NOTES OF CONCERN…
…Jack
Blair
Have We Not Learned
One cannot look beyond the borders of
our individual communities without witnessing turmoil. Tumultuous events occur
both within and outside the borders of our nation. Some of them will never
touch us personally; others will be very personal. Too many are cause for
future personal concern.
Internationally, dictators and despots
have learned how to push our national button. Most recently, a nice young man
serving as a reporter was beheaded on film. It outrages us, as it should. But
in that same month terrorists were beheading people all over the Middle East to
show their determination that everyone would join their effort or be considered
a spy.
Since our President’s speech on Syria,
which seems so long ago, 190,000 Syrians have died.
People in Israel and those who follow
Hamas are dying at at significant rate, but saddest of all there is no
resolution in sight.
Over my lifetime I have always assumed
our government held a lot of information back that would be scary to the common
citizen. Yet this week the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs said publically that we have never faced a greater threat of attack on
the homeland and that our enemies were not only living abroad but were people
from our own country and the countries of our allies who could easily return to
conduct internal terror.
Well if my old theory is correct,
I can only wonder what the government is holding back from us now as it would
appear the answer might be nothing.
Internally, we continue to have a
battle between big financial institutions and the regulating government.
Neither the banks nor the government has done a very good job, and it
seems that the financial crisis is going to have, as they say in the insurance
business, a long tail.
Race still plays a big role in America.
In some ways, the election of our first black president has simply made it more
obvious. These last two weeks I have heard arguments that the percentage of
white and black police officers should represent the percentage of citizens of
color in the town. Same for jury selections. Those suggestions set back what
Dr. King sought, a race blind America. The number of people of any color,
including white, should not be a consideration. The selection of the best-qualified
people for police forces, juries or jobs of any kind should be the rule. If a case can be made that prejudice
exists and is proven then that is a matter for the legal authorities.
I feel bad that the Reverend
Martin Luther King and his associates, admired by so many people, would never
and did never condone riots, pillaging and looting in response to what was
perceived as white indifference to their plight. It is as if nothing was
learned from the historic civil rights movement. Gandhi’s movement further
informed minorities on how best to win equality.
Tear gas, smoke bombs, and riot clubs
are not far removed from the powerful water hoses and snarling dogs from our
civil rights history. But by protesting quietly and orderly the protesters
brought to the attention of the American people just what was really happening.
Today, after all the successes that led
to a black president and a black attorney general, what message is being sent
by current rioting behavior? It will gain little sympathy. After all these
years we need to remember the success of Dr. King’s approach and the gains made
in all walks of life for minorities since then.
Have we learned nothing?
Have we not learned that America is
safest when she is strong?
Have we not learned that unsecured
borders become a welcome mat for the terror that some want to bring down on us?
Have we not learned that protests can
be peaceful and still bring about change?
Time to revisit the history books.
