Police need the support of all communities now

NATION ON VERGE OF DOMESTIC DISASTER

LEADERS NEED TO RESTORE CALM NOW

The point may be coming when restoring domestic order may not be possible. Leaders have used race relations to advance their political agenda and it may very well have gone beyond what they had hoped.  It started with the Zimmerman/Martin incident in Florida in 2012. The local district attorney looked at the evidence and did not think there was sufficient evidence for charges. Public outcry and intervention of the federal attorney general made it into a national story during a presidential election year. When the evidence was presented to the jury, Zimmerman was acquitted. But much political hay was made. The Michael Brown incident was similar;  it was hyped by the federal authorities and the media. "Hands up don't shoot", is still chanted in rallies today even though it was not true. Ferguson burned, riots went on for weeks, many lost all they owned, and some died, but the political advantage was worth it. The Garner case in New York was another sad story. Many of these incidents could be avoided if people would just respect the authority of the police. When the police decide they are going to handcuff you, you cannot change their mind by resisting, they must follow through, it then escalates and someone gets hurt. Of course police sometimes act beyond the law and are reprimanded or punished after due process.  There are many thousands of interactions between police and citizens every day. It usually not an experience we enjoy. I would assume all parents instruct their children how to respond to authority in tense situations. Whatever you do, do not threaten, run, act erratic or hurl insults upon a policemen and definitely do not assault a policemen - these actions raise the adrenaline and puts everyone on a hair trigger. Today it is even worse - regular assassinations of policemen have made it more like a continuous combat situation. This will not end well for anyone. We have groups like "Black Lives Matter" that have encouraged the assassination of police officers. These people have not been condemned by the black leaders of the country and often encouraged. Anything for political advantage.

If this situation is not calmed now I would expect to see large numbers of experienced policemen retiring and moving to private security positions, for which there may soon be a large demand. I also can foresee that police will be reluctant to enter certain neighborhoods. If they do not have support of those communities how could you blame them.  Police will need to go back to armored clothing, equipment and heavier firepower in crowd control. I would not be surprised to see incidents where after taking fire from within a crowd, many will be hurt. This needs to be avoided now. We will see if Obama and his race hustlers will now see what they have created and attempt to lower the tension or if they will decide there is more political advantage in more chaos.

Gun sales have been escalating since the 1990's. Some started directly after the LA riots where the only stores that were spared were those of Korean immigrants who manned positions on their roofs with heavy weapons. The riots in Ferguson, Baltimore and the increasing race tensions have added to the fear of suburban and rural residents. Many more have bought guns for protection. When you see the same politicians who have stoked racial tensions and increased divisions by their policies and words now demand restrictions on honest citizens' gun rights it is just more proof that their intentions are not good.  What is needed is a sincere attempt at calming the divisions in the country. A sincere attempt at encouraging private sector real jobs in inner city neighborhoods. If that means no city, state or federal taxes for 10 years, it would still be a good deal.  Not more welfare, food stamps, etc. Jobs create self worth, dignity and self respect. It also earns respect by other citizens. While government policies that encourage private jobs to grow in these communities would be a good start, the dialogue that white people are the problem will not be productive for anyone. I sincerely believe that many white people would volunteer to mentor or help with English, or teach minorities, but I don't see an environment that would allow that in the near future. It would more likely be a demand for more money for the established groups to hand out the benefits.

I did not vote for Obama, but after his election I proclaimed to my young son that if he was a good president he could be the best thing that has happened for race relations and for black citizens in general. His presidency has set race relations back 50 years. I don't know if this is by accident or from his own demons, being an African-American, or if from his ideology. It's clear that the "why" does not matter at this point. His presidency has been a dismal failure for race relations in this country.




Originally published 7/9/2016