Innocence lost

As children we are taught the ennobling qualities of certain professions. We were asked what we wanted to be when we grow up, and then we were shown role models. We were taught to trust, to know who will keep us safe.

While many of us outgrew our initial choices of professions, the truth is we have been ingrained at an early age what goodness and righteousness look like.

Now, fast-forward to the present where those to whom we entrusted our safety is suddenly turned against us. Do you get the cognitive dissonance, do you understand the disillusionment that comes from having to confront that reality?

Because that is where we are now.  The people out on the streets chanting against police brutality here, Hong Kong, and other places; they are doing it because it is more than just about equality and justice, it is about innocence lost. It is about what do we tell our children moving forward. Who can they trust? How can they be safe? How do we secure a future for them? When we can’t protect them, who can they turn to?

This isn’t a matter of race, gender, or politics. It is about accountability. It is about balance and order. The anguish that is radiating, at the core of it is the acknowledgment of what we held to be sacrosanct has been broken. The unspoken contract of making it a safer world for our young, caring for the needy, and securing a better future- that contract has been breached. That is why this is all so visceral, because it hurts when the last visage of innocence is torn away with such callousness. It hurts because at the core of it we all feel violated.