Character or color

Ok, here’s the scoop.  I am a 50 something (a lady never tells her age); and yes, I am white.   I am not racist, and I hate no one.    I want to live a peaceful life, surrounded by friends.   I do not have swastikas painted on anything, but I believe in God.  I say all this because I know I am not alone.   There are many people out there that are right where I am.  We all know people of other races, and it goes without saying that there are good and bad in every race.  We listen to the news and hear of another atrocity committed in the name of racism, and we cringe.  To my friends of other races, I want you to know that those committing these horrible acts are a minority and do not reflect the feelings of the rest of us; and our hearts break for you.  To those wanting to tear down a statue, because they do not like what it stands for, I would like to ask one question.  Will it erase that part of history?  Will it make anything better?  Will it change hearts?  Of course not.  Then why spend your time and energy on that?  It changes nothing.   Why not leave the statue as a reminder of how far we have come, for we have come a long way from where we were in 1861 or even 1967; and yes, I know we are not there yet. To those on the other side who are painting swastikas on the American flag.   Many men fought to put down that kind of thinking and the hatred it brought; will you now embrace the ideology that these men died to keep from invading our sacred shores?  To those of us caught in the crossfire of two extremes, I would say this.  Do not give in!  The only thing that these extremists want is to cause dissension.   They want you and I to take sides and spew their hatred at each other.   But I, for one, will not.  I will not stoop to the level of the playground bullies who would rather fight than work to solve problems.  For the problem does not lie in a statue, or in shooting another policeman.  For, if they were not arguing about statues and painting on a flag, these extremists would find something else to argue about because they live for discord.  I suggest that you and I, the ones in the middle, promote love and peace between people of all races.   Yes, the extremes will still be there, but they will have no power over us.  For most of us are not concerned about the color of someone’s skin so much as the color of their heart.  We look at the character of a person.  Character says more than the color of their skin ever will