After yesterday’s verdict and Maxine Waters’ planned guarantee the Derek Chauvin will have grounds for appeal, I posted about the damage that her comments and the comments of others did to racial unity in this country. The fact that various groups across the country still rioted and spewed messages of hate certainly didn’t make things better. Those acts revealed the true motive of the people promoting the division in this country. It’s not about justice, it’s about revenge, making money off of hate, and destroying this country, all of it.
But, I wondered if I was alone in these thoughts or if I was just seeing this because it’s how I wanted to see it.
Then I had a conversation with my friend Curtis, a black preacher who I see at the gym all the time. He and I talk a great deal. Mind you, we don’t agree on everything. His life, his experience, his perspective is different from mine.
But we found common ground on this. We agreed that Maxine Waters and the race baiting crowd is not about justice or what is right. They are out there stirring the pot so they can keep the hatred, the violence, the division going, thus filling their pocketbooks while the real victims of violence in their communities get nothing. They stay trapped in poverty and violence.
We also agreed that there is the other side who also makes money off the violence. Their racist attitudes were strengthened by Maxine’s words and the violence of rioters. With each violent act, each incendiary comment, they feel validated in their racism and they gain followers.
And then you have the stupid people on both sides who don’t know that they don’t know. They buy into whatever blows in the wind, Blacks out of anger, Whites out of a desire to pander.
And Curtis and I are both worried about the world our children are being brought up in and how their perceptions of the world are being warped.
On the bright side, there are those of us like Curtis and me who will talk to each other and attempt to change attitudes. For him, it’s hard because he is told he is “not Black.” Or he is avoided by White people because they don’t want to offend him, even though he is not easily offended and appreciates honest dialogue. It’s difficult for me because when I speak I am immediately told “You can’t possibly understand the Black viewpoint.” Or, White Liberals revert to name calling and I am instantly labeled a “racist.”
But we have to keep trying, him in his church and community, me in my blog and conversations with others. We have to keep trying.
We are not an anomaly. I know so many others who feel like we do, that an honest dialogue and respect for each other will lead to actions that make real change. It has to occur organically, not through sensitivity training put on by some paid consultant who makes a living off division. We have to meet each other through the actions and routines of our daily lives. And we have to develop friendly relationships like Curtis and I have, a little at a time.
There is something else that needs to happen. As I was driving home from the gym I was listening to David Webb interview Congressman from Tennessee, David Kustoff. Congressman Kustoff seemed like a nice guy. He’s a Republican and was discussing not only the race situation in this country but also the crisis at the border. Of course he talked about how the Biden regime has botched it and how awful it was, etc. But, when David reminded him that there is legal action the Republican minority in the House can take against the Biden administration regarding the border, Mr. Kustoff would only offer the fact that the coming election in 2022 was important. David pressed him forcefully that we can’t wait that long, that things are dire NOW and that the American people are looking for action by the Republicans in the House NOW. After some hemming and hawing, Kustoff would only go back to the fact that this crisis is bad for Biden and will help Republicans get elected in 2022. Understandably, David Webb sighed and I got a picture in my mind of him shaking his head in frustration. I felt the same frustration. No one in the Republican party wants to take bold action, be a leader and solve problems. Actually, no one in either party wants to actually solve problems. They just want to get themselves re-elected.
What’s the point of any of the Republicans getting elected, getting the majority, etc. if all they are going to do is tell us that they will do something in the future when, ” We hold the House,” “We hold the Senate,” “We get the Presidency, ” or my favorite, ” We get all three and the Supreme Court?” We’ve been in all of those scenarios before, and it got us nothing. They didn’t lead. They did nothing.
You have to give it to the Democrats, whether they are in power or not, they get things done. Most of them are harmful, hateful, self-agrandizing actions, but they get them done. And why? Because the Republicans have no courage, no creativity, no convictions, no strength of will. The Democrats are willing to risk everything to get what they want.
That being said, we need to let these gutless wonders know in no uncertain terms that we have had enough. When they ask you for donations, tell them ” not until you show us real, bold action.” When you go to their rallies or town meetings, ask them to detail specifically WHAT they will do and WHEN they will do it. Don’t let them off the hook. Be polite, but be persistent until you get an answer. A friend of mine suggests recording their answer ( with their permission). If they can’t give you real action being done by a real date, then don’t support them and tell your friends not to support them. They need their feet held to the fire. If they can’t tolerate your request for honest answers, they can’t handle being in power against the Democrats. They will be Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Paul Ryan. Useless.
It’s not going to be easy folks. The other night I had a dream that I was riding with President Trump and some other people in a Jeep. I know, weird. The road was rough and bouncy, and I asked President Trump why he didn’t have better shocks on his Jeep. He laughed and said, “I don’t mind the bumps. They don’t stop me.”
We are on a bumpy road right now and our shocks are not helping, but we can’t let that stop us. And we need more leaders like Trump who will keep on going.
