This Op-Ed is necessitated by the current atmosphere of hostility and venom that has permeated our city and unfortunately directed towards people of Asian ethnicity. Any incendiary environment that is punctuated by hate and hatred certainly makes it impossible to achieve stability or prosperity without unity for us.
If we join efforts, stick together, accept and support each other, we are more likely to come out of this ordeal on top. As we are striving to ‘Build Back Better” infrastructure-wise, job-wise and opening back our economy from devastation from covid, the last thing we need is anyone or group sowing seed of ethnic discord that will undermine the little tranquility we need now.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere – MLK, Jr. Dr. King summed up the issue: We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Wikipedia definition of A hate crime … a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime that occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or race.
Examples of such groups can include and are almost exclusively limited to ethnicity, disability, language, nationality, physical appearance, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.
Once again, our community is grappling with incidences of hate crimes almost on a daily basis as if the pandemic is not problem enough for us already?
My question is this? Why hating your fellow human beings? In my lexicon, the word “hate” is abhorrent and unfathomable. What happened to “love thy neighbor as thy self?” We need to show love to our fellow human-beings and not to mistreat or maltreat them. I enjoin us to substitute hate with love and not the other way round. We are all precious in God’s sight and as such will always be equal. Many such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached non-violence which are ideals we should emulate.
What this world need is love, care and compassion for one another and ways to better humanity. But nefarious folks have instead morphed into creating anarchy by causing disequilibrium exacerbating the relative calm we have only began to enjoy with spring only a week old. My suggestion is ‘Let us turn a new leaf and work to make this world a better place for all and sundry.
One lesson this pandemic should have thought us to be more humane. Families lost loved ones in our communities and folks have not even began to grieve and some permanently afflicted and traumatized by the pain they fill and to poor kerosine into their fire is to say the least unconscionable. It beats the hell out of me that some in our midst have devious intentions of pilling up and exacerbating the stress we feel already by expressing all manners of hate on others. That is cruel, inhumane and criminal.
All things being equal, our leaders whether political or faith-based must strive harder to address the issue. Paying lip service to this nemesis has consequences beyond adversely impacting our democracy and way of life. Needless to remind us that most challenges inherent in our political system is deeply-rooted in failure to address this elephant in the room. And until we do the right and shame the devil, our democracy and worse still, way of life will be headed to the abyss of no return.
May we continue to get along to avoid suffocating our cherished democracy.
God bless AMERICA !!
George Onuorah is a city council candidate in the 21st District covering East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Lefrak City and LaGuardia Airport.
