Ferguson, Garner, (Cosby?) and the machinations of prejudice…

CRASHR ^ | 12-6-14 | The Looking Spoon

[The Looking Spoon]

This was written by someone very close to me. It's long, but very much worth the read. Posted with permission from him.

Prejudice is alive and well in this country. Just look at all the racial tensions filling up your social media news feed, with the same combatants taking the usual positions. Liberals are pointing to injustice after injustice perpetrated by whites in authority on blacks without arms. Conservatives point to the right to self-defense against aggression, regardless of color. Within the broader framework of the arguments present, there are various strains of related arguments: it’s the cops and their guns; it’s the blacks and their broken families. And when a perceived injustice occurs, the various machines’ reactions are so swift, deft, and well coordinated that one is left to wonder whether these spontaneous demonstrations and statements were prepared before the first blow was struck.

Prejudice is alive and well, but maybe not in the way we suppose.

Like glorified ambulance chasers, the people leading the national “dialogue” descend on the scenes of tragedy with more alacrity that they themselves are relevant, than alarm for the tragedy: the same sad cast of characters appear with the same sad stories. I got to witness this first hand during the Boston Marathon Bombing – which happened close enough for me to see, smell, and hear. When the cameras were off, I was shocked by how disconnected and incongruent major media figures were with the sorrow taking place all around them. I understand; When your job is to report the news, which is frequently tragic, you can’t ride every roller-coaster-of-emotion. But at the same time, I understand the danger of having a national “dialogue” shaped by pre-ordained monologues of those with an agenda to push.

Ferguson, Garner, and the like are not merely people and events – they are symbols. And when something becomes a symbol, its importance is elevated and its facts become secondary. Whether or not Michael Brown charged Officer Wilson is irrelevant, some people say, because at its core the story represents a continued story of injustice against blacks in America.

Is there still injustice against blacks? Have we made no progress?

These are serious questions that cannot be fully explored in tweets, hashtags, monologues, are pre-judged denunciations. Has Jesse Jackson ever seen a time when the police used justified force against a black man? Has the <insert current city> Police Chief ever seen his or her officers use unjustified force?

I am sure that the answers to these questions are yes and yes. But, often, people speak in reaction to others who speak in reaction – afraid or unable because of societal pressure and prejudice to speak freely; these people seek to arouse or quell emotion rather than engage the mind.

I personally have a hard time understanding the unrest in Ferguson as a quest for justice. Why the rioting? Why the threats on the lives of other? Does that not better fit the profile of vengeance? Likewise, I have a hard time believing that the facts alone bare out justified violence in every case that reaches the national court. I don’t agree that we’ve made little to no progress regarding race relations in America. I do believe now (as opposed to as recent a time as a year ago) that the legacy and power of racism in this country lurks in the shadows more than many people believe or care to admit.

My shifting view – this is hard for me to discuss – comes from personal experience regarding the power of racism among those I love. Decisions that were made in the early 1900’s rend the strength of my familial union, even today. So when I hear Bill O’Reilly blame the disintegration of the black family, evidenced by a shockingly high 73% rate of black babies born out of wedlock, I scoff a little. Yes, many black babies are born out of wedlock, but so too are Hispanic and White babies. The rising tide lifts all boats – check out the stats. So, why are all demographics seeing the disintegration of the family? What wrongs are we doing as a society? Also, the fact that the rate for blacks is higher than the rate for non-blacks also has its point of understanding. Did the babies born out of wedlock break the black family? Or did the breaking of the black family cause more babies to be born out of wedlock?

In researching my family history, I discovered that my mother is half black. I also discovered that a whole branch of the family (that was black but lighter skinned) totally separated from the darker part of the family merely because they were darker, despite growing up together and having a close family connection for 30 years. And who is to blame for that disintegration of a black family? The blacks themselves, or the society that perpetrated the shame of “a drop of black blood.”

It is funny, but I always lamented how small my family was. If there is one thing I truly want, it is a big family. Not until I understood how racism has literally decimated my family did I begin to accept that the racism argument is not as “overblown” as I previously thought. On the other side of the argument, besides explaining my blazing running speed and amazing jumping ability, my blackness has not significantly limited my opportunities in life, partly because many people didn’t know, and partly because people didn’t care. True, I have examples where people said “racist” things to me, like when a man said he didn’t know there were “people like me” – read black – that were conservative. I have also been racially profiled. But I’ve not been fired, hosed, or otherwise seriously threatened.

The fact that others have experience more discrimination against themselves than I have is not lost on me. But what should also not be lost is the fact that the degree of discrimination has significantly declined, or do you think this country could have elected a black president in 1960.

So rather than exaggerate the size of the problem (large or small), we should give credit where credit is due. We’ve come a long way, baby. But neither should we sit on our laurels as if we’ve arrived. Are we there yet? No. How long? I don’t know.

So, what is the point of all this? What does my experience have to do with Ferguson? Or, what has Ferguson to do with me? And weirdest of all, what does this have to do with Bill Cosby?

I’m pointing my finger at all of America (realizing that 4 are pointed right back at me). We are all prejudiced. When Jesse Jackson arrives on the scene, has he not prejudged the situation? When others react just as strongly in the opposite direction, have they not equally prejudged the situation? Where then is the solution to prejudice? I don’t fully know, but I believe it begins with the realization that the germ, the seed, of prejudice is planted in each one of us. The vanquishing of injustice, therefore, cannot be achieved with swift denunciations, vengeful riots, or fomenting anger – unless we first turn that vengeance against the prejudice we have in our own hearts.

Ok, as for Bill Cosby, please hear me out. I understand that 20 separate accusations against a man deliver a powerful impression. I also understand that his alleged victims have been symbols for women who felt too ashamed to tell their stories until now. But I also believe people are being prejudiced against him too quickly. How foolish would we feel if we found out that there really was a sophisticated conspiracy against him? Have you never had a paradigm shifting experience where you were sure of one thing, only to discover a fact that turned your world upside down? I’m not saying that is the case, but I am saying we need to allow the possibility. Case in point: if Mr. Cosby really is guilty, was it not prejudice that protected him before? In the past, the women bringing accusations were prejudged because of his reputation. Today, society prejudges men (other than Bill “Slick Willy” Clinton – yes, cheap shot) accused of sexual crimes. The pendulum of prejudice has swung to the opposite extreme, but that makes it no less wrong.

Is not Justice better established by patient means? In other words, should we not be sure we are correct (having heard out fully and patiently the other side’s argument). Is not our own Declaration of Independence a document that carefully lays out the pattern of injustice suffered by the colonists? Is not Martin Luther King’s example a model of the patient fight for Justice? Nevertheless, patience should never be a code-word for delay and forget, as it often has been. The message of patience is a relative one: to the perpetrators of injustice we say, give us justice now because wouldn’t you yourself make the same such demand in our position. To those suffering injustice, the message is a sympathetic, be patient because, as my grandmother says, “The Lord doesn’t sleep forever.” It may not seem like it, but injustice has its our, but justice will have its day. Or do we not believe as Dr. King said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Injustice is best served by the manic, deaf, and wild swings of prejudice. Justice is best served by the patient, compassionate, and understanding and long-suffering that absorbs the blow and turns it into love. Or are we finally admitting that Dr. King was wrong? Justice is also best served by self-purification. How can I overcome the prejudice in another heart, if I can’t see the prejudice in my own? Or if you are one of the few blessed and chosen to be without prejudice because you were raised right, consider how long you might have slogged in discrimination had things turned out slightly differently.

This is why Martin Luther King preached love. We deserve justice now, but it takes time for people to hear and understand. On the other hand, we have reason to be glad that justice is slow. Imagine if universal justice came and judged all, now, in an instant. How many of us would be found wanting?

Let’s not run with righteous indignation because the wind happens to be at our back. Let’s patiently take a stand and move when we are sure the time is right.

“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action.”

So, where is justice in the Bill Cosby situation? Well, many of the accusers can still bring a case against Mr. Cosby. They should do so. Let him be tried fully and fairly. If the court system fails to procure justice, it is a great tragedy, and one that we’ve seen before. If that happens, then keep patiently working for justice.

Where is justice in Ferguson? This is much more difficult now because Officer Wilson will not face trial, so some will never feel full satisfaction. Still I say, be patient. Form your opinion on the basis of all the facts. Be open to the possibility that your interpretation of the facts is wrong, or at least incomplete. Try genuinely to understand the other side’s perspective. And if the other side refuses to hear your side, don’t refuse to hear theirs. Think how you can best be persuasive in the long run. Recognize that people often have a hard time understanding injustice until it touches them personally. Use the example of Dr. King to raise awareness and win hearts.

It is a strange paradox that sometimes the establishment of justice first requires a double injustice. Having first suffered the injustice of violence, people must sometimes suffer the further injustice of the 1-2 punch: having to wait for justice, and having to pay the price to establish justice. This is the dilemma and challenge that Dr. King referred to when he said that he who is behind in a race must forever remain behind, or learn to run faster. That is the dilemma that is at one and the same time a great challenge. God has so seen fit to charge the poor and suffering with establishing love and justice. Is this not also the pattern of the Cross of Jesus Christ? Having suffered the indignity of being sinned against, men must sometimes pay the punishment of the sin. As Christ did, so must those who follow his example. You may not believe that, but Dr. King did and his willingness to pay the price for the sin of the discriminators – a price he prophesied that he would pay unto the death - greatly blessed our country and moved it forward.

Finally, I mentioned the example of racism in my own life because I think it is a model for how other hearts and minds can be changed. It took a long time, but once I understood how racism touched my own life, I seemed to understand better. If people better understood the feeling of always getting the short end of the stick, would not the dialogue be different. Do not the police also get the short end of the stick? How many of us understand the stress and pressure of daily putting our lives on the line to protect, knowing that at any moment we can make a wrong (or sometimes right) move that will blow up to national controversy or personal tragedy (let’s not forget how many cops lose their lives on the job)? If it were your father who was shot by somebody you suppose to be trigger-happy, how would you feel? If it were your sister who put her life on the line and was assaulted, how would you feel if she were demonized for killing her assailant? If somebody you greatly loved were a racist, how would you feel? If somebody you loved was a little too trigger-happy and did something wrong, how would you feel?

In the final estimation, perhaps we are not patient because we do not love well enough. Or, we are more patient with our own faults because we love ourselves more than we love others. Only when we love others as we love ourselves, and are willing to suffer injustice in order to transform it into love, can we have a CHANCE at progress. It may be one in a million, but I’m as optimistic as Lloyd Christmas, who can say - because of the person behind his namesake – “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?”

Though the cause of evil triumph,
Yet ‘tis truth alone is strong,
Truth forever on the scaffold,
Wrong forever on the throne,
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadows,
Keeping watch above his own.

- Dr. Martin Luther King quoting James Russell Lowell’s “Once to every man and nation.”

[MeshugeMikey]

and when you speak out too publicly against the madness....you might get sharptoned

[rktman]

Sounds like screechy gloria all-red is just po’d ‘cause he never hit on her.