TRUTH AS IT REALLY IS.

My Perceptions

? For some time now, I have been thinking about perceptions in our society about people in general and our interactions with each other as people.

I'm not too fond of bumper stickers, mainly when sending essential messages. Bumper stickers are temporary and tell a minimal story about what you are trying to say. It never works except on a limited basis and for a short time, and then it is gone, the perceived value power is dissipated, and it fades from view, like a faded pair of jeans.

In May 2020, George Floyd was murdered by the Minneapolis police, and His death was horrific. The protestations began, and the slogan, a bumper sticker, "Black Lives Matter," emerged as the rallying cry for millions across the country and the world. The protest lasted all Summer and then nothing! The men responsible for George's death were brought to justice and found to be accountable and given the punishment they deserve, but the value of all the protest has dissipated. No laws are being changed of any significance. Black and Brown men and women are still being murdered almost daily or put under enormous stress by the legal system and the politics of this society.

In my view, the term "Black Lives Matter" is a bumper sticker. It tells us a little story. A headline in a newspaper is thrown away the following day when the new headline emerges. What I am interested in learning, and hopefully others, particularly Black and Brown people, is the value of my life as a Black person. I cannot change who I am, nor can I change who my children and grandchildren are, or those of my friends, or even my enemies, but I can try to understand my value as a person in world society and how and where I fit, and my contribution in creating a world where the future of all our lives entwine and together work in positive ways. It is about raising my consciousness and that of others and bringing something of value to the preverbal table where because of my value, I am treated with equity. My life is not a "bumper sticker"; it has never been; the lives of my children, grandchildren, friends are not bumper stickers. I want it all to be meaningful to those around me and elsewhere.

Another bumper sticker is "Defund the Police." What does this mean? Is this realistic? The answer to both questions is simply "no." We should be talking about the reformation of the legal system that treats Black, Brown, and others unfairly and without equity. So how do we reform the legal system? It is a difficult task, admittedly. But it can be done by beginning a political process to make substantive changes to this archaic system.

The job of law enforcement is to maintain a fair system of law and order, keep us safe, all of us, and provide a way to solve disputes, help to correct unfairness in our society, and offer neutrality to contentious situations. It is not a cudgel used by one group against another. It is not to protect and benefit one part of society, providing benefits for some and punishment for others. So, where do we start? We can begin where the legal system meets us. In the streets where we live and work and socialize with each other. We ask that the police do several things in our neighborhoods, but they are not trained for most of what we ask them to do for us. The police are not protectors, they investigate crime. Disputes are settled in a court of law, and protection is gained through a security apparatus. But we ask the police to do all of these things, and when they screw it up as they eventually will, we want to hold them accountable. Of course, they are partly to blame because they must recognize their capabilities. They must speak out and act accordingly, so they bear some responsibility for their shortcomings.

Rather than depend on the cop on his beat to solve every problem within the community, let us instead build support systems around them that addresses issues like mental health, issues of truancy, family disputes, minor traffic rule violations by citizens, and leave the murders, stealing and so on for the police to solve through an investigative process. There will always be outliers, and these can be addressed as they emerge through community efforts working in conjunction with the legal system.

I despise politicians and activists because while they may be necessary in our society, they are "feeders." They feed off people who depend on them to deliver people's services to survive.

Someone once explained a politician as someone who sees an opportunity and find a way to tease it out to their benefit. They will tell any story and hope that you are convinced sufficiently to vote for and elect them to whichever office they are seeking. If they make it and fail to deliver on their promises, they spend the next couple of years before their re-election explaining why they couldn't get it done. A prime example of this is what we are experiencing now in Congress, and matter-of-factly, what we have been experiencing for many years now. It hasn't changed.

Now activists are no different. They take up a mantle like "Defund the Police" or "Black Lives Matter," which accomplishes nothing for those they represent. They either run for office as a politician, write a book, move out of the neighborhood to one that is first class and built from the funds they raised from their activism, or get on TV, or Cable as a so-called social expert, or a celebrity at large. They don't solve anything or make life better for the community they represent. In other words, there are no more Martin Luther King, no more Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and others who came before these extraordinary men, and women of their elk as well. So, I cringe when I read or hear someone say that they are an "Activist."

And let’s talk about CRT. As defined, critical race theory (CRT) is an intellectual and social review on race and its plays within a loosely organized framework of legal analysis that is based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct groups of human beings. Instead, it is socially constructed and used oppressively within society against some of a particular race. We all would agree that this construct is not taught in elementary schools, but in law schools, and discussed with theoretical implications in society.

So why all the fuss? The problem we continue to face is people, even those that are Black, continue to use their platforms to further their self-interest and fail to be true to what they know. I am talking about politicians, educators, including law professors, activists, and others. They are failing us, over and over.

Some would say that I have gone "nuts." No, I have not gone nuts or fishing or lost my mind. At 73, I have not changed how I have felt for many years, and I have a little problem speaking the truth as I see it. Often, when you talk about the facts, you can sleep with both eyes closed. I sleep with both eyes closed.