This post is in response to blog babe Momma Fargo who asked about the situation in Ferguson Missouri. I saw her post and question while I was headed to work. I didn't have time to answer it. So I had all shift to think about her question...."Ferguson....What is next?" Basically. Momma Fargo wrote this post based partly on her experience as a Police Officer. She is trying to figure out what is going to happen next and what might be the root cause of the issues.
I was going to post in her comment section but this would be a looong comment so I figured I would post it here to do it justice. The Ferguson riots and standoff is in my mind a culmination of decades of racial grievances that have been allowed to fester and stew up under the surface. This is the chickens coming home to roost, This is the results of generations of cultural marxism and political correctness run amuck.
It is curious that blacks, the least educated thirteen percent of the
population, the least productive, most criminal, and most dependent on
governmental charity, should dominate national politics. Yet they do.
Virtually everything revolves around what blacks want, demand, do, or
can’t do. Their power seems without limit.
We as a culture absolutely cannot do anything to upset them, Blacks now control the presidency and thus, most importantly, the
Attorney Generalship. In this the staggering political power of blacks
is most evident. Obama was elected because he was black: an equally
unqualified and negligible white politician would have had no chance. He is
now fiercely pushing the most profound transformation of America ever
attempted. President Obama and his fellow travelers have split America along racial lines. What is the purpose? President Obama was supposed to be the post racial president, but instead he has fanned the flames of racial discourse.
We as Americans used to believe in our innate belief as Americans, that we have a common culture a common belief as the glue that holds our society together. But now that we have split along racial and cultural lines, the belief that we as Americans can come together is fading fast. The blacks are perpetually angry and demanding more, we have the hispanic groups demanding more, we have the islamic groups demanding more. Everybody is angry and full of rage, I can see why in the past the blacks have a case for mistreatment for slavery and the Jim Crow laws, but this is the 21st century, anybody that was a slave here in America have long returned to ash. I can see the mistreatment of the blacks during the Jim Crow era. But that went away in the 60's. Now we have a new generation of blacks demanding special rules and exemptions from today's' society. Where will it end....The rage is building and I see everybody else getting angry also, the whites are angry because they are tired of being blamed for all the ills in the world. I am afraid that the differences are too much and the only to fix it is by fire. Let the rage explode and consume all those that are ate up with the hatred. Nothing else will do it. I am almost advocating secession...the divide is almost too much for us as a people to surmount.
We have a coalition of groups that pushed for a "Rules of engagement " in the eve of the oncoming of the Grand Jury proceeding:
Proposed Rules of Engagement
1) The first priority shall be preservation of human life.
2) Channels of communication will be established so that situations can be de-escalated if necessary.
3) Police will give protesters 48 hour advance notice before grand jury decision is announced.
4)
Police will provide to the public information that makes clear the
chain of command, who is making what decisions and the processes for
deciding when the police response will be escalated.
5) Every
attempt should be made to communicate with protesters to reach "common
sense" agreements based on these protocols, both ahead of time and at
the scene of protests.
6) Clear standards of professionalism and sound community friendly-policing will be maintained and adhered to at all times.
7)
Police will wear only the attire minimally required for their safety.
Specialized riot gear will be avoided except as a last resort.
8) Crowd control equipment such as armored vehicles, rubber bullets, rifles and tear gas will not be used.
9)
Police or other government authorities will not interfere with the free
flow of information through tactics such as limiting cell or internet
access, interception of cell or other mobile conversations or
unwarranted wiretaps.
10) Every attempt will be made to pinpoint
arrests so that only individual lawbreakers will be arrested. ”Kettling”
and mass arrests will not be used.
11) Safe houses shall be considered sacred ground and only entered by police when called upon or if extremely necessary.
12) Media and Legal Observers shall not be considered participants in protests and shall be allowed to do their jobs freely.
13)
Every attempt will be made to provide alternate routes or other means
for non-involved persons to get to places of employment and meet other
transportation necessities.
14) Strategically, police commanders
will allow protests to take and occupy larger and more disruptive spaces
than would normally be tolerated, and will allow occupation of those
spaces for longer periods of time than would normally be tolerated.
15)
Police will be instructed to be tolerant of more minor lawbreaking
(such as thrown water bottles) when deciding whether to escalate the use
of force.
16) Police rank and file will be instructed to provide
every latitude to allow for free assembly and expression, treating
protesters as citizens and not “enemy combatants.”
17) Excessive force and other forms of police misconduct will not be tolerated.
18)
Intimidation and harassment of protesters will not be tolerated. This
includes pretextual pedestrian or traffic stops, contacting of employers
or family members, pre—emptive arrests or detention of "leaders,"
publishing of private information and any other means of intimidation
and harassment.
19) Bond for arrestees will not be set above the
levels which would be considered average over the last two years, and
arrestees will not be held for periods longer than average lengths of
time. Medical care will be liberally made available. Attorneys will be
able to travel to and meet with clients without impediments.
Does anybody want to think of what this means...? Basically, the Don't Shoot Coalition is asking the police - those tasked
with maintaining the monopoly on violence to protect the law biding -
to cede their authority to them, in essence granting them the ability to
burn down the city without any threat of retaliation by law enforcement
agencies.
I don't know what the future holds I am truly hopeful that I am wrong, but I see the shades of the Balkans in the fabric of our country and I believe that we will split.
Excellent! I think it is going to be like Detroit Burning on Devil's night, but perhaps I am too overzealous. I am going to link to you!
ReplyDeleteMy patience is at an end with that non-stop circus of thugs and out-of-town wanna-be anarchist kids. If they riot one more time and threaten anyone's life or property, they need to be put down so fast and so hard that the Israelis and the South African police step back and say "Dayum!"
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side, you and very few others have guts to say these things because we have all been coached to NOT OFFEND. We can't even utter the words racial discrimination or talk about color lines. Here's the deal. You are right. We have to go forward and push for a diverse nation where there are no color lines. But if the people who feel they are still discriminated against push away the new generations trying to close the gap, can we ever reach that? When we say we, as a mostly white nation say we are sorry and we made terrible mistakes, but change our behavior and laws...do we ever get forgiveness? Do we not want to move on. Several people influence me in their brilliant way of articulating getting rid of racial tension...Condie Rice, Morgan Freeman, and Colin Powell. Don't be afraid to talk about it. Then let's do something about it to get rid of the problems. We can't do it by ourselves.
ReplyDeleteMr. G.:
ReplyDeleteSounds a lot like Camden, NJ..on a ":busy" night...or even North Philly (some places never change).
MY gripe is when ANY community coerces the police department into becoming more ambassadorial; as opposed to law-enforcing.
That's too slippery a slope for any city, but it's the hand many LEOs have been (unfortunately) dealt.
There was a time WAY back when I said that if we ever have another "civil war", it will not be anything like north against south...it'll be more race-based than political OR rhetorical.
(and I still hope I'm REALLY wrong here)
Very good post.
Roll safe out there.
YGTBSM... sigh
ReplyDelete