After seeing such a devastating January for our neighbors in Minneapolis and the backlash from all sides online, I’ve tried to listen more than I speak and trace out some of the root cause here. Dehumanization in any form or fashion (from any side) is where things get hostile and go haywire quickly. This doesn’t excuse criminal activity; this doesn’t mean we flippantly open the boarders; this also doesn’t mean we assume the government has our best interests in mind or is trained properly. It’s always a good exercise to “follow the money” to hunt down corruption, but we must also continue to “follow the dehumanization” to find the inhumanity and the destructive heart of self-preservation.
From my small vantage point, it seems a few things can be true at the same time: Criminal activity needs consequences. Opening the boarders with no regulation (on people or products) will get out of hand quickly. This is much more complex & nuanced than “legal & illegal” - we personally know many that are stuck in bureaucratic processes that ensnare many. The overly-aggressive violent tactics and racial profiling happening around the country - of which I see & hear the most of in Minneapolis - needs to be outwardly condemned.
Institutions, platforms, and Christianity in America are so misunderstood we’ve lost what Christ has shown us as the example of love … death to self, self-sacrifice, caring for the needy, caring for “the other”, being quick to error on the side of compassion for the vulnerable and call out the hypocrisy of those that abuse their power. When you see a human, you are quite literally seeing the beauty of God Himself in His handiwork. This is where I understand humanity itself to be sacred and why dehumanization is evil.
Lord, have mercy on us all - US, Nigeria, Iran, and abroad.
A quick final note about owning a small business & social media: It’s a beautiful thing because customers & patrons know you personally, but it’s also a double-edged sword as the lines are sometimes blurred on what “role” you’re speaking from. Ironically, the smaller you are the more pressure you may feel to use your business platform for non-business material. Much more than what people expect from their gas stations, grocery stores, big box stores, and public utilities. Institutions and platforms are a strange thing in America right now, especially with social media. Please continue to assume good intentions and remember that there are many many ways people (& institutions) may be engaging many issues that aren’t public-facing. Social media is simply a sliver of all of our lives.