No Justice Allowed

It is getting more and more difficult to watch the trials of police officers that have killed black men. I am not anti police by any means, but it is just mind boggling how some of these officers can not be held accountable to the laws that normal citizens or human beings are held to, even when there is overwhelming evidence. A black man is stopped for a minor driving infraction. He tells the police officer he has a legal firearm in his possession. There is a woman and child in the vehicle. As he reaches for his identification, which he was asked for, he is shot several times by the officer. The officer says he was afraid and doesn't know why he fired. He is not found guilty of anything, even though a life was taken.

Another incident where a black man, in his fifties, stop for a tail light being out. He gets  out of the vehicle as requested. The officer has a Taser. The man ran (barely since he is pretty old) and gets shot in the back four times and dies. There is a bystander he video tapes the incident, which clearly shows that there was no struggle and that the officer just shots the man in the back while he is running. He then drops something (Taser?) down by the body. His defense is that there was a struggle, the man had the Taser on him and he feared for his life so he had to use deadly force. I don't know how much clearer the video could have been to refute this story but there was a mistrial because the jury could not come to a consensus as to finding him guilty of murder. The jury of course was comprised of his peers ( 5 white men, 6 white women, and 1 African American).

While murder may be off the table for police officers, who risk heir lives daily, the prosecutors in these cases should seek manslaughter, if nothing else, since that is what it is. Because they give the jury many choices, most of these cases will end in a hung jury. There have been many cases of police shootings and killing black men, including the case in Chicago that was covered up for months. A black man with no weapon in the street walking past the police, not towards, and being shot 16 times, even while on the ground. In these cases black lives mean nothing and in several, even those that don't end in death, illustrate this fact clearly. There will not be any justice because the system does not allow for justice if you are not of the white race in our society.

 

 I have lost faith that any police officer will ever be convicted of these types of crimes, under our current legal system. In Florida there are laws that protect the general white public from the criminals. A white motorist involved in a road rage incident can sit in their car and if a black man approaches and comes to the window to talk, they can shoot them and say they were threatened. This did happen and the man did not even get book at the police station after the black man died. If the roles had been reversed here is no way that you can make me believe that the same would have happened. It is also hard to see the families of these people, like Treyvon Martin's and Walter Scott's leave with no justice only to say that they have their faith in God and that they can forgive and will get justice. One of our country's guiding principles is "In God We Trust". I guess that is only for those who are not in control and make the policies and laws that rule this country. 

We got Trumped

After a very nasty primary, in which things were said and actions taken more out of a reality show than a presidential campaign, the reality show boss won the Presidency of the United States of American. Donald Trump with no political experience of "any" kind beat out the ultimate Washington insider Hillary Clinton. Many were shocked and amazed by this feat. But I was not. Living in the country we live in, and having studied its beginnings and history (not necessarily the one taught in school) it is quite understandable. While I am sorry for the outcome I don't think that America will go down in smoke under Trump or that the sky will be falling. After all we got through the George Bush years, and he was even close to being the man for the job either.

While things have been better for "America" under President Obama, he was not able to bring about the change that people so desperately wanted after eight years of Bush and the recession that was created.  

The Bush's (both) had failed them,. Clinton had failed them, and now Obama had failed them (even though the majority of that came fro Republican obstructionism). No wonder that didn't want to see another political family insider in the White House again. It also didn't help Hillary to have the email scandal going on, but even worst was the fact that Americans really don't like to see their elective officials becoming wealthy, while in office to serve them. At least Trump had his own money which he got the old fashion way, from his family and building a successful business. In a society that values the rich and famous he was a nature, even if he had a great deal of personal faults on display.

The media got it dead wrong as they always go with the front runners and the establishment. Most of the people that they didn't poll were just tired of being tired. I don't think that Trump has anything in common with the average American citizen, and becoming President won't change that. But he has some ideas that he will try, just because he can and believes in them. Some will benefit a large group of people and others will hurt a large group of people. As the country continues to be divided by race and economics, that's just the way it is. Will race relations get better,will immigration and  the lives of those immigrants here get better, and will the economic gap between the rich and the poor get better? I think the answer to all of these questions are no. Trickle down economics has been proven not to work over the long haul and minorities are here to stay. This law and order President will also be visible in the country that already has the largest incarceration rate in the world.

No need to cry now. Our country has spoken and while the government is no longer divided (the Republicans will be in control of all three branches) the people still are. It was not the deplorables that gave the election to Donald Trump, it was the barber, the unemployed factory worker, the soccer mom, the educated, and the uneducated women and men of our country looking for a change. Hasn't that always been the case of America and its form of democracy.

Be afraid, be very afraid

Ever since the police shooting of Micheal Brown in Ferguson, Mo. confrontations between the policed and African Americans have been highlighted through social media and the media as a whole. The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted our broken justice system and the fact that police are killing black males at an alarming rate. This is something black people where aware of but now it is captured on video ( remember Rodney King) and cries for justice are making it to the 6:00 pm news. It has reached the point where driving while black is no long just harassment by the police, but can be a death sentence. As has been demonstrated, even doing nothing or the "right" things can get you shot, as police officers claim "fear for their lives" as a defense for the killings.

Now that we are afraid of the police, and they are afraid of us, the outcomes can be expected. Yes there are good cops and then there are bad cops. This is not a cycle that has just occurred but a systemic problem that has been ingrained into our police forces across the country. When you interact with bad people 90% of the time you get trained that everyone should be treated as if they are a criminal and to take appropriate action. They are trained to shoot to kill, not wound, when threatened. They are given the power to impose their wills upon others and respond forcefully to those that don't, even if their commands are not valid. The fact that they are superior and have power over others is paramount in their minds to providing law and order.

Of course the fact that young black males are suffering from both economic and educational deficiencies, which already leads them to a sense of hopelessness, does not help the situation. The abundance of gangs which provides many with a sense of togetherness, and drugs which provides them with capital fans the flames also. Almost any city in America has areas where guns are prevalent, and so are killings and crime. However, the police have now gone over the edge and placed all black men in that category. And some believe that since we are killing each other that we should not care about their killing of us. 

I have never been in any trouble with the law, but I have always been nervous when I had to interact with police, particularly when stopped in my car for whatever reason. Now at over 65 years of age I am even more afraid of being stopped, because it could be a deadly encounter. Young, old, big, small, dark or light, it doesn't matter. My wife is afraid to go to the mall and even walking in the park because of the crazy things that people are doing. Guns don't kill people, but people use them a lot to kill people. When we go to the movies my wife will no longer sit in the middle section for fear of a possible shooting or the people behind her. It is crazy but reality.

There is a new term floating around these days called "implicit bias". Another term for racism, so you don't have to call someone a racist. We all have it and it is taught to all of us as we grow up. As far back as preschool. For whites it has always been the same. They are the superior race and everyone else is less than them. Blacks get the bias the opposite way from white to believe that they are inferior. As one scholar once said, it is ridiculous to believe that one human being is less that another just because of the pigment of their skin. We are all one race, the human race, and one ethnic group has divided that race into classes for their benefit.We are not born with this, it is learned. It is so ingrained into America's history and culture that I don't believe it will ever be undone. So we should all be afraid, very afraid that America will implode some day due to this strife. 

I am not a strongly religious man, but I believe in God and particularly the "teachings" of the Bible. America's troubles escalated as we moved further and further away from God and our morality. Generations of children no longer follow Christian values. In God We Trust is just a catch phrase these days. Everything is now OK to do, both in entertainment and real life. I "chose" not to live my life in fear like this, and believe that my faith allows me not to be stressed. All things are in God's hands and he is in control.

Election 2016

It's time to elect another President of the United States.Every four years we get to see how the man in charge is doing and whether or not we need to make a change. If we believe in him we give him a second term but no more. President Obama, our first black president is at the end of his terms. He has done an excellent job in my opinions faced with the crisis that our country faced when he took over. We were in a deep recession, the banking and financial institutions along with major corporations where crumbling, with massive unemployment, weather and man made catastrophes, along with two wars going on outside our country and terrorism on the rise. Things are better even now under his leadership even with the obstruction from the other major political party and racism which still soundly exists in our country. I believe he will go down as one of our great presidents, who brought us back from the brink and tried to help our people with things like the Affordable Health Care Act and extracting our troops from war zones, and harms way. Only history will tell and those who write it.

This years election is one for the ages, with the first woman nominated by the Democrats, Hillary Clinton, our current Secretary of State. Hillary has been involved in politics since her husband Bill was President. She later became a Senator for New York, and after losing to President Obama in a heated contest in 2012, she worked with him as Secretary of State. Recently she has been entangled in several controversies, including the handling of a terrorist attack in Benghazi  where several Americans were killed and the use of a personal cell phone for communications while at the State Department.  Nevertheless she is truly a qualified candidate. The public has been bombarded with media attacking her honesty and trust issues.

On the other side the Republicans started out with no major flag bearer and sixteen individuals vying for the nomination. Governors, mayors, congressmen, a woman executive, a surgeon, and a millionaire named Donald Trump. After all the dust cleared the businessman and millionaire Donald Trump had dispatched all the others with his bombastic and in your face approached during the debates and campaign. It told the American people that he would make America Great Again, just as he had made his businesses great. He would build a wall to keep immigrants from Mexico out, no Muslims allowed into the country, get out of NATO if the other nations didn't pay their fair share, and bomb the hell out of ISIS. He would bring jobs back and businesses would grow and stop all this waste of money by the government by shutting down regulatory agencies. People were angry about how things are and many fell for this in your face approach. No matter that he talked down to women, people of color, Muslims, and anyone who didn't agree or listen to him. A first class bully by many accounts with little political knowledge or moral values. Once he got rolling even his own party couldn't reel him in or follow some of their established ideology.

To say the least this guy is very scary to the majority of people. He talked about how terrible the country is now and that the people in charge don"t know what they are doing. But he has no idea of how to fix things and when asked will only state that he is the only man to do it, and we should believe him. His temperament is one of a soft skinned narcissist who can be prodded by a tweet or a statement from an opponent. It scares  me that he would be running our military or be the one making decisions for millions of people and our future.

I recently meet a could from Sweden while on vacation and they asked me what I thought about Trump and if he could win. They have been following the election and are also scared that a person who is talking about hate and separatism could even be in the running. I felt a sense of embarrassment but had to say that our country is fragmented and it appears that there is a section that has embraced this conduct and philosophy. I told them that I hoped that the overall population did not and at the end of the day see that we can only get better by working together, both in house and globally. Many countries consider the United States and the leader of the free world and to suggest as Donald Trump has, that we are more like a third world country now and need a change is frightening to everyone. President Obama has done a great job of bringing our country back to prominence after the Bush presidency broke us away from many allies in his quest for war in Iraq. He has reached out to the world for better relations, with Cuba after over half a century, Iran deal to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons peacefully, our neighbors Canada & Mexico, and Europe.

The moral compass of America is at stake. Will we vote for a President who will bring us together and be concerned with all our citizens or one that is out to show himself off and fend for those who already have wealth and power, will isolating the poor and other. in God we trust is on our money and in our constitution but it has been pushed further and further out of out thought processes and the institutions which have made our country great up to this time. I am not naive enough to believe that democracy can fail here in the United States of America, just as other ideologies have failed throughout the centuries. We are still young and can accomplish a great deal more if we stay on the right path. Election 2016 will be a milestone towards that end.

The Difference Between Fathers and Dads

It is Father's Day June 19,2016 and I have just left morning service at St Stephens Baptist Church. As usual I have received a blessing from the sermon given by the Rev Kevin W. Cosby. It resonated with me and I wanted to communicate some of it to anyone who may at some point in time read this blog. The bible scripture that was used for the message was Mark 9: 14-15. 

It deals with Jesus coming down from the mountain and finding religious scholars cross examining the disciples that had been left below in the valley. There was a man had brought his son who was afflicted with perhaps epilepsy and mental disease to Jesus to be healed. Jesus wasn't there and the disciples tried but could not heal him. The scholars tried to use this against Jesus. Jesus told the man, if he believed in him that all things were possible. The man said he believed but he was not perfect and there was still some doubt. Jesus cured the boy of the evil spirit and also provided that he enter him no more. The disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't heal the boy. Jesus said that "This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." They should have prayed and shown their faith in Jesus, but they tried to do it on their own.

This man was the boys father and his dad. "To be a father is an act of Nature. To be a dad is an act of Nurture. A father is biological and a dad is emotional." Yes the man was the boy's biological father caused by an act of nature, but he had also nurtured the boy as he was growing up and was emotional tied to his suffering. He was always there for him when needed. "While fathers pay the bills, dads give direction and council to their children. And while fatherhood can be unintentional, being a good dad is always intentional."

A paternity test may tell someone "you are the father" only your actions will tell if you are the dad.

Dads Direct their child to God. The man had a relationship with God and took his child to Jesus. He wanted him to also have a relationship with God. Dad's of today should do the same and help to provide a strong spiritual foundation for their children.

Dads Actively stay involved in their child's life. The man did not send his son to Jesus. He took him. He did not abdicate his responsibility or delegate it to someone else. He knew about his son and his illness. Dad's today should know about their children, their friends, likes, how they are doing in school, their teachers, and all aspects of their children's lives. Take them places and participate in things do, like sports,singing, dance, etc.

Dads Devote themselves to their child in crisis. The son had been suffering with his demons since he was a child. The father had been there for him and never gave up believe that one day he would be cured. When your child is in trouble, and they all will face circumstances, a dad keeps the faith and goes not give up on their child.

Our society is full of fathers and yet our children are floundering. Men making children either intentionally or unintentionally. But at the end of the day will they be dads?  There are institutions in our world that can supplement the home, but they cannot be a substitute for the home. Fathers can be forced to pay child support but what we need is for them to become dads and live up to the responsibilities of parenting. My father died when I was seven. Yet my mother step in to become both by mom and dad. She meet all the criteria. I hope I have done some justice to Rev. message: "But Are You The Dad?"

Dining with Donna

My wife comes from a family of cooks. Her mother, her sisters , and even her nephew are all excellent chefs. Donna, my wife is also quite gifted in the kitchen. She has had her own bakery where she and her mom turned out some delicious desserts. She is also a fan of Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef on TV. She has her own website called Mealfare, where she blogs about food, showing dishes from various restaurants from around the city of Louisville and wherever we may visit during our travels.

Dining with Donna though is an experience. First of all. she has very high standards. It doesn't matter if we are at a white table cloth establishment or the local McDonald's. Everything had better be right with her order. Of course one must take pictures before eating to ensure that we capture the moment. good or bad. This critical eye, while well justified, can be somewhat distracting from have a relaxing dinner. And it always seems to be her food where issues occur. I don't know whether I'm just more accepting for good versus perfection, even though I know I'm not one of those people who Donna claim "will accept anything", especially when they are paying "good money" for it.

Many a waiter has felt her critique regarding old lettuce, cold food, micro waved items, and a host of other issues. All well founded and given with the intent on getting what see pays for and to let the chefs and management know how their patrons feel. We have had some outstanding dining experiences but I am still waiting for that meal where everything is perfect. 

Let's talk history

With Black History month set to begin in February again this year I reflect on just what we are talking about. I assume it is black or Afro American history as it applies to the United States of America. History by definition is "the study of the past, particularly how it relates to humans. It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these events." The "interpretation" is the part of the definition that I have a problem with, particularly with the history which I was taught and is still being taught in America's schools today.

"The history that's presented to people, that they can interact with, is the product of power. It's about who had the resources to tell the story and what story they chose to tell." The story of the pilgrims in true history is nothing like the tale of John Smith and Pocahontas. Nor is the settling of America anything like the movies and history that is written in our history books. These were trying and cruel times and the Europeans that colonized this country were powerful, rich and ruthless to say the least. The Civil War that divided this country was probably much worst than anything that is going on in Syria or the middle east during these days.

In America the history books were tools to foster nationalism and patriotism, and give students the official line about national enemies. They are sponsored by the government and are written to put the national heritage in the most favorable light. It is no wonder that common history books in our schools show the good side of America and never any of its negatives. We are always fighting for right and being portrayed as the "good neighbor or ally."

George Santayana states that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This is true and can be seen everyday. But what past are we talking about. The same issues of our past still drive many of our most fervent public debates. After the Civil War history changed with the abolishment of slavery. One of the most white washed part of our history that there every was. The Klu Klux Klan established in 1867 was the American alQaeda exist today. They probably killed more people in Reconstruction than Osama Bin Laden managed to do. Changes to the constitution back then defined citizenship, voting rights, state rights, federal overreach, and terrorism. These are issues we death with again in the 1960's and now in the 21st century. 

The only reason there is a need for a Black History month is because the history of blacks in America was omitted in most cases by our public schools. The history of America was written by whites and with a white perspective. America claims to be a melting pot but really nothing is presented as a combined history. Those with wealth and power paint a picture of a country that  was strongly held together by the Anglo Saxon Caucasian that colonized this land. It had nothing to do with the fact that the less fortunate did the work, fought the wars, and carried the burdens which built this great nation. I applaud the Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and any other minority that lives and dies in America, to try and present their history from their perspective. For it too is American history.

War on Terrorism

Well it looks like the terrorist have won. We named this fight against Al Qaeda as a war against terror since their efforts were designed to scaring us into changing our ways or die. Well with the war going on for over 14 years they have done that. The attack on 9/11 was not an act designed to take over the USA but to bring it down and create a regime change. With that we went into a financial recession, developed a homeland security group which now challenges all our freedoms, and a political structure that is inept and gridlocked.

Internal or home grown terror has us in such a grasp that individuals are buying guns in massive numbers and everyone is gripped with the fear of the next terrorist attacked on innocent civilians. Just a simple phone call to the press or any public establishment threatening an attack can bring cities and establishments to their knees. Whole school districts can be shut down. Public transportation is guarded like military  headquarters just to give the public the perception that they are being protected. And it will never be safe to go to a movie, work, or anywhere without some thought of a possible attack from "someone."

The terrorist have been successful in removing one of our most precious right. The right to the pursuit of happiness and the freedom to live without fear in our country. While we may be winning against ISIS to some degree, we have already lost the war and probably will never be the same as a country again.