When I first saw this, I thought it was a joke from a humor site like the Onion. Turns out, it is true. It is stuff like this that makes a lot of people wonder what if this guy had been a person of color? I am not advocating shooting anyone when it isnt necessary just because someone is white and we need to prove a point. In fact, I think it is very successful police work if they can deal with a situation without firing a shot. But they didnt even charge this guy - they released him - and oh, by the way, the Police Chief is black. I agree, it is hard to make a ton of conclusions from this one incident, but taken together, as a whole, with all the incidents of unarmed black men and other persons of color getting shot and many killed, this story starts to fit into the mosaic of the institutional racism that exists in America. I know that many on the right will lose their cookies and insist there is no racism or that blacks are the racists. But we can never completely change what we dont acknowledge. I am old enough to remember the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. I remember George Wallace in the school house door, and Lester Maddux, his racism on full display on the evening news. They werent afraid to use the n word openly and proudly back then. And it got them votes, plenty of them. We have evolved to not use the n word - at least most politicians dont when they are in view of a reporter or camera. But unfortunately, part of that evolution is the use of code words - thug being the most frequently used word in place of the n word. Prejudice is such an ugly thing, and we all have them to some extent. Racism is prejudice plus power is often used to distinguish the institutional racism that exists as opposed to the prejudiced folks next door. I see prejudice in my own sphere - a recent tirade by an elderly woman about that black president. She is a firm believer that blacks ruined neighborhoods when they move in and ruin cities. She is an Archie Bunker in a lot of ways. But when she looks in the mirror, she sees a truth teller, blithely unaware of the stereotypes she sees when she looks at a person of color. But, that isnt all that she is. She is also kind, very funny, and treats people of color like anyone else she meets - with respect. It is as if she is near sighted - the people of color she comes in contact with are OK, but trying to look further away at the larger picture, she loses all focus and the picture gets very fuzzy indeed. I see this same kind of racial myopia in a lot of conservatives. They will generalize minorities in an unflattering way, yet they may have minorities as friends. It is a fascinating paradox. Of course some will rationalize that my friend is different, not realizing how insulting that really is to their friend. But it is these basically decent people that harbor the possibility of change. We will never change the heart hearted avowed racists. But I truly believe there is still hope for change among the racially myopic. They have a base of decency to work with and we have to stop throwing around the racist word at them to get them to listen. They are prejudiced, yes. But calling them racist at every turn only gets them defensive and they will never listen, because many of the racially myopic disdain racists themselves. That may seem like a paradox - and it is, but we have to be able to have a dialogue which takes back and forth conversation. We can speak all we want, but what good is it if no one listens. I realize I have meandered from my original story of the black sheriff getting shot. Here is a link to the story:
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 19:02:16 +0000
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