‘The Justice Department released two must-read investigations connected to the killing of Brown that filled in blanks, corrected the record and brought sunlight to dark places by revealing ugly practices that institutionalized racism and hardship. They have also forced me to deal with two uncomfortable truths: Brown never surrendered with his hands up, and Wilson was justified in shooting Brown … Yet this does not diminish the importance of the real issues unearthed in Ferguson by Brown’s death. Nor does it discredit what has become the larger “Black Lives Matter.” In fact, the false Ferguson narrative stuck because of concern over a distressing pattern of other police killings of unarmed African American men and boys around the time of Brown’s death.’ ~ The Washington Post
An excellent read for both sides of the isle. Because where there’s gunsmoke there’s gunfire.
Think about it for a moment. Where there’s gunsmoke there’s gunfire.
The statement works on a number of levels, this way and that (pause for reflection), the point being that this is a black and white issue that isn’t so black and white when you think about it. The color elements are there, but they merit thought. It’s a grand ‘chicken or egg’ argument. Both sides are justifiably scared of each other, egging one another to violence, playing chicken with each other, leading to all kinds of tragedies.
We could get to the bottom of it if we wanted to, figure out who started it. Do you have 10,000 hours to spare? We could lay out the debate’s key points before launching into the topic for another three generations.
Where there’s gunsmoke there’s gunfire, and plenty of casualties, the most prominent among them being unity. It’s a great problem, especially in a country called the United States.
Let’s get to the point. Bottom line, when an issue is as convoluted and heated and divisive, you have to go back to basics, in this case, fear. There’s an awful lot of fear on the streets right now, it’s been there for some time, expressed along racial lines, among other things (there’s lots more to say about the state of the Union, but let’s not go there, it’s an even more convoluted issue) threatening to tear the USA apart.
Extremists on both sides of the argument aren’t helping. Instead of finding ways to bridge the divide, they fan the flames. Accusation, confrontation, conflict. Grudges everywhere, bad blood. Anger that begets anger and hatred. A trigger-happy society all too eager to give in to cultural and political friction. Not a good approach.
What is needed, stat, are a cool set of heads, time, and plenty of education — I mean proper, inclusive, positive education that celebrates everyone’s differences inasmuch as it brings people together under a common creed. Cosmopolitanism, not multiculturalism, is key. Something that integrates the players, tempering them to a functional set of cultures.
It’s either that, or face the consequences of another civil war, or a broken country. Sorry to revert to the old fear argument but, like I said, it’s down to basics again. Rise up to the challenge and educate the nation out of the fear driving it, or face a wave of Trumps whose job and expertise is to capitalize on abundant fright, which they readily turn to their own advantage.
As if that’s not enough, this civil divide could also bring about another wave of Bernies whose specialty is reactionary utopian hogwash, spoonfeeding the disillusioned masses all the way to Venezuela, Soviet Russia, or — here’s the shocker — the bungling EU as it stands today (another huge topic for another eternal discussion). Forget the colossal failures of over-centralized behemoths, we’ll craft a new one for you and make the world fair again until we run out of money and blame it on the beaver.
In the midst of this madness, of course, mediocrity thrives. If the extremists don’t have their way, the lackluster do, as do the slippery and dubious. Like it or not, a wave of Clintons is in the works, too, who, in a sea of madness, will come across as the ‘sane’ alternative.
As for true statesmanship, forget about it. It’s in the margins, ridiculed and ignored, alongside all calls to reason. Like Piggy in Lord Of The Flies, the reasonable are picked on and cast aside, perpetuating a society driven by power and bloodlust.
This is how systemic breakdowns start. When folly passes for reason, civilization loses its functionality and institution after institution begins to short-circuit until the system is at war with itself, or broken, if not both. Lesser men and women rise to the fore, leading the way down a nether spiral. It’s happened before, and, by the looks of things, it’s happening again. It’ll get worse before it gets better.
Yes, it can get much, much worse, and it’s not about black v white alone. It’s bigger than that.
From your occasionally emphatic-slash-condescending-slash-cryptic-slash-smart-aleck Spin Doctor,
Eyes open, mind sharp.
PS – The militarized policeman on the right-hand side of the picture: he/she doesn’t look very white to me. So either something went terribly wrong during the solarium session or there’s more to the issue than meets the eye. Something additional to think about when tracing out this problem.