July 4, 2020

It’s Up to Us

Since childhood, July 4th was a time for picnics, hikes, and evenings spent watching fire works to celebrate the founding of a nation, the coming together of thirteen independent states to form a synergistic whole stronger than the individual parts. In hibernation I’ll miss my friends and family and won’t celebrate as before. I’ll sit home watching televised fireworks and listen to newscasts about our fractured nation. So instead of a family outing, I decided to take an outing of the mind to consider the past and where we should go from here. It will take one race, the human race, our race to set things straight.

What was clear to those who signed the Declaration of Independence for the country’s 2.5 million residents is no longer obvious to the 331million who currently reside within our borders. It is time to put away divisions that cause paranoia and prepare for the emergencies we know will come to affect rich and poor alike. Raising a family taught me the truth of Robert Burns words, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/ Gang aft a-gley.” (often go awry.)

Paranoia – One night, around two in the morning when my daughter was in a deep sleep after caring for three active children all day, the phone startled her awake. She answered to the stern voice of a bomb squad officer who fired off questions about a package mailed to her. He wanted to know what was in it (she didn’t know), if she knew the sender (her sister) and whether they were on good terms (they were). On the line for nearly an hour, she answered in confusion, for the problem was never described. Simultaneously, her sister in California was called and asked similar questions though she knew what was inside. But when asked to describe the electronics she claimed no knowledge. She had mailed a box of outgrown children’s clothing and toys that seemed harmless.

My daughter was later told that a ticking sound was heard when her package arrived at the post office causing several hundred people to be evacuated and the bomb squad alerted.They x-rayed it, saw it contained electronics and took the package to an empty field where a robot was deployed to open it. Inside it uncovered a toy airplane with its propeller rotating due to a switch that had jostled to an on position during shipping. The electronics were in the noses of reindeers on Christmas masks.

Lessons from the past and thoughts from today:

a) Don’t send toys through the mail with batteries inside.

b) Their calls occurred shortly after the Unabomber was apprehended. Police were on alert. But if it happened today, I imagine they would be paranoid and rather than make phone calls, militarized police would knock down my daughter’s doors and haul them off to jail.

c) Today’s officers not only react, they over-react. The cost of emptying out the post office and calling in the bomb squad must have been high. The cost to George Floyd was his life. There’s no excuse for killing a person for cashing a twenty-dollar bill that he may or may not have known was counterfeit. There is no excuse for shooting Rayshard Brooks in the back because he was drunk at Wendy’s.

d) As children weare taught to trust the police. We are told to seek their help if something bad happens. As an adult, I’m shocked by behavior that negates that trust. Shouting, offensive, bigoted officers make the country understandably angry. In school we’re taught that people are innocent until proven guilty which means that everyone deserves to be treated respectfully, even when under arrest. There is a court system to deal with those creating problems for society.

Emergencies: During the 1989 California earthquake my newborn granddaughter rested contentedly in a bouncy chair next to her mother. When widows started rattling and the furniture shook, the baby jiggled and giggled gleefully. Knowing her infant was fine, my daughter wasn’t concerned until she tried opening the door to her apartment. The frame was twisted and the door wouldn’t budge, trapping Mother and daughter inside. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before her husband, bounded up the stairs as a superhero, pushed the door open and rescued his family. The event took place several blocks from where the Oakland Bridge collapsed.

Lessons from the past and thoughts from today:

a) Children see life as an adventure. They trust adults to keep them safe.

b) Natural disasters occur in every part of the country. COVID-19 is a wake up call as to why it is important to heed advice and prepare for potential crises. (I store supplies in my car and house in case I’m stranded by a snowstorm or earthquake.)

c) Though I chair an emergency committee at a Unitarian Church, we never considered a pandemic and the effect it would have on the congregation.The CDC, however, warned the nation of its possibility and had a plan they were putting into effect until funding was eliminated by a short-sighted administration. Scientists warned that global warming is a contributor to the rise in pandemics. We need to listen to geologists, environmentalists, and epidemiologists rather than imagine we can pray disasters away. I realize it’s not fun to plan for a crisis that may never happen in our lifetime, yet we must.

This Independence Day can we agree to rid ourselves of paranoia and bigotry and plan instead for handling emergencies judiciously? Will you join me in taking an outing of the mind, one that considers the good and bad parts of history to learn from rather than erase because of shame ?

I don’t think the past should be cut from memory, for it is a platform to tell us how well we are doing in bringing about change. Art speaks to specific time periods in history and tells stories that can’t be denied. Symbols on flags and sculptures removed from high pedestals and relocated in museums can be studied and explained. Knee jerk reactions are rarely good.

My mind’s been touring the history of slavery, learning how police are trained and how they became militarized. I wonder about the best way to deal with road rage, a drug and alcohol abusive society, high rates of wife and child abuse, arsonists, thieves, and people harboring weapons. How should law enforcement react to criminals? Is it their job to see to the homeless and mentally disturbed people wandering the streets? Should they be responsible for pushing back migrants forced to leave their homes because of climate change? These are difficult questions that have to be thought through carefully. Understanding is imperative if we are to make changes and live without warfare.

An outing that explores the good, bad, ugly and beautiful parts of America might help us to do better. There are a few references below to get you started. What you learn might surprise you.

Reference:

Berry,D (2017) American slavery: separating fact from myth. The Conversation. Academic rigor, journalistic flair. retrieved from https://theconversation.com/american-slavery-separating-fact-from-myth-79620

Roberts,S. (2005). More Africans Enter U.S. The in Days of Slavery. The New York Times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/nyregion/more-africans-enter-us-than-in-days-of-slavery.html

Thiele,R.(2020) How Climate Change Increases Our Rest for Pandemics. NPR. retrieved from https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/how-climate-change-increases-our-risk-for-pandemics

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Art is always For sale. Contact marilynne@ecihingerfineart.com

Family Outing/ acrylic on deep canvas/ 16 “ x 20 “ / $ 399

Fractured America / acrylic on deep canvas / 24″ x 24″ $ 425