Politics & Politeness
The other day I had the honor of helping emcee the 10-Point Coalition’s annual luncheon. It’s an event raise money for programs that tackle issues like urban youth violence and empowering minority communities to help make them self-sufficient. The keynote Speaker was Vice-President and former Governor Mike Pence. I covered Pence as a Congressman and later as Governor. And I follow his movements pretty closely as V.P.
When we saw each other, we had a good chat for a couple of minutes and then took a couple of pictures (including his signature selfie). I posted a couple of them on social media, and you could have sworn I took a photo with the devil. Of course, there are some hardcore social conservatives who probably say the same thing about me. The Vice-President was a called a bigot, racist and just about everything but a child of God.
As I read through the thread, all I could do was shake my head and feel sorry for people. It’s one thing to dislike a person, it’s another thing to spend that kind of time, energy and effort into hating someone you don’t know; and then go through all the trouble to post your hatred on social media.
And what’s interesting is the hate wasn’t just directed at Pence. You would be amazed at how many haters and detractors went after the 10-Point Coalition because they are working with the administration to work on problems of youth violence and urban crime. I frankly think these guys would rather see more dead black children than 10-Point be successful working with a Republican administration.
Maybe I’m getting older, but I don’t see how getting worked up over people you don’t know, and situations you have no control over can be healthy, physically, mentally or otherwise. To disagree with someone’s policies is fine. You can express it and offer alternatives. But to get personal, it doesn’t solve anything and kind of makes you come across as a feminine hygiene product.
To paraphrase an old saying, if you can’t post anything nice, or at least thoughtful, don’t post anything at all.
