Earlier this year there was a Be Kind movement, following the sad death of a celebrity by suicide. On the run up to her death she had been ridiculed and bullied mercilessly in social media and the press. People were campaigned for change, signed petitions, and shared posts calling for change. Yet a few months later, that seems have disappeared again, with yet again someone in the public eye, being made fun of on social media. People critizing policitians, their decisions or those supporting that decision or person.
Most recently theres been the "lockdown breakers" and "lockdown enforcers" , criticising those who have chosen to break the lockdown rules and those who have taken in upon themselves to police the rules, openly verbally attacking people, they believe have broken social distancing rules.
Following the sad and unjust death of a man in America, and the media reporting as an racist issue , as it was a white police officer that took the life of a black man. Personally a white guy killing a black guy or vice versa is not racist unless there is a racial motive, now I dont know what was in the mind of that police officer, so i'm not going to comment on the race row. For me anyone dying at the hands of another is a tragedy, and even worse is if that person was someone whose job it is, as they say in America to "serve and protect".
Following the reports, protests started, and as a result of what was probably a minority these have turned violent, this is turn has created more news, more outrage and more upset. Rioting, looting, vandalism, assults (both a poeple and animals (police horses in london)) and even deaths.
Saldy what started out as peaceful protests, went from a way of trying to make a change to something that shared only hate, which in turn has created more hate, more arguements and more distress.
No real positive change can come from events like this when they take this turn.
But what if instead of protesting, instead of standing with a sign, sharing a black space or a #, people actually lived their lives with the change in mind they want, treating each and every person with kindness and respect no matter who they are, where they are from, who they love, or the colour of their skin.
Instead of sharing hate, sharing love.
Instead of sharing a # or post condeming something or someone, you treat the next person you see with respect, letting someone a head of you in a queue, or sharing a smile, imagine the difference you could really make.
I remeber a quote from a victim of the Boston marathon bombing, " 2 people took weeks to plan out hate, but love responded in an instant" we may not be able to stop hate, but how we respond to it, is how we can really make a difference. The love shone to those victims far outweighed the hate of those bombers.
Sharing posts even as a way of saying its wrong and shouldnt happen, still shares it, no matter what you say, the image of hate is still being spread.
What if instead of sharing a post or commenting on a post with anger and condemnation, just because its different to your beliefs, you simply ignored that post, reported to the social media moderator, or unfollowed or even unfriended whoever shared it. By doing this the hate stops with that person/post.
I'm not saying we should ignore those injustices that happen in the world, but there must be a better way then sharing a image of hate with words to match.
Why can't we be kind?
