Since today was the Martin Luther King holiday, my friend and I decided to get together to actually observe our day off in a fitting manner. We watched the movie The Butler.
The 2013 movie tells the life story of Cecil Gaines, who serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House. Based on a true story, it illustrates how the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam and other major events affect this man's life, family and American society.
And for my friend Christine and me, it was a shameful reminder of how humans can sometimes act like animals when they are filled with hate.
There were times in my life I thought maybe I hated something or someone, but never, ever to the magnitude we witnessed in the Civil Rights Movement, the Holocaust and probably more examples than I care to recall.
How does one hate another human being so deeply -- for their skin color or religious beliefs or sexual preferences or age and more -- to feel no remorse about abusing them verbally and physically?
It makes me sick. And watching it happen in the movie made me feel quite fortunate that even though I was born when this Civil Rights violence was happening, I did not have to live it. I treasure Dr. King's quote above and feel so blessed that I was taught at a young age to respect others.
All others.
Doesn't mean I'm perfect. Not by far. While I try to be a loving and kind person, I still get judgmental now and then. Let the wrong characteristic impact my opinion of a person. But I don't ever hate. There's no place for that.
Not on MLK Day or any day.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment