When I was a child, we had a telephone that you could only use to talk. It sat on a desk near to where it was connected to the wall. You spoke into the handset and dialed the number from the base. We would say the phone is ringing. It had a bell. The same bell everyone’s phone had. No ringtone. Just a elongated bell. Later we had the option to go wireless. The base still had to be plugged into a wall and hardwired to a telephone line, but the handset was completely separate and could be used anywhere within a certain distance from the base.

My earliest memories are watching a black and white television. It could receive 5 stations. They were broadcast locally except between the hours of 7 PM to 11 PM. Those hours were reserved for network broadcasts. Those were from New York. I was in elementary school when we got our first color television. That tv received the 5 stations plus a few UHF stations. We could only see those because we had the special circular antenna especially designed for that signal. Those were all local stations.

I only share these memories to illustrate the massive divide between then and now. These are not unknown or unrealized facts. The reason I have been thinking about this particular timeline is because of the explosion of vitriol in the world. Abhorrent vitriolic racism, sexism and every other divisive term has become a societal norm in almost every corner of the world.

That’s not to say we didn’t have those forms of dehumanization. But because of our limited ability to spread any word, those words fell flat. The hate that people felt for their neighbor only went as far as the immediate neighborhood. And often times, decorum shut it down. And whatever was said behind closed doors stayed behind closed doors.

But now, not only do we have access to a massive audience, but whoever may chose, can do so anonymously. The fire can be fed with no consequence. You can share the hate you have for your neighbor and illicit a positive response from people who know nothing about any of the particulars. And they, in turn, can turn it into a bonfire of hostility.

The fodder for the conflagration is also the fear, reasonable and otherwise, we felt throughout the once in a lifetime event of the pandemic. Neighbors were as feared as they were hated. A fear we we have no perspective through which we can regain our equal footing. Blame was erroneously placed on the hearts of a people who looked a certain way. And because of the inequity of out healthcare system, the communities of people of color were more adversely affected, giving the impression that they represented major spreading centers. Again, mistakenly.

But the response to the pandemic gave justification to the distrust and dehumanization. The government at the time, found power in the degradation of society. And added its own fuel to the fire. Capturing the imagination of times long past, trying to make great again what was never great in the first place. Not for everyone. And what comes to one, comes to us all, in one form or another.

The answer doesn’t not lie in being louder. Screaming at the top of your lungs only heightens the heat. They want the heat. The need to make the fire perpetuate itself. The consequence of hate, of the vitriol of the isms that plague our society, must be measured. But there must be consequence. Hate doesn’t die in the face of silence.

Voices must be raised in truth and righteousness, not anger and despair. Hope can grow in any climate. We must learn to use the strength of our own convictions, not only to shore up the hearts of the like minded, but to capture the imagination of what can be. It sounds unsophisticated and innocent, but fear is only dispelled in safety and protection.

See passed the hate, the anger, the fear. Do not become fodder for the fire. Don’t feed into their fear by being their mirror. Speak to the truth of our world, to the hope of our world. Be the consequence of doing less harm. Our righteousness is their shame.