Editor’s note: Karen Harris Tully is a writer who lives in Raymond and has agreed to keep a journal to share with Daily World readers during the odd and uncertain time we’re all navigating.
It was Mike’s birthday. He’s finally caught up with me for a whole two months again. I ordered him a present that hasn’t come yet – old-fashioned records that he’s started collecting and we all enjoy. Artists I couldn’t believe we didn’t have already: Bob Marley, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top. (I think that last one was for me.) Next, I want Aretha Franklin’s greatest hits. We have one of her records, but I need more. I baked a cake, just one this time, and we ordered his favorite food, pizza. I tried not to focus on the news, the riots, and how much of a mess everything seems right now. I was only minimally successful.
“Don’t look away,” people say, I have said. But it’s mentally and emotionally exhausting. We all have to look away sometimes and take care of ourselves.
Our oldest is seven. He asked me why police were shooting people with rubber bullets and spraying them with tear gas. Mike and I tend to read the news and not watch it on tv, but I do listen to NPR, and we talk about what’s going on. Our son is kind and observant and has obviously been paying attention. Our daughter isn’t quite there yet at age five, but I wonder how much she’s absorbing too. I want to spare them the ugliness of this world, but I can’t forever. They deserve honesty, but like everything, what and how much to say is an uncertain balance.
I tried to explain that people have the right to peacefully protest, but they don’t have the right to break windows and set fires, to steal and commit violence. And police have the difficult job right now of trying to stop violence while people are very angry, understandably angry. So of course, he wanted to know why. “Why is all of this happening?” my son asked.
I’ve talked with him before, and some with my daughter, about racism when it came up. Again, they deserve honesty. So, I explained that a man named George Floyd was killed by some police officers. He was unarmed, and it was murder, and there have been others who have died too. This anger has been building for a long time. There’s so much to say and I probably oversimplified. My son has always admired the police, and I want him to. His uncle is one of the good ones, smart, educated, dedicated, and kind. But all I can do right now is explain, as best and fairly as I can, that not all people are good, and that means not all police are good. This is a conversation we’ll be having for a long time.
If this Journal feels unfinished, maybe it’s because this conversation America is having is not done.
Song of the day: Three Little Birds, Bob Marley and The Wailers
Karen Harris Tully is a novelist living in Raymond with her husband and two small children. She writes sci-fi/fantasy for teens and adults and can be found at www.karenharristully.com.
