Laryngitis and Thugs

Well, I have a lot of things going on in my head right now. What an interesting month March has been for me and my little brain. We have endured some trying times and times of complete overload, however, peace is on the horizon. I'm finding it hard to focus at work today. I seem to have come down with laryngitis from using my vocal chords to sing so much over the past week. I participated in lengthy singing sessions four days last week, which apparently is too much for my little chords. I didn't sleep well last night and Carter woke up with a sore throat so I extended his spring break +1 extra day since dad is off today. I told him to rest in the bed all day and drink lots of water. Yeah right.
     Anyways, none of that was really important. I just feel very blah today. On top of this current state of blah, I have stumbled upon a website called "Charleston Thug Life". It is a blog written by some local guys that posts information, Facebook info, and pictures of guys they consider to be "thugs" running around South Carolina. While I understand where they are coming from, by trying to keep local residents aware of the people who could cause possible violent events, but it still rubs me the wrong way. There is such an "us" and "them" mentality in America today. I'm not saying I'm completely innocent, I just don't like it. I don't like the writer of this blog posting those pictures of them and writing cruel things between them. In one case the "thug" mentioned he almost got shot, and the author of the blog commented that society was unlucky that he had survived, like we would be better off if he had been killed.
     This whole Treyvon Martin thing has opened my eyes to things I really dislike about us. I get that a lot of young black guys commit crime. I get that- it can't be denied. But I just despise that due to these circumstances we come to see us as the good, right, just, and "those guys" as the crooked, wrong, and evil. I feel like blogging about how certain young people are throwing away their future by participating in certain violent acts and bad behavior for your own good, to keep you safe, does no good to society. They same guys are still out there doing the same wrong. Still blinded by whatever life they think they want to live. I just wish we as a society would see that in order to make our world better we have to help one another. To find out why a certain group of people behaves a certain way, and do what we can to help them change. I don't think intentionally separating ourselves or protecting ourselves from "them" will ever fix anything.
    Race has become a hot topic lately in America. We watched some stuff on Anderson Cooper last night about how kids view race. Most of them viewed their own race as superior to other races. One little kid even said he didn't think it was good for you to have friends of a different race. One thing I feel in my heart is very important for me to do from this point forward is to truly love my neighbor, no matter how ruthless, rude, unlawful, or bad he may be. I will also be trying harder to teach my son about the value of a human life regardless of the color of their skin or the actions they have committed.

What are your thoughts??