For the past three weeks the national media and our own local media has told us over and over we are all a bunch of evil racists in Jacksonville. But are we really? My experience this past weekend with a gaggle of cheerleaders outside of a local grocery store proves otherwise.

I don’t know about you, but I am really tired of the mainstream media, politicians, activists and our local media telling us we are racist every single day. I honestly cannot remember the last time I turned on our local morning news and didn’t hear at least one story about race.

This past Saturday, almost the entire first block of one local morning show’s rundown consisted of story after story of how racist Jacksonville was and still is and then told us to get our 6th COVID booster between weather segments. It is honestly exhausting, and it must end.

So, after watching the local morning news and learning more about how racist myself and my neighbors are, it was time for my daughter’s fundraiser for her elementary school’s cheerleading squad’s competition season. Driving over to the Winn-Dixie on Atlantic and Girvin, I will admit, I was in a foul mood. I did not want to stand in front of a grocery store on a very hot Saturday for hours, while my 6-year-old asked strangers for money. It is hard to drown out the darkness when it is constantly shoved down our throats.

When we arrived at the grocery store, the girls were nervous, but excited. The girls are in 1st, 2 and 3rd grade. It took some coaxing and a little warming up, but after the first few donations, the girls were really into it.

Over the next few hours, these little girls were able to experience absolute kindness and love from complete strangers in this town. Not that it matters, but almost all the girls on the squad are white. And these little white girls watched black men and women, Asians, Hispanics, people who don’t speak English, and even children donating their own money to them. It was truly inspiring. Everyone had an encouraging word for the girls before donating. Some gave a dollar or two, but most went big and donated 5s,10s and 20s! A lot of the older people who donated would ask the girls for a cheer or a stunt and they would happily perform. Donating, of course, would lead to socializing for the parents. It was so nice for us to be able to talk with so many people from so many different walks of life. Our city truly is a wonderful melting pot.

The parents watched their child transform from being very shy and nervous to confidently asking strangers to donate, saying “please” and “thank you” and even when people said they couldn’t donate, the girls would happily reply “that is o.k. Thank you anyways and have a great day!” I have never seen my daughter behave that way. It seemed as though, the kids were feeding off the positivity and it was palpable! We were only supposed to commit to an hour, but my daughter was having so much fun meeting people, we stayed for almost 3 hours!

During the event I began talking with the other parents and explained how I felt after watching the news that morning. I asked if they agreed with the media’s narrative about our city or if, like me, they think it is all hogwash and an attempt to divide us even more. Everyone agreed the narrative is an attempt to divide.

It would be silly of me to suggest racism in Jacksonville doesn’t exist. Of course, it does. It just does not manifest itself the way the media, politicians and our public education system proclaim.

There are always going to be some bad apples in a basket of more than a million. However, the majority of everyone in this town are good, genuine people who all want the same things in life. We all want to live freely, provide for our family and watch our children grow up. Living in an amazing city like ours is just an added bonus.

So, a message to our local media. It is time for the industry to decide if they want to keep featuring stories designed to spark anger, fear and division or feature stories that bring a community together. Now is your moment. You have the power and platform to start a revolution for good in this city. The good is already there. We see it. We experience it. We just want you to show it.

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