Alright. This gets very personal. I am black and I thought Van Jones articulated exactly the way I felt going to sleep on election night better than I ever could. Race is always the obvious tension in this country but too easily it becomes the excuse for all sides to discredit someone of the opposite opinion. False labels are wrong to place on people no matter who it comes from.
I have a problem with people discrediting others just because they can. Because it wont effect them one way or another. Because they don't have to be concerned with the some of the same things as others.
Too many people confuse privilege with racism. Fact is, I don't believe I know a whole lot of racist people personally. That being said, I do believe its has become very easy to say "I'm not a racist, therefore you're label of me or your point is invalid." The affect of privilege has the same effect on those without it as racism/sexism does. Just because the label is wrong doesn't mean outcomes are any different.
Ignazio, I feel like this is your point #2 in action. This may be an assumption, I admit. You have the privilege of knowing that you may not be racist but also that for the most part you are not adversely effected by it anyway. It doesn't apply to you so why give it any merit.
Someone brought it up but it goes with my point. Do ALL LIVES MATTER? Yes. Let's be real though. BLACK LIVES MATTER is a movement to address 2 specific epidemics. Police brutality against blacks and black on black violence. Are these not serious concerns in the black community that need to be addressed? Should I not look both internally and externally for help resolving these concerns? My support of that does not mean I care less about all people, especially my friends who I went to school with or have coached with that are cops. Why would someone present ALL LIVES MATTER as an opposing movement to BLACK LIVES MATTER? To somenone like me it is hard not to feel somewhat disrespected. I'd rather just see it as ignorance. I don't necessarily think that the person is a racist, although they very well may be. I believe that it stems from the privilege of not having to be concerned with specific things that impact me either directly or indirectly and therefore having the ability to disregard it.
OK let me field some of this. First of all, in my opinion, Van Jones is a racist human being regardless of what you or anyone else says. His White Lash comments were highly offensive, We know what the words mean and we definitely know what he means with the word "lash." We know what Jeremiah Wright has been saying in his church for decades. These guys mince no words. These guys continuously paint white conservatives as being racist. There are dozens of examples of it and Jones did it again on Tuesday night. There are also others like them. Racism is a two way street.
These are the people who say if anyone disagrees with the current President they must be racist. That is one of the first things that comes out of their mouths. Not once in a while, every time. It became a situation where the same people said if you vote against Hillary you don't want a woman in the White House. A guy on this board said those very words.
I have been critical of the current President but his race has absolutely nothing to do with it. I was just as critical of Bill Clinton and he is as white as me. It is all based on ideology. I simply don't agree with either of their views or the direction they wanted to take the country. That's it and that's always been it. I don't have any black friends. But, I do have a lot of friends who happen to be black.
The things that come out of the mouths of Jones, Wright, Sharpton and others are doing nothing to bring anyone together. And I don't believe that is their goal either.
But let me ask you something in earnest. Let's just say that white voters did vote for Trump in their own best interests. I not sure that happened but let's just say it did.
Why is that racist as Jones suggests? Why did Jones even inject race into this? Is it possible they voted for the person they thought was the best candidate?
Why is it OK for blacks to vote in their best interests as blacks? Why is it OK for gays to vote in their best interests? Why is it OK for women to vote in their best interests as women? Why is it OK for other minority groups to vote in their best interests?
Why is it, when all of these people vote in their best interests no one on the left says or thinks anything about it? But the minute whites vote in their best interest it is somehow racist or privileged? Why is that?
Don't we vote in our best interests and what we think are the best interests of the country? Hillary Clinton said during the campaign of 1992 and I quote "when you go into the voting booth to vote, ask yourself, what's in it for me?"
No question the grievance of the black Lives Matter movement is about police brutality against blacks. It's real in some places. But, maybe I missed something out there but I don't think I have ever heard anyone in the Black Lives Matter movement say it is a movement against black-on-black crime. Maybe you can shed some light on that and help me out with some examples. if that is true as well then I am for that. I think where the confusion comes from is in the name. Had they added the word "too" at the end of it, it would be clearer as to what their goal is. To simply say Black Lives Matter sounds to some people as if those are the only lives that matter, hence the All Lives Matter push back.
I am not one who hurries to the top of the mountain to say " I am not racist!!" Personally, I know who I am so it doesn't matter either way what others think. I have always felt suspect of someone who professes his innocence without being accused of anything.
We will have to wait to see what happens with the new President. He is the first one on our side to even try to reach out to the minority groups in a while. He received more votes from the back community than Romney did. Many of the Hispanics in Florida that the media thought were going to vote for Hillary did in fact vote for Trump. By the way I can't stand putting people in groups but feel like I have to in this case.
My hunch is that Trump will reach out to the inner cities in an attempt to help them help themselves and make their lives better. How that will go no one knows. But I am certain of this. If Trump is able to reach out to them and they see progress and improvement in their lives the Democrats will lose that voting block forever.
I apologize for the length of the post but I want to say one more thing. One of my very best friends, who was in my wedding, (and I can produce the picture) happens to be a black man. We have known each other since we were in Little League. I can't count the number of times he has been to my house for dinner and to visit. My kids are adults and they grew up around him. There is nothing I wouldn't do for that man. We have talked about everything over the years. He voted for Obama, I didn't. We respected each other's decision because we both made the decision on our logic. I have taken him into bars where he is the only black man there and he has taken me into bars where I am the only white man.
I have to be honest. I felt like I was treated better than he was. And I can tell you why. Fear and lack of fear. I had no fear going into the bar he took me into. That was based on experience in the neighborhood I grew up in which was predominately black. To me those people were just people. However when he went into the bar I took him in it was different. The people there didn't say a word. It actually got quiet for about 30 seconds. That was a long time. I felt like those people treated him that way out of fear, unfounded as it was. I know what a person who happens to be black goes through that a white person doesn't because I have seen it. Do I understand it completely and feel it. No, I couldn't.
Fear drives anger. But I don't think the people who are showing fear really need to. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by this President. I have heard a lot that he is a different man behind closed doors than what we saw during the campaign. But time will tell.
