Ruters
"President Barack Obama will host a meeting with law enforcement officials, activists and civil rights leaders on Wednesday to discuss ways to repair "the bonds of trust" between communities and police, the White House said on Monday..."
Washington times
"President Obama hosted a marathon meeting at the White House on Wednesday with Black Lives Matter activists, civil rights leaders, police and elected officials..."
Who do we
focus on that he invited to White House?
And if Talk is Cheap why so much emphasis on what he
supposedly didn't say say to SOME BLM and others?
Again here's where i have question how much we're looking for offense, or protecting our turf rather than meeting people ...including Obama... where they are, and trying to work for the best FROM there.
look Abbey, there are People here that have said some pretty ... hmm questionable... things race wise on this board. Should I ONLY have that in mind when thinking of them as a person? Saying,
'but but the people here aren't the president' doesn't cut it. It's people, Americans. It's part of tapestry of race relations that were told was so much better in America BEFORE Obama.
I'll remake this obvious point again, Blacks (latinios etc) are still the minority. And we interact with ALL kinds of whites everyday. And on occasion have PUT UP WITH and try an turn positive working with colleagues, bosses customers, officials, and neighbors that have
various levels of real animosity towards us because of race. Now If we decided to take every slight and offense as signal on how to response to every overture towards a peaceful relationship there would be NO progress, or working and living together.
Do you think MLK thought that LBJ wasn't a race baiting opportunist? MLK knew it, but LBJ reached out in with some VERY real overtures at addressing some real race problems. And MLK and others graciously and kindly worked with him IN Spite of LBJ's very real personal short comings. If any one of us was looking for Obama to be perfect and never lean one way or another in
various people's eye's on race then i think we're being unrealistic. There are many blacks that think he did NOTHING but as you say ...give lip service... to race and definitely nothing as far as helping poor black communities.
The only positive concrete thing IMO is that he had a couple of investigations that brought some broad local police issues to light. But many are still denial that police can do any wrong soooo where does that leave us? But what President has ever investigated
any police wrong doing since JFK sent the FBI to the south in the 60s. Have all the police Depts been unquestionable race wise since 1964? Trump says he's going to Support the police (no matter what?). Sessions has a history of racism. So where do any legit complaints about police go now to be
objectively reviewed?
But look my MAIN point is that Obama did not want DEAD cops. Or people rioting or committing criminal acts.
what ever someone might think of his "mentor" or his questioning police 1st. It seems clear to me that DEAD cops and roits were NOT not his map as legit activities.
just as saying "hire only JEWS to count the money" does not mean someone is a NAZI.
I think we all can agree that there are LEVELS of racial sensitivity. And we all somewhere on a spectrum.
But I got the impression that, like most people reaching for fairnest, he really just wanted EQUAL protection under the law.
And IMO at times he
assumed that some people weren't getting that and spoke when he should have kept his mouth shut.
BUT here's the thing, that response doesn't come out of nowhere, or out of "racism" or "hating cops", it comes from a long and often denied or minimized history of police abuses.
So yes, here's a shocker, if a group has seen it over and over again and watched it be ignored and denied over and over, when someone from that group gets to power they may be touchy and OVER react verbally.
But it doesn't mean they want Officals DEAD. Is it POSSIBLE that he might just want them living up to the BEST of the profession? Is that possible?
A bit of gaining other's perspective and
NOT assuming the worse motives of others would go a long way to some peace. IF people can allow themselves to be open to it,
and not be so quick to take offense themselves and allow people to not be perfect on all sides.
But hey it is what it is.
At this point i feel like Rodney King
"Can't we all just get along"