Infested

When I was in property management, bed bugs and German roaches were a 4 letter word.  Whatever pest control company we used, when an apartment was “infested” with either of these two pest, it almost always meant that the unit had to be taken off line for an undetermined amount of time.  The most challenging part of the removal was never pest themselves, it more than likely dealt with the tenant that caused the infestation in the first place. That tenant’s actions, unless it was properly corrected, would only welcome back the same pest. 

America is infested with racism.  It is our original sin, and although we have had pest control in 1865 and the 1960’s, we have never really addressed the sin that is racism in this country.  See back then, they just hid under hoods and masked.  They made laws that held back progress.  They used law enforcement as an extended arm of bigotry in places like Philadelphia(MS) and Chicago. And now, the infestation has come out with tiki torches. They call law enforcement on men mowing their own lawns.  We have never reconciled a past that as of today, has 10 year old black children charged with aggravated assault for playing dodgeball.  The statistics and numbers already tell a story that most Americans would rather “look away” from, our history continues to define our future.  

Resolution:  

Often when an apartment was so bad, the entire building had to be “tented” and the pest would be smoked out. This process was arduous and.... expensive, but it worked. Every time.  Smoke’m out. Expose them for their actions and behavior. Expose them for their silence and complicity.  From the White House to the School yard to the TSA, unless we stomp it out of every corner of this country, we will never rid ourselves of this infestation.