* To a respected young friend who posted that no one should ever behave the way people are behaving in Ferguson Missouri I replied:
Wow. Totally, profoundly, disagree.
JFK, "Whoever would make unviolent revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." The in-justice system in this country, that for people of color, and the not rich, has been unjust forever, and more so, every day... is an attack on democracy, the majority of Americans... and was supposed to be an alternative to violent revolution. Society, those in power, those on the sidelines, have chosen to allow this slanted system to get worse, and worse, and worse. The choose to 'hear' the poor, the people of color, less less and less. They have chosen for America to NOT BE THEIR COUNTRY. I lay the behavior at the feet of the whites, the privileged, those standing on the sidelines watching, or IGNORING, the bias, the injustice... year... after decade.... That's all I have to say.
* In reply to this my friend wrote at great length how she profoundly saw otherwise, in America, where other options, such as those that I utilize, are available.
* To this I replied:
Sister, I think we owe each other enough respect to acknowledge when we profoundly, totally, absolutely disagree. I owe you and give you that respect regardless of whether and when it terminates our relationship. I could say many many many many many things to what you have just written, but I will mention just a few. I believe you have 0 conception, 0, of what it means to be born black in this country, what it means to be born poor in this country, what it means to be a poor, uneducated, adult in this country, and what it means to be a black person in this country. 0. You seem to have zero understanding that there are two Americas. There have been two, there are two, and there may be two forever. There is an America for the white, educated, and and to a lesser degree the white uneducated. And there is an America for the rest of us. The so-called justice system, in fact, in truth, unless I am totally blind having been among the poor for almost a decade now and living among poor black people for years now, the so-called justice system has two functions, in fact, in truth, in daily practice, one is to protect the affluent and educated and white, and the other is to keep the rest of us from interfering with their lives. And the police, our men and women in uniform, are paid to do that, and they lose their jobs when they do not. And they are permitted to use, they are expected to use, whatever means, whatever force , what ever violation of civil rights they deem necessary and can get away with. Are there exceptions to this? Of course. The existence of an exception shows that there is a rule at work. You seem to have zero conception that there are two Americas. You seem to have zero conception of your white educated upwardly mobile privilege. I'm just speaking from the heart, as were you. Be well sister.
Sister, I think we owe each other enough respect to acknowledge when we profoundly, totally, absolutely disagree. I owe you and give you that respect regardless of whether and when it terminates our relationship. I could say many many many many many things to what you have just written, but I will mention just a few. I believe you have 0 conception, 0, of what it means to be born black in this country, what it means to be born poor in this country, what it means to be a poor, uneducated, adult in this country, and what it means to be a black person in this country. 0. You seem to have zero understanding that there are two Americas. There have been two, there are two, and there may be two forever. There is an America for the white, educated, and and to a lesser degree the white uneducated. And there is an America for the rest of us. The so-called justice system, in fact, in truth, unless I am totally blind having been among the poor for almost a decade now and living among poor black people for years now, the so-called justice system has two functions, in fact, in truth, in daily practice, one is to protect the affluent and educated and white, and the other is to keep the rest of us from interfering with their lives. And the police, our men and women in uniform, are paid to do that, and they lose their jobs when they do not. And they are permitted to use, they are expected to use, whatever means, whatever force , what ever violation of civil rights they deem necessary and can get away with. Are there exceptions to this? Of course. The existence of an exception shows that there is a rule at work. You seem to have zero conception that there are two Americas. You seem to have zero conception of your white educated upwardly mobile privilege. I'm just speaking from the heart, as were you. Be well sister.
There is not one America. There are at least two. If everyone was born in your America Lizzie, your educational system all being white, all being attractive, all being educated, all being born in a community trained to moral standards, the way that the legal system treats you, the way that the educational system treats you, the way that the police system treats you, the way that the medical system treats you , the way that bystanders would treat you ... Then I would tend to agree with your statements above. But this is not the America that exists
I am NOT trying to pile on here, but there are two additional points that you're writing brings to my mind. One is your extremely correct mention of the role of the media. Among the more insightful articles on Ferguson that have caught my eye are several that have mentioned that arson, loading, vandalism, is the voice of the voiceless, it is what the voiceless the ignored, the overlooked, the unheard do. The other is your mention of such extraordinary souls as Alice Paul. Whatever horror, outrage, indignation, disgust, disdain... You feel toward the small minority of Ferguson protesters is came compared to what was felt toward, spat at, beaten into... The likes of Alice Paul in her day. One final thought, sorry, Gandhi is understood as the father of nonviolent action, and rightly so. He is almost universally misunderstood as being against violence. This is categorically incorrect. He was categorically against cowardice, against inaction in the face of injustice. For him that was the cardinal sin, cowardice, in action in the face of injustice, let alone decades and centuries of injustice such as our black brothers and sisters have received and receive hourly in this country . Unforgivable is cowardice and injustice in the view of Gandhi. . He said that he strongly preferred, and highly recommended, nonviolent action. But he demanded of people that if they did not have within them the ability to respond nonviolently, they were to respond in the only ways that they knew, and if that meant violence, then it was their duty to be violet.
Wow. Totally, profoundly, disagree.
JFK, "Whoever would make unviolent revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." The in-justice system in this country, that for people of color, and the not rich, has been unjust forever, and more so, every day... is an attack on democracy, the majority of Americans... and was supposed to be an alternative to violent revolution. Society, those in power, those on the sidelines, have chosen to allow this slanted system to get worse, and worse, and worse. The choose to 'hear' the poor, the people of color, less less and less. They have chosen for America to NOT BE THEIR COUNTRY. I lay the behavior at the feet of the whites, the privileged, those standing on the sidelines watching, or IGNORING, the bias, the injustice... year... after decade.... That's all I have to say.
* In reply to this my friend wrote at great length how she profoundly saw otherwise, in America, where other options, such as those that I utilize, are available.
* To this I replied:
Sister, I think we owe each other enough respect to acknowledge when we profoundly, totally, absolutely disagree. I owe you and give you that respect regardless of whether and when it terminates our relationship. I could say many many many many many things to what you have just written, but I will mention just a few. I believe you have 0 conception, 0, of what it means to be born black in this country, what it means to be born poor in this country, what it means to be a poor, uneducated, adult in this country, and what it means to be a black person in this country. 0. You seem to have zero understanding that there are two Americas. There have been two, there are two, and there may be two forever. There is an America for the white, educated, and and to a lesser degree the white uneducated. And there is an America for the rest of us. The so-called justice system, in fact, in truth, unless I am totally blind having been among the poor for almost a decade now and living among poor black people for years now, the so-called justice system has two functions, in fact, in truth, in daily practice, one is to protect the affluent and educated and white, and the other is to keep the rest of us from interfering with their lives. And the police, our men and women in uniform, are paid to do that, and they lose their jobs when they do not. And they are permitted to use, they are expected to use, whatever means, whatever force , what ever violation of civil rights they deem necessary and can get away with. Are there exceptions to this? Of course. The existence of an exception shows that there is a rule at work. You seem to have zero conception that there are two Americas. You seem to have zero conception of your white educated upwardly mobile privilege. I'm just speaking from the heart, as were you. Be well sister.
Sister, I think we owe each other enough respect to acknowledge when we profoundly, totally, absolutely disagree. I owe you and give you that respect regardless of whether and when it terminates our relationship. I could say many many many many many things to what you have just written, but I will mention just a few. I believe you have 0 conception, 0, of what it means to be born black in this country, what it means to be born poor in this country, what it means to be a poor, uneducated, adult in this country, and what it means to be a black person in this country. 0. You seem to have zero understanding that there are two Americas. There have been two, there are two, and there may be two forever. There is an America for the white, educated, and and to a lesser degree the white uneducated. And there is an America for the rest of us. The so-called justice system, in fact, in truth, unless I am totally blind having been among the poor for almost a decade now and living among poor black people for years now, the so-called justice system has two functions, in fact, in truth, in daily practice, one is to protect the affluent and educated and white, and the other is to keep the rest of us from interfering with their lives. And the police, our men and women in uniform, are paid to do that, and they lose their jobs when they do not. And they are permitted to use, they are expected to use, whatever means, whatever force , what ever violation of civil rights they deem necessary and can get away with. Are there exceptions to this? Of course. The existence of an exception shows that there is a rule at work. You seem to have zero conception that there are two Americas. You seem to have zero conception of your white educated upwardly mobile privilege. I'm just speaking from the heart, as were you. Be well sister.
There is not one America. There are at least two. If everyone was born in your America Lizzie, your educational system all being white, all being attractive, all being educated, all being born in a community trained to moral standards, the way that the legal system treats you, the way that the educational system treats you, the way that the police system treats you, the way that the medical system treats you , the way that bystanders would treat you ... Then I would tend to agree with your statements above. But this is not the America that exists
I am NOT trying to pile on here, but there are two additional points that you're writing brings to my mind. One is your extremely correct mention of the role of the media. Among the more insightful articles on Ferguson that have caught my eye are several that have mentioned that arson, loading, vandalism, is the voice of the voiceless, it is what the voiceless the ignored, the overlooked, the unheard do. The other is your mention of such extraordinary souls as Alice Paul. Whatever horror, outrage, indignation, disgust, disdain... You feel toward the small minority of Ferguson protesters is came compared to what was felt toward, spat at, beaten into... The likes of Alice Paul in her day. One final thought, sorry, Gandhi is understood as the father of nonviolent action, and rightly so. He is almost universally misunderstood as being against violence. This is categorically incorrect. He was categorically against cowardice, against inaction in the face of injustice. For him that was the cardinal sin, cowardice, in action in the face of injustice, let alone decades and centuries of injustice such as our black brothers and sisters have received and receive hourly in this country . Unforgivable is cowardice and injustice in the view of Gandhi. . He said that he strongly preferred, and highly recommended, nonviolent action. But he demanded of people that if they did not have within them the ability to respond nonviolently, they were to respond in the only ways that they knew, and if that meant violence, then it was their duty to be violet.
posted from Bloggeroid
