Charleston
Published: Fri, 06/19/15
to Las Vegas. Part vacation with my wife, part
meeting lots of great folks I've known as coaching
clients and colleagues, many for the first time.
I've spent the past fifteen years in the home
business and training industries. In that time
I have gotten to know so many amazing people.
They're from all walks of life, all different colors
and ethnic backgrounds. Gay, straight, both, etc.
After meeting so many good people, smart people,
not so smart people, hungry and desperate people...
you forget about color. You forget about differences.
We're all the same in so many ways.
And yet, we go back to our environments.
We go back to where we are black, or Hispanic,
or Jewish, or Muslim, or gay, etc.
And in little ways the outside world wouldn't
understand, we are screened. We're judged.
We're discriminated against.
Charleston, South Carolina continues to have
streets named after Confederate generals, the
ones who did everything within their power
to preserve a system that enslaved a race of people.
And they fly the Confederate flag: the symbol
of that same movement.
It's none of my business, you might say. I'm
from New York. I'm white. It's not my struggle.
Even worse, I'm one of those bleeding hearts
who tells everyone else how to live.
Maybe so.
I have the advantage of parents who taught
me to see past the external conditions of
a person...to live free from prejudice and
discrimination.
The street names in South Carolina aren't
my fight. It's a local issue.
The residue of institutionalized discrimination
IS my issue. I am a citizen of the United States
of America. The freedom of one impacts the
freedom of all of us.
Someone who may find the cure for cancer, or
invent the algorithm that becomes the next Google,
or who crosses the cultural divide and unites us...
May never get the chance because he or she
goes to an inferior school.
Or is gunned down in a monstrous act of hatred.
Or yes...spends his or her life needlessly acting
like a victim when all the chances for redemption
have been offered...and declined.
I am not responsible for the acts of a poor, sick
bastard who immersed himself in hated.
I am responsible for creating a culture of love,
enthusiasm, integrity and personal responsibility
around me, my family and those I influence.
So are you.
And that includes calling out the vestiges of
hate and injustice when we see them.
Be good to your family, friends and strangers.
Have high expectations so you bring out the
best in others
Be generous with your second chances.
And change the names of the damn streets
in Charleston, South Carolina.
And take down that God forsaken flag.
Much Love,
Larry