Think about it people, talking about racism is kind of like answering your wife's question as to whether she is fat. She knows she is, you know she is, other people can see she is, but there is not an answer that is safe for you to give because you are a liar with one and a __________ (you fill in the blank) with the other. Beside that, you may not make the cover of GQ either.
The same applies to cow manure, if you don't stir it, it doesn't stink - kind of like racism.
After all of the media attention and motivated protesters, the outcome for the defendants and the victim in our justice system will be more or less the same because we operate under established juris prudence and lady justice has proven to be color-blind for the most part.
So when the sun comes up tomorrow, just remember that while your neighbors skin color may not be what you think it ought to be, kind words and gentle actions may do more to make the day peaceful and help all of us live past this argument than trifling with something that is not going to change anyway.
3 comments:
It is always good to have variety. The beauty of freedom of speech is that people are allowed to define themselves - for all to see.
I recently read a book entitled "The Closing of the American Mind" I would recommend everyone read it. While the US government doesn't outright spew its propaganda on its citizens, steps have been taken to "taint" our point of view of the world. Because we don't study the underlying theology, ideology and philosophies of other cultures, economic theories, and political structures, we accept what our mainstream media spoon feeds us, what our talking head politicians tell us and well, what little there is in our world history and American history books about other countries and their citizens, political structures, religions, etc.
Until one can actually walk around with some understanding of another culture, some aspect of why their country practices a certain form of political structure, accepts a certain form of religious ideology, and lives by a certain economic and political creed, we cannot begin to truly understand that individual.
While it should be easy to understand someone of a different color or socioeconomic background who lives in the US if you also live in the US, there are so many variables shaping that other person's life, that until we all begin to sit down and talk, and more importantly LISTEN to each other, we will never be able to move forward.
Jumping up and down, screaming fire, or in this case, racism, is not the answer. Taking the time to understand the circumstances surrounding the incident, realizing the ramifications of committing a violent act while on parole, and understanding that a beating of an individual, whether by 1 person or 6 persons, is NOT acceptable in any culture, should have been the first step. Instead, because of past mistreatments, and a failure to accept responsiblities, the blame game was played. Fueled by the media, it grew out of hand. While a DA in Atlanta is looking for answers to file stronger charges on juveniles who are committing crimes, a DA in Louisiana, who tried to do the same thing has been criticized.
What we need to realize is that juvenile crime, like most crime has gotten out of control. The offenses and the sentences only allow the offenders to recommit the acts and to continue down a violent path that is erased once they become of age. Only then can they be locked away. By then, they are lost to society. This must change. Just as society must change.
Juveniles are going through and clogging up the JV court system at records rates for behaviors that parents who actually parented and had backbones handled in the past, behaviors like acting, "ungovernable".
My old 86 year old parents had their remedies for, "ungovernable." Notice that I said parents (plural). I knew who my Daddy was and where he was when I was growing up.
Children learn exactly what we teach them, and they learn one hell of a lot more by watching what we do than by listening to what we say...a concept that today eludes far too many parents and far too many so-called educators.
There was a time, years ago, when football coaches, the local school administrations, and the city fathers knew better than to repeatedly run interference and allow thugs and/or spoiled brats to keep participating...the general public would not have put up with it. But today, anything goes as long as our team wins!
These ancient fossils believed that school was a place to become literate and they valued education and character development over, "winning at any cost."
My old 86 year old Daddy also has his comments about, "Bread and Circuses" being the downfall of the Roman Empire and of American as well.
The school system and town of Jena got exactly what it deserved, and these same kinds of chickens are coming home to roost in other places where juvenile delinquents with athletic talent are repeatedly shielded from the consequences of their antisocial actions until they become sociopaths who believe that they are untouchable.
This principle of being shielded from consequences and never knowing limits also applies to the children of the influential, even when they have no athletic talent. You get a more clever kind of socipath (then Enron kind) out of the influential class.
You can believe that if M Bell had been an ordinary kid without extraordinary athletic talent, he would have been shipped off to a juvenile facility before he developed such a rap sheet of, "priors."
To the poster who referred to the book, "The Closing of the American Mind,"......we haven't gotten into such sad shape because we belive the propaganda our lamestream media spews; we are so busy with our bread and circuses that we aren't teaching our children the right values and instilling character.
A man who has been taught values and practices them cannot have his mind tainted. We are our own worst enemy individually and in groups. We want the, "rules" to apply to everyone but us.
Until society stops putting a greater value on the amoral, "gladiator," than the unassuming, "nerd," of character things are not going to change, and we will continue to reap exacly what we sow.
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