The light and dark side of change

It took a war, economic breakdown, rapid growth of some kind, and in this case the industrial age, changes in traditions, and unpreparedness by a cocky government to inform the people, that ultimately led to one of the most horrific eras in World history.
A country in social and economic stress coupled with ambivalent feelings and a need to blame other people groups that created a formula that allowed a small extremist group of disgruntled and unemployed soldiers to seize an irrevocable opportunity that lead to the death of nearly 6 million people (The Wannsee Protocol, New York Garland, 1982).
A rather obscure Corporal rose through the ranks by playing the cards of fear and uncertainty to a people who were War ravaged and looking to grasp on to anything that was familiar. Simply, they were unprepared for the Change that overtook their country.  And so, by 1933 the Nazi Party would become the legal government of Germany and Hitler appointed as its Chancellor.
These formulas on a human disaster scale are very real and common throughout world history. Situations like Nazi Germany did not happen overnight, the stage was set first. But because they don’t happen overnight is the very reason how educated, reasonable, and at one point morally sound people can be deceived into agreeing and participating in the most heinous acts of crimes against humanity.
America has seen its own fair share of being caught off guard and unprepared for Change.   In 1866 the KKK was formed by a small group of veterans of the Confederate Army and although they were disbanded under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, enforced by then President Ulysses S. Grant (The New Georgia Encyclopedia) the second Ku Klux Klan that rose to power in 1915 was far more blood seeking than the first.  And in recent history, just a little over 40 years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was finally passed after decades of unspeakable hate crimes against groups of people who only wanted fair treatment. 
But we’ve come a long way, and surely we are more advanced as human beings and have more tolerance for each other. And seemingly hate crimes have decreased, right?  Well as far as we can guess, because only as recent as 1991 have Federal law enforcement officials been compiling nationwide hate crime statistics (American Psychology Association, 1998). And from that data reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, African Americans are still the greatest group at risk for hate crimes standing at 62% with Hispanics at a close second because of their recent immigrant status in this country. Gender and religious hate crimes have seen a recent spike upward since the 1990’s as well.
According to Dr. Donald P. Green, a political scientist at Yale University, one form of economic change that may set the stage for racist hate crimes occurs due to a visceral aversion to social change, when a group of people want to preserve what they see as a disappearing of a traditional way of life. And according to Dr. Green, the more rapid the change, the more likely violence will occur (Hate Crimes Today: An Age-Old Foe In Modern Dress, article 1998).
So what does all this have to do with the here and now? Well, our country is undergoing a massive movement towards change, primarily in the political arena. This is change on a monumental scale for America. The question at hand, are we prepared for what this change or the things to come may mean? Are we preparing ourselves for what having the first African American President could mean for this country? Or for what could be unearthed in response to a challenge of tradition?
There is no doubt that people want change and deserve change, but wanting change and being prepared for change are two different things.  Changing that which is old and stale is something magnificent, but just as change can be liberating and the start of something beautiful, it can also be something dangerous and volatile if the group of people it’s affecting is not prepared for it. And as history has shown us, preparation is the key to combating these high risk formulas for disaster.
So what do we do? There was a need yesterday to start preparing because there’s so much going on in our country right now: The war in Iraq, our weakening economy, immigration issues, unemployment, the rising costs of living, and the possibility of very unique presidential leaders for our country.  Often we operate on a reactive program rather than a proactive program. And anytime we react, there’s always a defensive end to counter and usually escalate the situation out of control. We don’t want that anymore!
 So we start with ourselves, the man in the mirror as the saying goes. We make up in our minds that we will do the right thing no matter the stressors that may be pressing us to one side or the other. As a majority we pull ourselves out of the apathetic attitudes and learn the lessons history has shown us because if we don’t we willingly misplace power into the hands of the disgruntled minority extremist groups that are looking for opportunities to push forth their agendas. 
We sit down with our loved ones, with our most vulnerable; the children, and share the importance of holding integrity at a high standard. We guide our families from a moral compass of Godly beliefs that have stood the test of time.
We then must communicate with our community leaders the need to form community coalition groups and town hall meetings to discuss what “change” can mean for our communities, and not the ‘change’  in political mumble jumble terms, but address the core issues that resonate deep within us. We share with the leaders our hopes and fears and open ourselves to one another and start the trusting process.
Then we demand that our local leaders share with our nation’s leaders the voice of the people.
Change is a constantly in motion phenomenon, a living abstract that can incite within the human experience the most beautiful of possibilities or the worst of one’s imagination. Change can take on many forms and in most instances reflects a hunger for growth and responds to a greater need. Undisputed, Change is necessary for life to thrive. The quality of that life depends on how prepared it is to receive the Change. 

Miriam Adams-Washington is a published author, freelance writer as well as Screenwriter. She lives in the Tri-State area of Monroe City, Mo., with her family. Please visit Miriam at her website: www.publishedauthors.net/miriamadwashington01
Her current book on the market is titled “The Quiet Strength Within” and can be purchased anywhere books are sold or directly from her at miriamadamswashington_01@yahoo.com