Dear Readers,
I am honored to have my husband post on my blog.
I pledge allegiance
To the flag
Of the United States of America
One nation
Under God
Indivisible
With Liberty
And Justice
For All
Those words have defined, for many years, what this country was “supposed” to stand for. Unfortunately, for many Americans, those words rang hollow, and still do. For many Americans, they have never truly known the America that was “supposed” to be.
I am a white, Christian, straight male living in America. This country is my home. And I have always been proud to call it that. Until I learned the truth. And that truth is that it’s only “my home”, because I am a white, Christian, straight male. For people who aren’t those 4 things, their experience in this country has been VASTLY different than mine. This country has not been “home” to them.
This country has let them down. There is less “liberty and justice” for women, for POC, for LGBTQ+ people, for Muslims or Athiests, for ANYONE who isn’t a white, Christian, straight male.
It is not “Liberty and Justice for All” when a black man is gunned down by two white men, on camera, and they aren’t arrested until 3 months later. Flip that scenario, and I guarantee the outcome would be different.
It is not “Liberty and Justice for All” when two Hispanic women are facing 180 days for taking hair dressing and nail clients, while a white woman gets sentenced to one week, and then has the state Attorney General suggest that she shouldn’t even serve that.
It is not “Liberty and Justice for All” when adoption agencies are allowed to deny couples the chance to step into an orphans life, simply because they are gay.
It is not “Liberty and Justice for All” when women are discouraged from reporting sexual abuse, because colleges are no longer required to take the accusations seriously.
Those are just some very recent examples of ways that this country has let marginalized people down. I could list more, but we would be here for a very long time.
So what do we do? I don’t know. I want to know how to help. And I’m tired of using my privilege to ignore the problem because it doesn’t affect me. I want to use my privilege to help. I want to be, in the words of Luvvie Ajayi, author of “I’m Judging You”, an accomplice, not an ally.
With Liberty and Justice for All. That should be our mission. That should be what we strive for. And I am truly deeply sorry for the years that I wasn’t striving for it. I realized a little while ago that it’s not enough to not intentionally be racist/sexist/homophobic/etc. You have to intentionally be NOT those things. And that’s what I’m trying to do. That’s what all of us white, Christian, straight males should be trying to do. So I’m going to listen to people who are “other” than me. Try to find out how I’ve unintentionally hurt people. And apologize for it, with the understanding that my apology doesn’t HAVE to be accepted. As my Pastor Chris puts it, when you’ve hurt someone, they now have the choice to forgive you or not.
With Liberty and Justice for Some isn’t good enough anymore. Let’s fix it.
For more from Jeremy Haston- https://itsmybossismydaughter.wordpress.com/2020/05/09/with-liberty-and-justice-for-some/
Haston Helping Hands 