Shaun King: Racism has found its way into the Cincinnati Zoo saga

[gollygee]

229. I'm a parent too

And I don't feel blame for the mom at all. My older child was cautious and stayed with me, but my younger one is a handful. She has no sense of danger, she likes to run, she feels free and safe everywhere and runs wherever her attention takes her without thinking about any consequences, and it freaks me out. She's gotten away from me before, and it wasn't because I didn't care about her safety or thought I owned her. She was determined to get away from me, and she was smart enough to manage it. I feel like I spent the first few years of her life keeping her from killing herself, and that wasn't an easy task.

I understand people are looking at this from two different angles, but please don't think those of us on the other side think we own our children, or that we don't care about their safety or our role as their stewards. We just see a world where things don't always go as planned.

And here's this, from a Unitarian minister:

My thoughts on the tragedy at the Cincinnati Zoo:

I am the adventurous child that feels safe enough in the world to climb over a fence and into the world of a caged gorilla at the zoo.

I am the gorilla that reacts with instincts that are at once tender and frightened.

I am the zookeeper that must respond quickly, with their best judgment, to the unfolding drama, in a way that serves the highest good.

I am the sharp shooter that pulls the trigger and releases the bullet that ends the gorilla’s life.

I am the parent of the adventurous child that clutches their racing heart and holds their churning stomach.

I am the bystander in the crowd that screams in fright and dismay, unable to look away.

I am the adventurous child that looks into the eyes of the gorilla and then feels their self being lifted, tossed, and dragged – their flesh being scraped and torn.

I am the gorilla that feels the flashing pain of a piercing bullet and feels the life force drain out of their body.

I am the parent of the child that watches, helplessly.

I am the zookeeper that must live with the consequences of their decision, being forever more questioned, and even reviled for their gut-wrenching choice.

I am the child whose life is now marked by a terror no one else will ever understand.

I am the parent whose life is now marked by a terror and a guilt no one else will ever understand, a parent whose life is now marked by public scorn.

I am the bystander that now must make sense of what I have witnessed.

I am the member of the public at large that now must wrestle with moral and ethical issues I had not considered before, issues of valuing one life over another, issues of freedom and individual agency, issues of responsibility for and protection of those entrusted to our care.

I am the person whose heart is broken open by a tragedy beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.

I am the person that rushes to judgment and finds some comfort in assigning blame.

I am the person that must live in this world where there are no easy answers, where people just like me are called to respond to circumstances that I have only visited in my worst nightmares.

I am the person that finds within myself a capacity for compassion and an embrace for ambiguity that stretches me into the fullness of what it means to be human.

--Rev. Diane Dowgiert, UU minister