ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN COMMENTARY: Sick and tired? What are you going to do about it?

It would be easy to write that we as people should come together and work together for the common good of all of the people, without regard for race, sex, natural origin, color, age, religion, handicap or personal beliefs.

But all thinking people know that is tantamount to a pipe dream to make such a request and expect it to be honored.

As we contemplate just what are we going to do in 2022, everybody is tired of something or somebody. This tiredness could be singular, plural or just in general.

People are tired of hearing about civil rights violations. While you are tired of hearing about rights violations, know that those whose rights are being violated are tired of it, too. Everything is not about civil rights violations, but many of the things that throw this country into chaos are about rights being violated, many under color of law (by government or its branches).

Those who are the most tired should remember that civil rights violations are not only those about Black males being killed in great numbers by white police officers and non-law enforcement white males. These killings receive the most attention and cause the most public outcry.

Are you tired of hearing about school children having their right to a free and safe education violated on such a frequent basis that anyone with a child or grandchild in school should be frightened every time the child leaves for school?

Their civil rights are being violated by their peers whose parents are complicit in their obviously troubled children owning guns, then having free access to carry the guns to school, to public rallies, to stores and even to church to take out their anger and bitterness on innocent people.

You’re tired of hearing about the coronavirus, and now the new Omicron strain. That tiredness has probably assisted in Alabama being third from last in the nation in its COVID-19 vaccination rate, and at the back of the pack for vaccination for children.

According to data reports, Alabama remains far behind in overall vaccinations. For all age groups, only 46.6% of the state’s total population is fully vaccinated. Only Wyoming and Idaho are worse, although recent reports say they are gaining, and before long Alabama could once again have the lowest vaccination rate in America.

Get tired of this state of affairs and get vaccinated. Stop fighting mask wearing and social distancing. Stop declaring a constitutional right to not get a vaccination. Stop declaring a right to be mask free while family and friends are dying from a virus that does not discriminate.

America is so divided on so many issues and people that an urging to come together as a people will fall upon deaf ears. Half of the country is sick and tired of twice-impeached Donald Trump. The other half is still promoting the big lie by ostensibly “taking actions” to prevent this from happening again. That action has resulted in lawsuits being filed across the country by the Department of Justice to protect the voting rights of the young, the old, the poor, the ill and disabled, and those who simply want to participate in the electoral process by working at the polls or assisting others.

People should be sick and tired of the real threat to democracy. The threat is being posed continuously by Trump, the titular head of the Republican Party. The country cannot withstand another presidential campaign by this bully who openly encourages hate, autocracy, selfishness and a notorious disdain for the rule of law. It has been demonstrated time and time again that this would-be dictator firmly believes that the law does not apply to him, his children nor any of his minions.

We lost a lot of Americans from the pandemic. We owe its entrenchment to the disgraced former occupant of the White House. We lost a great many Americans who got sick and tired of what the country looked like. They tried to do something about it.

Yes, you are sick and tired of a great many things. What are you going to do about it? I say that we have to set aside some of our daily trivia and do as is stated by Jesus in the New Testament of the Bible — “become fishers of men.”

Elaine Harris Spearman, Esq., a Gadsden native, is the retired legal advisor to the comptroller of the City of St. Louis. The views reflected are her own.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Elaine Harris Spearman discusses national tiredness