We white folks, at least me and most my good friends, are comfortable with blacks in power, in jobs of importance, in command positions in the military, in the store, I don't think we are racist, I think we are fair minded. I want them to vote, to get into college, to have a good job, I like to see families in hotels and restaurants. But the media, both entertainment and news have conditioned us to fear the young black man, especially if he is strong looking, has that walk, or is in a group. The door locks click, people take a wide path on the sidewalk.
A recent study indicates this is not necessary. Violence and crime against strangers by black men is down almost everywhere. Guess what else is down almost everywhere blacks live? Lead and mercury pollution. As more old lead painted housing is replaced or destroyed, and with the elimination of leaded fuel (which settled lead on lawns and playgrounds) the lead and mercury in the blood of young blacks is lower than 20 years ago. These two poisons are a cause of violent behavior, confused behavior, mental, learning and health issues. Just cleaning up the environment and prohibition of lead in house paint and fuel, mercury in a number of household products, is making us all safer and keeping more blacks kids out of jails and graveyards. We have to stop thinking about (fearing) black men like this. The news media and politicains and TV are conditioning us as sure as Pavlov's kennel had bells. Try to stop this reaction.
I am not a pollyanna, I know the ghetto is dangerous, I know the gangs have got to be rooted out or starved of recruits, I know there are dangerous people in our cities, but it is not so bad as we fear, and sometimes our reaction is insulting, we need to be more trusting.
The study found the same thing in poor hispanic neighborhoods, the environment is less polluted and violence among young males is on the decline, a direct link to the cocktail of chemicals we encounter harming our lives.
President Kennedy and President Johnson did something we have not seen the likes of since. They did the right thing in actions and laws to install civil rights in law and in practice. They did it facing down the racist in their own party, knowing they were dooming the Democratic party to future losses as the Southern states backlash swelled the Republican rolls.?
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that." Martin Luther King Jr.
From reading about it (I was a child when all this was happening) I am a tad disappointed in JFK's approach and blown away by the southern born and bred LBJ, and how aggressively he pushed for strong legislation and how vigorously he campaigned for it. Knowing full well that he was costing his party the 'solid south' for 'at least a generation.'
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DeleteYour tad disappointment needs to be examined against all that came before it, which was almost nothing. I think he did a lot, and brother Bobby. The black community loved them dearly for sending troops in the south to schools, and beginning the process LBJ took over and made his own. Kennedy was not welcome in the South once he did that, he was warned many times of the danger.
Darrel and Kevin!
ReplyDeleteGreat post and comment...
Best...
Sarge
I'm aware that Kennedy faced some obstacles and was in uncharted territory. The way I read it though, very subjective of course, he was very 'political.' Always anticipating how this or that would play in the papers, etc. Also there were local considerations that had to be accommodated; fellow Democrats who needed 'cover,' who would let things happen but a good show had to be made that he (Ross Barnes or whoever) had resisted to the last and had been overpowered by the damn feds. And then of course Kennedy had to balance all that with his hopes of getting reelected in '64.
ReplyDeleteAnd then Johnson swore in and he just said fuck it, we're doing this. And boy did he know how to get stuff through Congress. A lethal combination of honey and muscle. He always knew which approach to take with who, or what combination. And of course he used the martyred Kennedy as part of his appeal, 'President Kennedy wanted this, we have to do it to honor his memory.'
Fascinating goddamn story is what it is. ; )
Yes fascinating, I love history and politics. I only wish it didn't affect peoples lives.
DeleteBut I guess that's part of its appeal. ; )
DeleteLBJ knew how people in the South lived, while JFK didn't. Last year we visited LBJ's boyhood home and his ranch and learned quite a bit about him. One of the reasons he pushed for civil rights was when he found out a black couple that worked for him would at times have to sleep in the car when traveling from D.C. and Texas because they couldn't find any place to stay the night because they were black. LBJ cared about poor people of all colors. He knew how hard life was for some and wanted to make it better. Hence his "War on Poverty", which started out doing good, but in the last several decades has fallen by the wayside thanks to Reaganomics!!!!
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DeleteI heard that story, think it was in a made for TV movie in which he told a bunch of congressmen that his black maid driving from DC to Austin and had to piss in the ditch when she couldn't find a colored restroom, and it wasn't right and he wanted it changed. This he said in his best LBJ pushy voice.
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