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Sorrell sky- This is not exactly a direct response to your post. It started as one, but it got away from me. I am using it as a springboard, because there have been many posts with similar thoughts expressed. Any time I use the word you, I am referring to the general reader, not you specifically, except in this section. Don't feel like you have to respond or that I expect one. Unless, you are really moved to reply, then feel free.
Everyone Else- If this is pretentious or you disagree, point your wrath at me. Leave Sorrel sky out of it. If there is anything that rings false or absurd let me know.
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People are frustrated and don't feel like they are treated as American citizens but as second class in the country of their birth. A man was gunned down in the street and the LE seems to be dragging their feet on investigating it compared to if the roles were reversed. Then instead of using community policing, the LE act like an occupying force. It isn't this one shooting incident that is causing this reaction, it is just the latest in a series, the biggest one being the scarcity of jobs for 18-30 yo. It is the old straw that broke the camel's back cliche.
I have heard more than once in these threads "where are the MLK's" or "MLK must be rolling over in his grave." Well people are intimidated into not channeling their inner MLK or Ghandi, because they were assassinated for their beliefs. An entire vanguard of leadership was wiped out in the 1960s, when JFK, Macolm X, MLK, and RFK were assassinated. The civil rights and left have never really recovered from that loss of leadership. Jesse Jackson as far as I can tell was no more than a security presence for MLK at the time of the assassination. The status quo is perfectly happy with leaders like Sharpton and Jackson, because they are not very effective and can be bought off with bribes if they ever stumble onto an effective message or method to provoke change.
Then you have lottery winners like Oprah who uses most of her wealth to make more money and allots more of her charity to African causes than here in the US. Or Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Kenya who making a living by asking those without to live vicariously through their lyrics and exploits. Others like Russell Simmons preach taking care of their own when on MSNBC or Real-time w/Bill Maher, but has no problem promoting "credit" cards that ask poor people to pay 15-20% surcharges to use their own money to restore their credit. MSNBC gives the illusion of caring during a story like this or Trayvon Martin, but other than a media firestorm like this other than the odd poorly researched Chris Hayes report on shootings in Chicago or gentrification impacts in Brooklyn on poor brown kids (African-American and Hispanics), nary a peep out of Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews. Lawrence O'Donnell only cares about Kids in Africa, kids in Atlanta he couldn't be bothered unless there is a controversial shooting. The rest of the time they are arguing about the stupidest Republican, or which Tea Party leader is the biggest racist. Fox goes in the other direction and stokes the fears and resentments of older Americans. Bill O'Reilly is demonizing and practically begging for one of his "patriots" to take care of a late term abortion provider. While Sean Hannity is praising a tax cheat and a squatter like Cliven Bundy.
A brave intelligent man with limited resources doesn't play a game that is rigged against him. He either changes the game (revolution) or quits (suicide). Most of us aren't that brave or intelligent so we muddle through with rationalizations, like I am not personally a racist, I give to charity, or I vote, so I can't possibly be part of the problem.
Think of it on a personal level. If your own young adult child (19 years old) attempted suicide, because he/she could not figure out a better way to communicate his/her rage of being ignored, lost, and hopelessness, I would hope you would not berate their intelligence or ignore their mental health problems by telling them they have only themselves to blame. You would get them mental health professionals as soon as possible and do everything in your power to get them the resources necessary to lead a productive and happy life if possible. Why, because you provided them with half their genetic makeup and provided their environment that created this crisis. Even if your child made some some poor personal choices along the way and you felt like you were the best parent you could be, you would feel a responsibility for how their life has turned out so far.
Well, in the American experience African-American's have been dealt a pretty lousy hand. Slavery, Jim Crow, lynching, redlining, racial bias in LE, etc. have left a lingering impact that 50 some years of theoretical equality have not been able to eradicate. They have seen foreign waves of Irish, Italians, Chinese, Germans, etc., face a generation of harsh racism or bias, but be accepted into the American Melting Pot as full americans with standards of living and wealth comparable to white Americans that have been here for generations. Yet, african-americans get passed by these new ethnic group.
Yes there are success stories like Oprah or a great athlete that makes more money in a week or month, than most of us will in a lifetime. However, those are the exceptions, not the rule. Under that unrealistic standard, why aren't all white American's as rich as Warren Buffet or Bill Gates? That is an absurd standard, but some people hold african-americans to that standard if they complain about the current power structure.
When a large part of our fellow native born citizens feel like acting like child when on the national stage in the words of some posters, maybe we should start treating them as adults with full rights afforded by the Constitution. What we are doing now does not seem to be working.
