Monday, March 09, 2015

Selma/Ferguson/Obama

The president's speech at Selma was inspiring and well delivered. He covered all the usual points of reference such as historical events, the Bible and the poet. He also mentioned the hot-button issues (a number of mentions of Ferguson) that have to do with race, just as he has throughout his six years in office, along with Attorney General Holder, who famously said recently that Americans are too cowardly to talk about race.

Americans are not too cowardly to talk about race...they are simply sick and tired of both talking about and hearing constantly about race. There's racism in the country. “Okay! We get that,” is the response of the average white guy, who knows that racism is here to stay no matter how much it's discussed. Since Selma and all the civil rights legislation of the 60s, it's been drummed into the minds of especially young blacks that they are the victims and will always be the victims of racism.

Race was the theme of Obama's autobiography of 1995, Dreams from My Father, and has remained his focus throughout his career, even though he, barely out of diapers at the time of Selma, is the prime example that racism does not drive the society, governmental or otherwise. The black community responded so negatively to all the legislation, with results being relatively inconsequential, that, absent admitting the obvious reason for so-called inequality, it screams racism.

Ferguson is the prime example. Whites make up only 29% of Ferguson's population, meaning that black voters outnumber whites far more than two-to-one, yet the mayor and five of six City Council members are white, as are 50 of the 53 policemen. This situation could be completely turned around in just ONE election cycle, with blacks taking over the town lock-stock-and-barrel and making whites so miserable that they would have to sell out and leave.

Nor does it make much sense to talk about inordinate black arrest numbers or mistreatment received. Sixty-seven percent of the population is black, so it would be expected that such an overpowering black-to-white ratio vis-a-vis lawbreaking would be expected. Until he gained further information about Brown's just committed theft, Officer Wilson merely asked Michael Brown to walk on the sidewalk instead of in the middle of a busy street.

He didn't pull a gun and threaten Brown and his friend. He merely asked them to do something both lawful and sensible, as well as reasonable concerning the drivers who had to swerve in order to miss hitting them, possible especially since Brown was high on marijuana and could conceivably wobble all over the place. Even Holder admitted that Wilson was guilty of no crime in the killing, and the grand jury deliberations, not the usual case, were published on the Internet or printed in their entirety to evince total transparency.

There's no question that prejudice—even hate—existed on the part of some Ferguson policemen. A couple have resigned. This is true in any police force in any town of any size throughout the nation and is not confined to just white officers. Holder didn't mention the number, if any, of black applicants for the police force or what, if any, disposition was made of those applications. Whose fault is it that a mere 6% of the police force is black while 67% of the population is black?

The president would have been well-served not to mention Ferguson, where no crime was committed except the crimes by blacks burning down much of the town TWICE, thus running people out of business TWICE. The report months-long in the making by Holder's DOJ excoriating the police did not include excoriating blacks who, bent on some strange notion of revenge instead of justice, burned their own. It would be interesting to know how many have been brought to justice.

In Obama's inner circle as well documented is the highest profile black crook, Al Sharpton, who has made an industry out of violent protests in order to eradicate racism. He's worth $5 million and owes the government $4 million in unpaid taxes but is a White House guest never bothered by Eric Holder or the IRS, which the administration has used to its political advantage in abusing white organizations. This is the message the president sends to young blacks...and it stinks.

And so it goes.
Jim Clark

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