My reasons for naming my column "The Open Mind", was to try to encourage the reader to think more objectively and imagine themselves in the story or circumstances as they read. Regardless if the purpose of my articles is to criticize, complain, reminisce, evaluate, defend, etc, somewhere in those articles, we all have been participants. So it here goes.

Assault, abuse, jealousy, hatred, prejudice, theft, dissent, contempt, lying, revenge, neglect, selfishness, etc. and I could go on for a few more lines to show the kind of transgressions committed against people and sometimes to animals.

The importance of understanding their significance is to also know they usually flow both ways. Although it doesn't mean the person who suffered at the hands of another will necessarily have to use some method of revenge for it to happen. In fact, in most situations, they may know nothing about it when it occurs.

Buddhists call it Karma, which is an ancient word of the Sanskrit, the study of the language of nature, meaning "causation": Cause and effect, conditioning, or action and reaction. More to the point, everything depends on yourself. This can result from pleasure and pain arising from virtuous and non virtuous actions, which comes not only from the outside but from within.

A more common way of understanding this is what you put in, you get out, or what goes around comes around. The reason I feel this is an important subject is to remind blacks who provoke these conditions against their own, to realize the nemesis in their lives could be because of their own doings.

God gave each one of us free will to do what's right. What guarantees it will work is wisdom. But some waste good judgment by flipping a coin instead. When it lands on the wrong side, knowing there's usually no way to rectify what has already been done, they try to convince themselves they had no other choice.

So in many ways, blacks could be going through some reciprocal payback, which could be why many can't get their lives in order. Theoretical, maybe? But it has more correlation to what's suggested here than for some other reason, not only that, it adds to what already is being done to us. [So with honesty, regardless if you are male or female, take a serious look at yourself and see if you're not guilty of one or more].

I'm not a God, or someone who's free of ever doing something that was wrong, but when we plan to do wrong, the consequences are usually more severe. This subject may not speak anywhere about the black experience, but it should show that it's self-defeating when we continue hurting each other because we can't get our lives in order.

Of course, whites may be guilty of the same, but they're not my concern, until these actions are perpetrated upon me or my people. But blacks have to learn to defend themselves against whites who commit them unnecessarily, but also be willing to be accountable when we do the same to each other.

America spends millions of dollars on homeland security to allegedly keep us safe from terrorists, yet within the black communities, more people are injured and die yearly than the total amount who died on September 11th. We can complain about whites and the things they do, but being more considerate about what we do to each other could help to avoid the turmoil and personal conflict that keeps us from improving our lives.

© 2005 By Thomas Duffy
Afromerica staff writer

Brother Thomas Duffy will be keeping the Black community updated on the most current Black expereinces effecting our lives. Visit regularly for new information that could help you overcome and make the best of your everyday experiences.

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