From Douglass, To Wells

Frederick Douglass, in his letter to Miss Ida B. Wells, wrote about the “horror, shame, and indignation” that everyone should be feeling if the American public wasn’t hardened by persistent crimes against colored people and if the “American church and clergy were only half Christianized.” This statement got me thinking, how does a society accept this kind of injustice? He raises a good point though, because it’s easy to get complacent when you hear about atrocities daily. I know, for me at least, when all I see on the news every night is murder in the cities and genocides in Africa, it gets to a point where I’m saying to myself, yeah, I know, but what else is happening in the world? It seems so cold when you think about it, but unless you’re experiencing these things first hand, I think it’s easy to forget how terrible things are. I think Douglass was recognizing this in his statement to Miss Wells; he was thanking her for portraying these horrible events in a brutally honest light.
I’m not going to go into the religion piece in depth right now, but I think it is worth noting the inconsistency in the preaching vs. practice of religious figures in all cultures across all times. I refuse to believe that any “God” wants his followers to practice any sort of hateful behavior, and I think that the self-proclaimed religious leaders and followers should learn to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. I think that’s where Douglass’s frustrations arose from.