happened this week that I definitely didn't expect, even from the "whitest country in Latin America" (this is how some Argentinians proudly identify themselves... well, according to my research). What happened this week was so astonishing, that I had to take a picture of it.
It was Valentine's Day. February 14th. El Día de los Amorados. The day of lovers. Anna's boyfriend wanted to get her a bouquet of her favorite flowers (lilies) even though he couldn't be in the country to do so. So, I helped out by going out to a floral shop to buy them and have them ready for her in our apartment. Well, on my quest to get the lilies, I came across some graffitii. Nothing will really strange about it being grafitii. I mean, that's something I see all the time here in the big city. But this one was different than what I've seen here. Errily enough, the words on the wall said, IN ENGLISH, in essence the SAME THING as that on campus (minus the part about month).
I couldn't believe my eyes. There, in broad day light, on the day of love, was the word that holds one of the darkest displays and connotations of hate. Honestly, my heart sunk a little. I took a picture (which I later deleted because I couldn't stand to look at it), turned around, and walked the other direction.
I thank God that I'm able to bounce back from seeing such displays of hate. In all honestly, I've become somewhat callous to it. When you experience some form of hate everyday, you learn how to deal with it. Not that it doesn't bother me, but I've learned the importance of not allowing it to consume me. If I allow that to happen, then I wouldn't be strong enough to make an effort of resistance and change.
After seeing the vandalism, it became real to me. Ignorance transcends cultures, unfortunately. Whether in North America or South America. Whether you ended the African slave trade first or last. Ignorance still exists. Hate still exists. But I firmly believe that light can overcome darkness and love covers all sins. Maybe, while I'm here, or where ever I go, I can be a light. I'm only one, but that's all you need, right?
