We have been thinking for several days what we might say on this page about the new crisis tearing our country apart.
Like you, we have read, listened to and watched pundits, politicians, police officers, lawyers and leaders as they, too, struggled for a solution to the uneven justice in our courts and streets, questionable use of force by a tiny minority in authority and the resulting anger of those who feel disenfranchised in the freest land of opportunity in world history.
Like them we have no easy answers, There are no easy answers. The only solutions are hard, difficult, soul searching.
Are we really a racist society?
Perhaps, but we like to think that free Americans are above that kind of biased thinking.
Certainly there are those taking advantage of our open society to wreak havoc and pillage and plunder for personal gain, political influence or raw power.
 A thoughtful friend Bill Edmonds wrote us that it might be better if we were all born blind.
Not just color blind. 
Completely blind.
We could not form impressions of others – whether they wore hoodies or business suits. We couldn’t prejudge them or reinforce racial or ethnic stereotypes.
Without sight, 80% of what we perceive about those who don’t look like us might be eliminated.
We might get to know each other for who we are, not who or what we think of each other, Bill says.
The Bible says our eyes can blind us to the truth.
Almost 60 years ago – 57 years this August to be exact – Martin Luther King, Jr., stirred a troubled nation with his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial: “I have a dream that my 4 little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
We have made much progress in 57 years but the journey is not over and the road ahead has many twists and turns. 
What do you think? 
Please share with me your thoughts on this at JerryBellune@yahoo.com