It's Not Just Snowboarding. It Can't Be.

I've spent a good portion of my life chasing winter and the fun that comes with being in the mountains surrounded by like minded people, but deep down I knew that there was more in life.  I loved that lifestyle.  Who wouldn't?  Finding every opportunity for fun imaginable is exhausting.   Hiking, biking, boating, snowshoeing, canoeing, camping, snowboarding, skiing.  What's not to love?  I knew it was a selfish pursuit.

Today I am saddened by our nation.  I am sad to admit that hate resides unchecked within our boarders and I cannot stay silent.  It is easy to point fingers at other nations and say that the problems are theirs, but in this land of the free and home of the brave we are harboring cowards.  Cowards that hide behind a larger group to express Nazi sentiments, racist ideology and hatred of groups that don't look like they look.

Hatred is alive and well at home.  This past election is proof.  A campaign that uses anger as fuel and nationalism as motive now sits at the helm of our country and the members of the Alt Right feel as though they have a platform on which to express their bigotry.  It is disgusting that the "leader" of the free world fails to condemn them and their hatred.  His silence condones their violence.  It gives them purpose and legitimacy.

We have no place in our society for such hatred and violence against one another.  To hate someone because of the color of their skin is like hating someone with brown eyes.  The color of one's skin or eyes has nothing to do with whether they are a good husband or wife, whether they are a loving parent or kind neighbor.  To say that we need to rid our nation of people of color is asinine.  This nation was tribes of "people of color" long before the first "white national" stepped foot on this land.

I am sickened by what is happening in our country; by the Alt Right, by the police, by the legal system and by each other.  Our silence magnifies the rhetoric, the violence and the injustice in the streets.  Continuing life as usual because it isn't happening to you, to your family or in your neighborhood makes you complicit in the hatred.  It tarnishes the happiness that can come out of this country at the expense of those that are treated unjustly.  Our privilege is our downfall.