Black Vs. Blue;The Inevitable War?

Not sure where the boiling point will reach, but most certain one exist. In many ways the latest controversy involving an African American male and the Police is yet another incident in a long Rap Sheet for the American Justice System. All too many times it is overlooked because its commonality is perpetuated through daily media venues such as the News, and regular network programming. Recently, thought the plot thickened when the President of The United States weighed in on the issue. I am still unsure myself if the black lash comes from the interjection itself or from the mere fact this "black man in power" concurring with the black "victim"in the situation was the real outrage? I honestly, am leaning towards the latter. In this country blacks being victimized has never been an outrage, but was only dealt with when it became an inconvenience.

This notion that because there are blacks in powerful positions today ill conceive a world in which we do not live in. There are still many of us African Americans who despite Educational level, Class Level, Achievement Level etc...are still forced into this "Silent Secondary Citizens" role. We are advertised/marketed to on different if not "sub par" levels and usually with less tact and effort showing enforcement of pure stereotypes as a only possible means of advertisement(( have you ever wondered why every "black" MC Donald's commercial, you know ONLY black actors, almost ALWAYS has some kind of dancing/singing/performing element??)) I don't know about you but I don't sing every time I have a Bic Mac, as a matter of fact I don't eat @ Mc Donalds.

We are Disproportionally "victimized" within the Criminal justice system from Profiling & routine traffic arrest at 13times the rate to questionable investigation tactics and alarming conviction rates by Plea Deals, due to defendants not having adequate representation. Many victims feel they have few if any vehicles of recourse. Many who try and fight back with lawsuits are often just victimized again by little to NO compensation, and rarely a verdict(( think back to the Sean Bell killed on the eve of his wedding, and the Officer walking away with his Badge)). This fact alone steers many blacks from entering into the Legal system as a profession choice because the belief it was built only to "hurt us" has left many Blacks feeling like they would be "selling out" by becoming apart of that very system. How much can the Racial Tension between Black & Blue take? the countless unanswered Wrongful deaths on the hand's of Police officers throughout this country on a whole is unacceptable and yet no type of provisions have been made to protect or fully serve the Black Community.


On the other side, you have Police officers defending their own with outstanding citizens like Boston Police officer Justin Barrett who referred to Gates as a "Jungle Monkey" four times in an editorial piece in the Boston Globe and then tried to say it was to "characterize his behavior" though he himself was not there to observe the incident, but could take officer's Crowley's report and translate "Monkey Like" behavior? or maybe was it the color of Gates skin that made it easy for him to draw such an inference. Suspension? How can he protect and serve people he views as Animals? he can't, he won't and I feel comfortable to assume up until this point he has not. I wonder if we could pull his jacket and see any complaints??

This is a turning point especially for African Americans. We have come to see if we fight the minority of ignorance, the majority of Americans are ready to move past its Tumultuous history and enact REAL change. If the "learning point" of this both un Constitutional and arrogant mis management of power misses the mark it could quietly fuel the on going fire and long term concept of un fair, and un equal rights for Blacks in this Country.

Even the President himself is not exempt from racially motivated attacks on his every judgement, Bush brought us to war and we questioned him about NOTHING, President Obama has been, and sadly will be questioned on EVERYTHING he does or say even when he is trying to be a conduit for reconciliation and learning points between the two races he himself share equal representation from. His critics in the shadows of hidden racism and classim don't see performance, but yet just another "black man" and ALL the negative stereotypes that come along with the title, and even when President Obama attempts something complex in a simple act of sharing a beer his critics will only be there to stir more problems and not come to the table offering solutions. If we are to deal with the real issues then we must ourselves get real and confront and solve the issues that divide our great country and stop us all from truly living the "American Dream". Lets us not take the plight of a race of people as a "Liberal" or "Black" issue but as an American issue, especially when that plight is embedded within the justice system built to Protect and Serve ALL people.

Time to free our minds

Being a Free Mind, Simply means Ownership has not been given away...Many people today freely give their minds away, whether to media, or to the preacher in the pull pit, many of us have yet to learn the cardinal rule "seek truth and all else will be revealed" Too many times we allow ourselves to be spoon fed falsified truths by others instead of doing the necessary legwork to find out the facts and draw our own opinions. I like many Americans use to rely on Mainstream media to give me my daily dose of current and world affairs not realizing until recent "how accurate could a 60 second soundbite be? could the news become anymore sensationalized? "

Nowadays, you have journalist who let their bias come through their reporting, so I find myself not watching certain news channels or journalist because I already expect negative banter. When did it become OK for our news to come from pundits more so than honest, journalist only seeking truth? We are in the age of "instant celebrity" and many of these newly arising political fixtures are steming from the Communications field and not from prominent Law or Poli Sci backgrounds. That is easily explained by the "Palin Phenomenal" after trying several colleges and majors, the Alaskan Governor decided on journalism as her area of study even with a brief stint as a weather girl. Yet, we were all surprised when her national debut was a "dud" to the say the least. What is one to expect from an individual who was not smart enough to know she was ill prepared to step into the public light, and risked a certain opportunity to effect change with the luring idea of easy, ill earned fame.

What i am getting at, is simple, where did the intellects go? I mean the intellects who actually are on the ground with sleeves rolled up?? Those who have devoted significant time if not lifetimes to preparing for their chance to bring a real change to the muddy waters of politics. Many of those real intellects get lost in translation, especially if their ideologies are not enough to get the Dobbs or O'reily's angry enough to respond, In our society today spectators are able to sit on the sideline and not only keep a beach worthy tan, Ha! but able to shift gears into antagonists. They fuel the fire of divisive tactics to separate Race and Class with ignorant theories and witty one liners, They can have news channels dedicated solely to fear mongering and down right politically incorrect "witch hunts" and now it is simply called...."Good Journalism"

I ask you, the real investigative journalist, in this, the age of technology, to do the footwork and free your mind, dig past mainstream and see the what information is coming through the pipe line before it is chopped, screwed and made into 60 second snapshots intended for viewers who allegedly have short attention spans, prove the programmers wrong, and step outside the "Box" long enough to free your mind! Don't watch the news, make it...pick up your pen or your laptop and give your thought, who knows it might be a regular "joe" that comes up with the best compromise to the Senate's current dilemma on Health care reform, then we, the regular "Joe's" can realize we can take back this Country, one free mind at a time!!