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Peace is a Privilege
“You can breathe. You can blink. You can cry. Hell, you’re all gonna be doing that.”
Negan’s pre-baseball-bat-beating line from The Walking Dead hit different for me during a rewatch this week. Something about the on-screen situation was just too real.
As protests against racial injustice continue, I read and hear plenty of comments from non-supporters which are disappointing, but unsurprising. A sentiment that keeps coming up even from supporters, however, creeps coldly under my skin every time I see it:
“I’m all for the protests; just keep it peaceful.”
This statement is often supported by maxims circulated around mostly peaceful communities: “An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind,” “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” “Violence is never the answer.”
Perhaps it’s just my social circles. As a former teacher, outdoor educator, camp counselor, and recreation program manager, many of my friends are people who work or have worked in youth programming. In case it isn’t obvious, non-violent conflict resolution is pretty critical in youth programming. We get fairly good at it, and good at teaching it, and good at seeing how in an ideal world, it’s the only kind of conflict resolution we’d ever need.
(It’s also a great life skill. Seriously, please, as the…
