Attitude Makes All the Difference

Many believe that relations between whites and blacks have seriously deteriorated over the past few years.  This has reached an ugly peak with the ambush and assassinations of police in Dallas and Baton Rouge in the last few days.  

I can't claim to fully understand what black people experience in their lives and their relationship to the police and other authority figures.  Is there racism in our society?  Of course there is and the harsh reality is that there will always be racists, bigots, and other assorted idiots in the human race.  Racism will never be completely eradicated due to the imperfection of human beings.  What's a person to do?

Change starts with each individual.  President Obama lectures us on how the police need to acknowledge their racism and mend their ways.  This, however, is a two way street.  What responsibility do blacks have in this?  The fact of the matter is that blacks commit violent crimes at a higher rate than whites, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.  Black-on-black crime is rampant in some cities, yet the President doesn't seem to want to address this issue.  Police behavior is often in response to black criminal behavior; according to the FBI, the rate at which cops are killed by blacks is 2.5 times higher than the rate at which blacks are killed by the police.  

So where does attitude enter into all this?  Did you know that a black man by the name of Charlie Brown spent half his life in slavery and couldn't read, yet when he was freed he built a business domain in Brazoria County, Texas?  He eventually bought the plantation where he had been a slave, married his wife, who was also a former slave, and when he died in 1920, he was a millionaire. Where might Mr. Brown have ended up had he spent his life lamenting the injustice of slavery?  I doubt he would have achieved much success had he chosen to wallow in victimhood.

The first self-made female millionaire in this country was a black woman, Sarah Breedlove, a.k.a. Madam C.J. Walker.  Early in her life, she faced odds that were heavily stacked against her.  She was orphaned at 7, married at 14, and widowed at 20.  After she began losing her hair, she developed a line of hair care products, successfully fighting racism and sexism along the way and making a place for herself alongside America's elite entrepreneurs.  

The point I'm trying to make is that these black people achieved fantastic success long before affirmative action or the Civil Rights Act.  How could that be?  Racism, and in the case of Madam C.J. Walker, sexism, were much more common and blatant in those days, yet they triumphed in spite of it.  I suspect that attitude, determination, and personal discipline played a role in their success.  These are personal traits that are seriously lacking in many individuals of all colors these days.  

I'd like to see our so-called leaders quit talking about eradicating racism; it's impossible.  It will always be with us, so how about talking about achieving excellence and success in spite of it?  It can be done!

Can We Talk - Honestly?

Mayor Bill de Blasio, President Obama, Eric Holder and others have suggested we have a conversation about race relations and the police in this country. Okay, let’s talk, but let’s do it openly and honestly.  This is no time for thin skin on either side.  We must also remember that an important component of true communicaton is listening, not just talking.

I admit that I’m usually willing to give police the benefit of the doubt.  They put their lives on the line every day when they put on that uniform and go out on the streets.  When faced with tense moments that are fraught with danger, they don’t have the luxury of taking time to mull their options; they must make split-second decisions.  Sometimes those decisions have fatal consequences.

The media have attempted to lump the Ferguson, MO case with the New York case and to me they’re different.  Both involve white cops and black men who died at the hands the police, but similarities end there.   In the Missouri case, black eyewitnesses, as well as forensics, supported the narrative that Michael Brown did not have his hands raised in surrender, was not obeying the policeman’s orders and was behaving in a threatening, bullying manner.  In the New York case, it appeared to me that the police were unnecessarily rough in the treatment of Eric Garner, although perhaps I didn’t see it all. Selling individual cigarettes may be a crime, but doesn’t NYPD have more important things with which to deal?

Racism exists – there’s no denying it.  It always has and, to be realistic, it always will to one degree or another.  It’s not something that happens only in this country; it’s a world-wide phenomenon.  I happen to believe that the majority of police in this country are not racist.  However, Barack Obama and Eric Holder have huge racial chips on their shoulders, even though they are two of the most powerful men in the world.  They have not worked to improve relations between the races; they have actually stoked the fires of anger and resentment that exist in black communities, and when they speak of problems between the police and blacks, they address only one side of the equation, i.e., bias on the part of the police.

If things are to improve, both sides must recognize and be willing to accept certain responsibilities.  As far as law enforcement goes, they have a responsibility to build ties within the communities they police.  I seriously doubt that law-abiding black people want the police to disappear from their streets.  They must treat people with respect and reasonable restraint. 

 Black people also have some responsibilities.  First and foremost should be honesty in facing and dealing with the social chaos that exists in so many predominantly black communities.  Too many young black men and women are growing up without a good male role model in their lives.  I’m old-fashioned – I happen to believe that fathers are important in their children’s lives.  It’s fathers who teach boys how to be good men.  Fathers are important to daughters too; he’s the first important man in her life and has the obligation to show his daughter how good and decent men should be.  A daughter’s relationship with her father will affect her relationships with men as an adult.

We must work to ensure that equal opportunity exists for Americans of all races, but we can never assure equal outcomes.  That will require taking personal responsibility for one’s own life and being willing to work hard to achieve goals.  I’ve read several of Dr. Ben Carson’s books and one thing in particular has stuck with me:  Dr. Carson’s mother refused to allow Ben and his brother to use racism as an excuse for failure. 

There are two options:  wallow in being a victim or work to become the most excellent person you can be.  The choice is yours to make.

Do They Really Believe What They Say?

Robert Redford and Chris Noth, those noted political "experts" and has-been actors, have joined the chorus of what has now become a monotonous litany. That is, those of us who oppose President Obama on his agenda must, of course, be racist.  We couldn't possibly be against what he stands for and what he is doing to this country.  It's all because of his skin color.  

I have to wonder if these guys really believe the nonsense they spout or is it just sheep-like behavior, i.e., someone in the media says it and they just fall in line behind it.  What's really irksome is the authoritative way in which they pontificate, as if they really have any first-hand experience with or know any conservatives.  These elites live in a bubble and really have no idea what "normal" Americans believe.  

To quote Obama, "let me be clear":  no one I know has a problem with the color of Obama's skin.  We have a huge issue with the "content of his character", which is to say he has none.  He tells lies with impunity, while so-called "journalists" run interference for him.  His administration is riddled with scandals, but no one appears to pay a price for any misbehavior, and certainly no one takes any responsibility for their misdeeds.  He has made the United States a laughing stock on the world stage and has bowed to our enemies. That is unforgivable in a president.

People like Redford, Noth and others defending Obama are lost causes.  Facts apparently mean absolutely nothing to them.  They get their news from slanted sources and can't even see that there is any bias in the media. To make matters worse, they probably wouldn't dream of actually going into the heartland and personally meeting "the common folk".  These people, who accuse conservatives of being rigid, are the most close-minded bunch around. Even worse, they attempt at every turn to stifle those of us who dare to dissent, but I have a message for them:  we will never be silenced by the likes of you.  The future of our country depends on our voices.     

Racism: Safety Net for Black People?

True racism does exist in this country and I believe it always will due to the fact that there are always going to be bigots and other associated idiots in the human race.  Racism has caused untold suffering for millions of people in this country and around the world.  

The race card is tossed around too casually these days though and I believe it's used by some blacks as an excuse for failure.  Let's face it:  if a white person fails academically or professionally, he has no one to blame but himself.  However, if a black person fails, he can blame it on this being a racist country.  It's kind of a safety net to avoid taking personal responsibility for trying and failing, or worse, not trying at all.  

So now we have Obama's defenders throwing down the race card.  Tavis Smiley declares that the election of 2012 is going to be the most racist in our history.  Whoopie Goldberg says the "birther" controversy is due to racism.  Joy Behar gets in a snit at the first whiff of criticism of Obama and attributes it to the color of his skin.  This casual use of such a loaded word minimizes the suffering of those who have experienced real racism in their lives.  

Throwing this charge out there at the first sign of disagreement or criticism of Obama serves two purposes:  first, it distracts, and in some cases intimidates, people and derails a rational discussion of his policies and second, it allows the president's supporters to maintain their blind allegiance to him.  

It must be very painful to realize that the man on whom you pinned such high hopes, our first black president, is totally incompetent at governance and good only at campaigning.  It's much easier and less painful to simply accuse those who question or oppose him of racism.  

The Racism Dodge

Liberals really need to find a new accusatory term. The old word, racism, is starting to lose its punch.

A favorite tactic of liberals is to call anyone who disagrees with them "racist". If you're against illegal immigration, it's because you're racist; if you disagree with the President on anything, it's because you're - you guessed it - racist; if you seek to punish a black politican for malfeasance - well, you get the picture.

This tactic has worked in the past, but won't keep working forever. The whole purpose of throwing that term at another person is to put a halt to discussion of whatever topic is at hand. Liberals do this because they know they can't counter policy arguments with substance and logic, so they fall back on emotion.

Sooner or later, liberals and progressives will have to come up with something more substantive than name-calling. More and more people are beginning to see through these agendas and are not going to put up with it. Consider yourself warned.

A Teachable Moment

Quiet, everyone. Professor Obama has once again deigned to share his supreme knowledge with us, the little people. Is there no end to this man's arrogance?

I'm referring, of course, to the incident with the Cambridge police and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Well, this was indeed a "teachable moment" for me, but I suspect what I learned was not what Obama intended:

• I learned who Robert Louis Gates, Jr. is. I had never heard of him before.
  
• I learned that he has a big, fat chip on his shoulder, has racist attitudes about white police (possibly black police too), and is a perpetual victim, even though he lives a privileged life.
  
• It became painfully obvious that not knowing the facts never stops Obama from making a decision and taking a stand on something.
  
• I re-learned a lesson from childhood: when you're wrong, be strong enough to admit it and apologize, especially if you've insulted an individual or a group, as Obama did. Don't merely "calibrate" your language more carefully.
  
• Our supreme leader is an expert at diverting attention away from his failing policies and falling poll numbers.

I suspect that Obama is so arrogant that he doesn't believe he has anything to learn. I beg to differ. Obama should learn that he should know the truth, the whole truth, before shooting off his mouth. It makes me wonder how much thought he gives to important domestic and foreign policy decisions before making pronouncements. And, with his automatically siding with the professor against the police, he unwittingly revealed more of his attitudes than he likely intended.