One thing he shouldn't do ... can't do, really ... is go to Ferguson, MO.
For the benefit of anyone in 2020 who happens to come upon this post, Ferguson is ground zero for racial unrest since the shooting of Michael Brown. I don't know if the kid grabbed for the gun. I don't know if the cop had no cause to shoot. I do know that the city fathers have handled this abominably and that the sight of rioting and looting and police armed as though they were patrolling Gaza instead of Missouri makes me sick.
I wish our President could go there and say something that will bring us together and help us heal. But he can't. Because he's black.
Isn't that a kick? Our first African-American President can't talk about race.
I remember after he spoke candidly about the Trayvon Martin murder -- where the facts were, to my eyes, more obvious than in the case of Michael Brown -- some people were ridiculously up in arms. Two women that I've cybermet through Saturday 9 were especially hostile and, I feel, representative. One said that if there was rioting after the Martin verdict, it would be the President's fault. The other slagged the POTUS and then posted photos of Trayvon flashing his tattoos and exhaling smoke -- as though body art and pot were death penalty offenses, and that the punishment should be meted out by some cop wannabe on community watch. (You know, the man the 911 operator told to stay in his car.)
That second woman really roasts my chestnuts because she begins her blog with a psalm and is so unbearably sanctimonious about all the many hours she spends at church. I just hate it when people wrap themselves in faith so they can feel warm and cuddly with their racism. I realize that the people with the darkest hearts are the ones who can benefit most from church, but I doubt that she spends time looking at her own sins. If she does, she never posts about it. Instead she concentrates on her litany of complaints.
Consequently I no longer watch the news the way I used to -- which was rather compulsively, I admit. Between Ferguson and ISIS, I just can't. It makes too sad.
since i live about 30 miles south of Ferguson...I can tell you there was and is outside influence to the riots and looting. if you obey the law you won't have a problem...PERIOD!!
ReplyDeleteit is a sad sad day for our city...
and to be truthful, it isn't over because the police officer hasn't been charged.
when they do bring out all the facts, no one will believe either side....and that is another sad truth.
the country need prayer...but oh yes that means you have to believe and trust in God...we can't do that because Christians are freaks.
just my opinion...
I value your opinion, Vivian, and understand your frustration. When I read about gun violence in Chicago and hear Right Wing Nut Jobs say what we need here is more guns I want to scream! And, of course, ask if they have ever been to south side and of course they haven't.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we each need prayer but not that the country does. Because I trust that the forefathers knew what they were doing when they came up with the separation of Church and State. And look what's happening with ISIS, what's happening in Gaza. What people can do in the name of their religion is chilling. We're better than that. Men like Jefferson saw to it.
I don't think people like that racist lady you mentioned actually get anything valuable out of church services anyway. They are too busy thinking about how righteous they are.
ReplyDeleteI think what people need is better morals... realizing that you don't shoot people who irritate you, and you don't create destruction and chaos in order to get a point across. Whether people learn these morals from church, from their families, from school, from AA meetings, or whatever, doesn't matter... as long as they figure out somewhere that there is almost never a good reason for violence.
I'm with you--the situations sadden me.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched the news regularly since ... well, back when they reported news, probably 15 or more years ago now. When any Kardashian shows up on the national news, that is not a news broadcast any longer. In the past couple of years, I've turned to the net for news: CNN and MSNBC of course, but also Reddit and al-Jazeera and BBC and NPR. I get the outline of the story and then I stop. Because it's pretty depressing.
ReplyDeleteWe need to be kinder to each other, not just here in the States but everywhere. Whether you're kind to others because "God says" or because it's the way you were raised, I don't care. Just be nice. And stand up for the downtrodden.