Picture this: A luxury smaller boat. There are dozens of people on this boat, all of different backgrounds. They all begin scrambling because they see a dark sky and stormy waters headed there way. Fights begin as people start fighting over what they believe should be done. This happens for a few hours, but sooner or later something happens. The scrambling ceases, the people begin facing the fact that this ship is about to go through a stressful time. They begin asking the captain and other ship mates what they can do to help. Some begin gathering the young or old down into the cabin. Others start battening down the hatches or clearing the deck. Once there is nothing left to do, the people all sit tight under the cabin and wait.
They wait to see if all of their efforts were helpful or in vain.
They wait to see how to captain will handle the storm.
They wait to see if they will make it out if this predicament alive.
No longer are they separate individuals worrying about their own lives, they are now something greater. They have become one being.
What happens next? Does the storm move another direction? Does the storm hit and the captain maneuver it successfully? Or does he fail, leaving the boat as useful as the Titanic?
We have all seen some sort of instance where tensions become so bad between certain people, or groups of people, to the point of no return. It's happening right now: Blacks v. Whites, Trump v. Clinton, Police v. Community, etc. Its never ending. However, some major event happens that all of a sudden makes our struggles or differences not worth fighting over anymore. Its time to batten down the hatches, protect the vulnerable, provide any sort of assistance to the people who have a chance of combating the problem. These events become a great equalizer, such as
9/11, Hurricane Katrina or Irene, mass school shootings, genocide, landslides, earthquakes, hurricanes... the list continues. Yet as dreadful and disturbing these events can be, they do have this positive equalizing effect, whether it be a boost in nationalism or a sense of belonging in any town or community.
Now, we shouldn't have to wait for such an event to equalize us. Right now, our nation, our 'ship' is on calm seas. However, the people on board have divided themselves. Multiple groups of people on the bow's side, another set of groups on the stern side. We may be on calm seas, but on deck, we have a storm raging. Its only a matter of time before the ship splits, and we ultimately sink into these calm seas. No longer around to experience another equalizing hurricane.
The time to fix this is now. Keep your minds open to others opinions, avoid picks one side or the other. We should be meeting in the middle. You may be one of those people who are so set against a concept or a group of people, but guess what? If this ship sinks, no one is going to be around to hear what you have to say or disagree with you. The more we do this, the stronger of a ship we will be when faced with a hurricane.
Start today. Stormy seas may be ahead.
