Common Sense

Some have said that common sense is not common at all. To this point I must agree. I'm not an officer of the law, but I believe that I would have better judgment in the situation that occurred in Plano, Texas. Below is a video of ESPN's report on the incident. And here is a link for their write up. I'm not going to give the details of the story here, but I think the officer is clearly an idiot (whether or not his stupidity was racially motivated is not my place to judge). Watch the video and read my thoughts below...



When will people use common sense? First, I will address what Ryan Moats should have done in this situation (though his course of action was not incorrect). After the cop pulled me over in the hospital parking lot, I would have gotten out of my car (or even waited for the officer to approach the window) and explained that my mother-in-law was dying. If the officer said that he could not let me leave without towing my car, I would tell him that he can do whatever he wants, but he will not prevent me from seeing her. I would calmly walk into the hospital with my hands completely visible. However, I would know that this course of action could cause me harm (Moats' wife used this course of action...kudos to her and to Ryan for remaining composed).

Now, to Officer Powell. This cop is an idiot. After the hospital sent out several nurses (on separate occasions) to explain the situation and explain that the patient had already coded several times, the officer still would not allow Ryan Moats to see his dying mother-in-law. Is this for real? The reason Moats was pulled over is due to 'rolling through' a red light (turning right on red without stopping, I assume). Is this reason enough to detain him in the parking lot of the hospital? The officer could have allowed him to see his mother-in-law and then written a ticket or whatever. Why not? Because the officer is an imbecile. He could have even walked into the hospital and waited for them with the ticket in his hand. This is insane. I'm not calling for his job, but he needs some more training. Police Officers have discretion (meaning they DO NOT have to arrest or ticket everyone who has committed a crime) to use at their WILL. Meaning they can give warnings in certain cases. Would rushing to the hospital be one of those cases? Would nurses telling you that the person your 'suspect' (really, traffic violation?) is trying to visit is dying be reason enough?

Ryan Moats' mother-in-law died before he reached her. How can that be repaid? The officer was directly responsible for the delay that caused him to miss those last moments with her. Can any apology cover that? I appreciate what the Police Chief said in his press conference. I'm glad that this doesn't fall on blind eyes, but we need to hire officers with some sense. What is the excuse here?

The reason that this is most disturbing is that Officer Powell overreacted. How many other times has he made poor decisions based on an exaggerated view of events? Has he arrested someone (black or white) that did nothing to deserve it? Is he running around making ignorant and stupid decisions throughout Plano? This is the travesty of a lack of common sense. Making intelligent decisions and knowing the right reaction for the right situation is KEY to being an officer of the law. You may view this as a small misstep in judgment, but I see it as a systemic problem in our nation. We have lost common sense.

I watched South Park recently and the common theme of many episodes is the lack of common sense. The town folk react to common problems with extreme solutions. They lack the necessary common sense to prevent mass hysteria over little issues (and comedy results). This is an illustration of the greater problem: fear. Common sense challenges fear and ignorance. However, without common sense it is easy to fear things that one should not. Whether it be racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, gender discrimination, or religious discrimination the common thread is unfounded fear. It creates the need to oppress, to kill, to make war, and to segregate. Why are we afraid? Because we lack common sense and the information that will ablate our fears. We are ALL guilty.

I challenge my readers to move past their fears. Choose something you are afraid of and conquer it. Talk to someone that you think won't understand you, walk where you want, look people in the eye (OSU students), say hello, and do the little things. Soon you will be able to conquer the big fears. I'll work on this and I hope that you will as well...we don't want to end up with a lapse in common sense like Officer Powell.

Identity

This is a 2 year old (a little less, but approximately two years) post from myself and Talitha. It talks about Identity. Think about it and add your comments.

Theo: Identity can be defined as "the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group." By that definition, one can only have a "black" identity if they are recognized as a member of the "black" group. I think that one cannot define their identity in such crass terms, but must utilize a multiplicity of variables in order to form their identity. It cannot come from only skin color, their speech, or their standing in society. It must be derived from several factors. Calvin, Talitha, and I will attempt to delineate these factors and identify there points of origin in order to answer this basic, yet complex, question, "What does it mean to be black in America?"

Tali: Being black in America you recogonize a certain type of white privilege that as a black person you are not entitled to. A very clear example of this can be seen in the 2008 presidential election. In this election, white privilege says that Sarah Palin's daughter can have a child out of wedlock and her family still be considered model. If Bristol Palin was not the daughter of an Alaskan Governor, she would need some of the same assistance that the republican party is fighting to destroy. White privilege says that President G. W. Bush can graduate from Yale and Harvard with a C average and Sarah Palin can take 6 years to graduate from 4 colleges and both still be conidered presidential. While Barack Obama graduates top of his class from Harvard law and is considered an elitist. White privilege says that Sarah Palin gets to bring her Down Syndrome baby to campaign rallies and media spots when the baby should be at home and be praised for her parenting skills. While Michelle Obama gets criticized for not attending a Sept. 11 memorial because she wanted to be home with her two children on their first day of school.


Theo: You bring up some interesting points. Look at Palin's Rev. Wright or McCain's lack of support for the troops or his affair! The fact that the blatant bias in coverage of certain issues and the fact that those in the majority cannot understand the true nature of minority disenfranchisement are quite sad. Palin was mayor of a town and wasn't in charge of the police or fire departments. Here is a daily show video (take with a grain of salt) about her town. How does she get more props for working in Wasilla, AK than Obama does for working in an actual city? White privilege. Her mayoral duties were miniscule at best (same as the gubernatorial duties of such a small state in terms of population). Take a look at this story of improper use of state funds. Or this Daily Show video, comparing what Republicans say about themselves and what the say about others...its insane! However, I want to stray away from the election for a moment (as angry as the campaign of McCain has made me). Let's really delve into the lack of opportunities for minorities. Even if we accept that people will discriminate against you and you can overcome that, you still must overcome the inherent discrimination of our many public services.
The educational and judicial systems are some of the worst that come to mind. Let's take a look at the school districting. Because of economic desparities between suburban and urban areas, urban schools (more students) have less funding than suburban schools (less students, usually). The tax revenues are much higher with those that make more money (meaning better schools). If you are rich, you tend to move from poor. Urban areas tend to contain higher percentages of minority groups. Therefore, the decline in quality of urban schools leads to a less than favorable educational outcome for minorities and the poor. This means that suburban (majority white) students have a better school to attend (plus the ability to attend great private schools) than their minority counterparts. I don't necessarily support busing kids into suburbia to attend school, but something needs to be done in the inner cities. One huge way to get this problem addressed is exposure. Shine a light on the disparities between the two school groups. I think that students in the inner city would benefit from programs (such as NSF Gk-12) that increase their exposure to the accessibility of wealth via education, rather than crime and fantasy (sports, rap, etc.).

As far as the justice system, someone else can take over here, but the main point is that the law even has racial disparities. Drug law, in particular, has always (historically) been about race (opium dens=asians, crack cocaine=blacks, etc.). This is why current laws are so bogus. Why is crack cocaine more dangerous than regular cocaine? Why is there a larger prison sentence for the same amounts of the drug? If you question the accuracy of my claim that most drug laws are tied to race, read up on the history. Its ALL there. I would research it, but then you (the reader) wouldn't learn anything (its the teacher in me).

DONE

Real American

What is a real American? You may think that you are, but you probably aren't (at least according to the GOP). But let's take a look at the real issue. Why is it that patriotism is measured by how much you are willing to suck America's proverbial dick? If you criticize America you are un-American by 'their' standards. Why? Is that the way of the Founding Fathers? I would contend that a real American is anyone who speaks for what they believe in, even though it could get them killed!

So why can't we all be real Americans? Because the GOP thinks that only small towns have values and that big cities are moral drains on society. This is a fear tactic, because all areas have good and bad (almost to an equal degree). You can't live your life in constant fear. This is not a productive manner in which to live.

Why do we want a country divided into real and fake? Can we all just be Americans and embrace our differences? America was not built on everyone thinking the same way. The Founding Fathers had many very heated debates regarding public policy and the Constitution. This didn't just happen overnight. We have to encourage rational debate because without it we are a nation of blowhard pundits. Just because we have differing viewpoints doesn't mean we can't, as rational adults, learn from one another.

Even Palin is tired of her own 'real America' rhetoric. Or as I like to call it...BULLSHIT! And if you still don't believe that others feel this way, check out these two blogs....here and here.

WAKE UP!!!!!

Turn on the news. Go ahead, turn on your local or 24hr cable news. More than likely there is a black male on the run from the law and a white female in trouble. We always hear about 15 year old Elizabeth Smart and how "brave" she was. She was kidnapped and taken to a house less than 6 miles from her own. The kidnappers left her alone for several hours and she never even tried to escape. Conversely, a 5 year old (yes, I said 5) black girl was kidnapped after school by some crackheads. She chewed through her ropes and was home by 6pm. No national coverage about her bravery.

What about Susan Smith? Killed her babies and blamed a nondescript black male. Everyone believed her. Can we catch a break? Watch "Bowling for Columbine", read "The Culture of Fear." Our nation cares not for those of darker complexions than lily white. Our media isn't fair towards our concerns or our issues. Even our own TV network (BET) is fucked up.

Let me put my general anger aside for this blog and focus on the most appalling issue of late. No, ITS NOT OJ!!! Travel with me to West Virginia. No wait, we better travel in packs if we are going there. Check out the news on this issue. And the six accused of the crime will NOT be charged with a hate crime (they have been charged with 108 crimes since 1991, how are they still out of jail). Megan Williams, a 20 year old black woman, was sexually assaulted and kidnapped for a week by six white people (including a mother and daughter AND a mother and son combo). She was repeatedly called a nigger (every time she was stabbed) and forced to do many despicable and demeaning things. Yet they are not charging the six with a hate crime!! The police are saying that she previously met one of the accused (Bobby Brewster, 24), but I believe that the crime was still racially motivated due to the fact she was called nigger while she was stabbed. This is why I must write this blog! It saddens me that this story is receiving minimal coverage while OJ is our media's top priority. Why is this? Do we not bleed the same blood if we are beaten and raped as our white counterparts? Has segregation and bigotry remained, while only changing its methods?
I would say YES!!

I am not saying that all whites are bad and all blacks are good (or vice versa), but there seems to be an inherent disconnect with victims from other racial groups than the majority. This disconnect is not in all whites, but if I were to judge the nation on the media's coverage of certain issues, then I would see that our media and the general population do not care about victims who are minorities. What can we do about this?

Its great to rant and feel anger towards "the MAN", but what will that accomplish? We need to be honest about our feelings towards these discrepancies in news coverage. Tell your fellow man how you feel. We also need to be honest with ourselves.
This nation needs a change. We can't always hide behind the banner of faux equality in our great nation. We need to expose these injustices! Wearing black or green may be a slight start, but I think we would be better served writing articles, organizing our community, utilizing our "BET" for social change, voicing our opinions on the national stage, choosing a true Black leader (not Al or Jesse), and being honest with ourselves.