The hatred and brutality in our country must stop. Hearts and Minds must change.
Careteam Plus stands united with the Black Community.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Dear Friends,
We all have a right to live peacefully. The inhumanity and brutality we all witnessed three weeks ago has no place here and yet, our country has a long history of this behavior. We built our country on the backs of human beings who were purchased like livestock and treated worse. The eloquence of the preamble of our Constitution could not have been more clear that our intent was to “establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general welfare and secure the blessing of liberty for all.” It is not until you read Article 1, Section 9 that our founders ensured this did not include slaves. It states that “the Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.”
We fought long and hard in a bloody Civil War to put an end to slavery or for some to preserve it, the visible cost of which remained for years, the emotional cost still present.
There remains some form of resentment, I guess for what was had and lost, blaming those who had no choice in the matter. When will it all stop? Peaceful protest at one time pushed laws to change but unfortunately did little to change hearts and minds. Our hearts and minds don’t change because someone wants them to change. They change when we seek to understand and practice compassion.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “riot is the language of the unheard.” It was easy to accuse Mr. Kaepernick of disrespecting our flag. Many rallied around that cry even though the 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of speech. So important was freedom of speech, it was guaranteed in the Constitution under the 1st Amendment. Will we hear the unheard now?
Even in a racist system there are many compassionate law enforcement officers who genuinely work to serve and protect. We know that all lives matter. At this time, however, our focus has to be on Black Lives. Generational cruelty and injustices have no place in our modern society. We must truly strive for “liberty and justice for all.”
I pray we will force out the noise so that we can hear the message. We stand with the Black Community in their endeavor to live peacefully and obtain justice. We will search our hearts and hopefully, in acknowledging some of the negative thoughts we have been taught for generations and have been holding onto for years, we will change our minds.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Johanna Haynes, CEO
Careteam Plus Family Health and Specialty Care
