by Jack
Do you think one’s color has anything to do with bias in opinions, attitude and actions? Sure, of course it does, but it’s a learned condition. If it can be learned, it can be changed and neutralized. But, that reconstruction process, no matter how worthy, won’t be easy to do because it is so rooted in us. It goes back thousands of years to ancient tribalism.
Our bias, and I mean… [all bias] race to politics, is something that is constantly being reinforced. Most of the time it comes by way of our friends and family. That makes overcoming it incredibly hard.
Why do I think our friends and family are involved? Because we pick our friends based upon our bias and that bias typically begins with our family. It’s just that simple.
We feel more comfortable around people of like opinions and we feel more comfortable around people who look, talk and share our bias’. That’s the way it was in tribal times. Being from the tribe was good, being from outside the tribe was bad.
It’s troubling to me, that places of higher learning, like Chico State, still have graduation ceremonies divided along racial lines. It’s not right, but they continue to do it because they are requested by Hispanics and blacks to provide separate ceremonies for them, in addition to the regular graduation event. They say their family and friends feel more comfortable in separate ceremonies. There goes that comfort thing again, it another way of expressing tribalism.
But, surely those in charge of our colleges know that constant exposure to, and empathy for, different races, is one of the best ways to overcome racial bias? So why do they keep caving in? (Gutless and lacking in vision? )
I think it would help us to get rid of those comfort zones. Race based divisions are not healthy and can only lead us to other divisions. Right now blaming and putting down “whitey” plays out pretty well on the left, but it is no different than putting down “blacky” by the far right. It’s not helpful to make fun of white males, black males or anyone else of color. If we can just get that far, well, I think that will be a huge first step in the right direction.
Our future rests with brightest and most far thinking among us. They know what is at risk and how we must change. They know racial bias is like a cancer in our world and they see it in cities today from Charlottesville to New York, Baltimore and Ferguson in days past.
It’s no exaggeration to say, racial bias is literally killing us; it’s making us a sick society and it’s holding us back from being all that we could be. If that isn’t incentive enough to change, I don’t know what is? So, lets stop the put-downs, stop the mocking, stop the jokes, and please stop going to racist events for any reason and start thinking smart.
But Jack, parents have been raising the kids to be color blind and accepting of all people who are different in any way. It’s when those kids attend colleges and universities they become racists and bigots.
This is an excellent article in my opinion.
Orwell was never more correct:
By James Longstreet
“As George Orwell put it in 1984, “those who control the present control the past, and those who control the past control the future.”
And who controls the “present”? It is the media, and less apparent, those who control high school history books and university history departments. Thus, the past may be purposely contorted, especially the history of the United States of America. Editing via omission is the subliminal tack. Sadly, it doesn’t take long to misinform an entire generation. But why would there be those who would delight in that venture, the venture of “controlling the past”?
The Founding Fathers have been characterized as slaveholding racists rather than brilliant minds schooled in the world history of governments and the creators of the greatest experiment in self-governance the world has ever known. The War between the States was “only about slavery,” we are told, despite many other complications, regional issues, constitutional considerations, and official resolutions by Congress to the contrary.
The use of concocted historical misrepresentations to create the current frictions between those misinformed and the facts of history becomes inevitable. We are at that point. And what could be more inflammatory than past racial injustices?
Witness the contrast and conflict between those who feel one way about history and those who harbor other proclivities of belief. Some defend what they perceive to be their heritage, and others object in tune with what they have been led to understand.
Politics of the moment enter. But these politics involve nefarious disregard for the law in order to create environments and incidents detrimental to the current administration. It has become sport for Democrat-ruled urban areas to foment incidents by withdrawing legal protections for certain legal demonstrators and thus allow and promote situations that will later be used by biased media to attack a sitting president.
Why are Democratic local authorities eager to withhold legal protections of property and free speech when it suits their purposes? I point to the Trump rally in Chicago and incidents in Berkeley, Charlottesville, and others. It is useful to their agendas of deposing Trump and cleansing history to their liking.
Certainly, this author is not promoting racism on either side of the ledger.
However, when groups appear from nowhere with weaponry to contest a legally sanctioned event, that party must be identified as a perpetrator. They have not been, to date. When legal permits are acquired for demonstration, there is a strong implication by the issuer of such permits that the rights of the legal demonstrators will be protected. They have not been protected. This is nothing more than selective enforcement of the law. Who has been charged with toppling the Confederate statue in North Carolina?
Antifa and its clear mission to cause disruptions of legally protected events seem un-American at the very least and likely constitute anarchy. ZeroHedge runs an article about their organizational antics to disrupt legal activities.
A brief clarification of history is warranted. It is curious that Virginia, a state that seceded and fought on constitutional grounds, is the epicenter of the slavery issue. Virginia did indeed have legal slavery, but Virginia did not immediately secede with the Deep South (S.C., Ga., Fla., La., Ala., Miss., and Texas), who clearly made their concerns over slavery the prime issue of secession. Six months passed from South Carolina’s secession until the eventual secessions of N.C., Va., Ark., and Tenn. Why? Those states believed what Lincoln asserted: that he had no legal power to interfere with slavery where it already existed.
In the late days of May 1861, Virginia’s convention to consider secession was two to one against secession. It was not until Lincoln called for troops and a blockade of the Deep South that Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee voted, in democratic fashion and under representative government, to secede. They were motivated by what they deemed unconstitutional actions by the federal government.
In the Upper South, slavery was already in decline, much as it had previously declined in the North. Free blacks in Petersburg, Virginia, for example, were nearly half the entire black population of that city (The Last Citadel. Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865, page 6).
The “white supremacists” who cling to the Rebel battle flag do damage to history. Their racial views should be separate from any efforts to preserve statues and history. And the media should be asked why Antifa is not mentioned in their reports, why local authorities issue “stand down” orders to allow escalation and dodge protection obligations for those legally assembled. And the Department of Justice might be asked why crossing state lines to incite rioting is no longer militated against by the federal authorities.
“It is unfair to judge a man’s views on the issues of his day by the ideological fashions of another era.” One must place oneself in the era and circumstances of that man represented by the statue in question. It is quite an academic task. We could use more of it. Additionally, the duty of the historian is “not to invent.” Unfortunately, wisdom such as this has been cast aside, deliberately, and for political expedience. It damages our nation and “controls our past.” Orwell’s caution. Sadly, some are delighted.
As George Orwell put it in 1984, “those who control the present control the past, and those who control the past control the future.”
And who controls the “present”? It is the media, and less apparent, those who control high school history books and university history departments. Thus, the past may be purposely contorted, especially the history of the United States of America. Editing via omission is the subliminal tack. Sadly, it doesn’t take long to misinform an entire generation. But why would there be those who would delight in that venture, the venture of “controlling the past”?
The Founding Fathers have been characterized as slaveholding racists rather than brilliant minds schooled in the world history of governments and the creators of the greatest experiment in self-governance the world has ever known. The War between the States was “only about slavery,” we are told, despite many other complications, regional issues, constitutional considerations, and official resolutions by Congress to the contrary.
The use of concocted historical misrepresentations to create the current frictions between those misinformed and the facts of history becomes inevitable. We are at that point. And what could be more inflammatory than past racial injustices?”
Continued…
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/orwell_was_never_more_correct.html#ixzz4pxJ31d00
It is being reported stand down orders were given to both the local police by the mayor and the state police by the governor who planned to use it to launch his presidential bid. Both liberal and conservative reporters, plus civilians are confirming the police took no action to stop the fighting or to keep them seperated.
We live in strange times. The divide isn’t entirely racial. We have white people hating white people because they don’t buy into the “white privilege” scheme and refuse to feel shamed. And we have black people defending and supporting those white people and shaming their black brothers for their illogical, resentful attitudes. Then we have very radical people of the left and the right, but only the right radicals are held to account. Antifa, a violent fascist group, thinks it’s standing against fascism because it opposes the Nazi skin head types…they don’t bring intelligence or reason to the argument…only thuggish hatred and violence.
What it comes down to for me is a lot of very confused, very emotional people that have been purposely worked up to create chaos, division, and discord. The immediate game is to destroy the Trump presidency and totally discredit his supporters but the end game is the destruction of the US Constitution, a contract that limits our government (read left-leadership) too much.
This is much worse than the sixties. In the sixties the Marxist left radicals were a marginal group with enough power to cause mayhem but not enough to affect radical change. Now they have all kinds of power. Too many men and women in powerful positions are either aligned with the radical “alt-left” or too cowardly or fearful of losing business to take a stand for America.
Bias plays a part in this but the real hatred, the vengeful agitation, is by design and it’s bought and paid for by people like George Soros.
The left media isn’t even required to justify their duplicitous attacks. In reality none could defend the ridiculous crap they are attacking Trump with today.
America looks ridiculous, not because of Trump who was as clear as he could be, but because the left will not hold the violent murderous agitators in their camp accountable. They are the disgrace. By their own standard for Trump, the media, and people like Chris and Libby, are aligned with the people that killed cops in Dallas and with the man that wanted to kill all of those Republican representatives at the baseball field because they will not hold them to the same standard they reserve for the likes of the KKK.
I’ve not been this disgusted in my entire life.
There are bright spots.
http://knuckledraggin.com/2017/08/community-food-project/
RHT447 I feel like that bear today…thanks for bringing me this “bright spot” to lighten my evening and fill my heart with hope for America and the american way!
If I find myself marching in protest of or in favor of any given issue and on my right are nazis and on my left are klan I know I’m marching with the wrong groups.
Very true Pete.
If I wanted to attend a speech given by a conservative speaker on campus and Antifa showed up to violently drive me and the speaker away do I also know that my rights have been violated by a “wrong” group? Should the leaders of the party that embrace their message be called on their complicity to destroy an administration before it’s had six months in office with overt hatred?
The KKK and the Nazis are despicable organizations with a dark past but they have the right to peacefully assemble and speak in America by law. They had obtained a permit for that rally and they were denied their speech and assembly rights by an equally despicable violent organization, Antifa, and a paid mob who showed up with bats and cans filled with cement to cause trouble and incite violence. One observer today sited just one federal law about crossing state lines to incite riot that could be applied.
Hopefully there will be arrests made and charges filed. In the mean time this part of the story has been shoved under the rug. Is that right? Trump is harassed for using the “wrong words” and not doing the disavow dance correctly. Is this an America you want, an America run by thuggery and violence instead of legislation and the vote?
Yet another good America Thinker article, “Trump gets it,”
by Mark Jarrett.
Trump does get it, but he pisses off the media every time he calls them out for not doing their job of reporting the facts. Both are in a fight for their lives and there can only be one survivor. It’s one against thousands. Is Trump up for it?
Just when I feel like it’s over a ray of hope comes through.
“An NAACP leader in Pennsylvania is speaking out against protesters tearing down Confederate monuments in the days following the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The problem, according to Esther Lee — who helms the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania chapter of the organization — is the “senseless” unrest around the country, not the statues of Confederate leaders.
In fact, she said Tuesday that the Confederate memorials are a part of the country’s history and should stay in place, via WFMZ-TV:
You know, that’s history — that was in that point in time. You can’t eliminate what history is. So I disapprove with young people pulling down those statues.
A young woman died. Two officers were murdered in a plane crash. And all for what? Because somebody in their mind decided, ‘We don’t need to look at that anymore.’ It shouldn’t be.
Moving forward, Lee has two pieces of advice for protesters: Leave the monuments alone, and begin to pray for President Donald Trump, even — and maybe especially — if you disagree with him.
“I would pray that he would gain the strength to do what’s necessary in the job, at least for these four years,” the NAACP leader said, later encouraging Americans to “widen our circle of compassion.”
http://ijr.com/the-declaration/2017/08/949321-pennsylvania-naacp-leader-speaks-confederate-statues-comments-might-surprise/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Owned&utm_term=ijamerica&utm_campaign=ods&utm_content=Politics
Thank God for this woman and others like her who have come forward to speak, Peggy. People who believe in America as founded (individual rights and the rule of law) must come together and stand strong against the crazies.
@Tina
I understand your point. Not allowing a group to speak their thoughts and explain their ideas is wrong. If that same group has a documented history of intimidation, violence, and murder of people they deem unworthy our same inalienable rights they still have the right to freedom of speech. We also have the right to protest their vile and twisted ideas. One thing I’m sure of is that if the KKK and Nazis didn’t get full throated push back from those of us that disagree with their wants there would be continued lynchings of black men and women and gold stars of David emblazoned on the clothing of Jews.
We do have the right to protest them, peacefully.
Antifa and the rest of the violent horde came bearing clubs and wearing helmets. They are violent anarchists and came looking for a physical fight. If these goups had peaceful intentions they would get a permit and hold a counter protest on another day. If speech is the point that would suffice. And wouldn’t it be in keeping with respect for the law, the rights of others, and for the people that live in that community?