Not Until....
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I read the first post, scrolled all of the way, and am assuming, somewhere along the way, "Obamao" was blamed for the divide. Am I right?
Where's my free phone Woody? Why do I have to work while some irresponsible woman has unprotected sex and cant feed the three she already has? Why should I pay out the wazoo for medical insurance while some get everything for free? Because I work? It's fucking bullshit.I read the first post, scrolled all of the way, and am assuming, somewhere along the way, "Obamao" was blamed for the divide. Am I right?
Everyone should be responsible for their own actions and suffer the repercussions of bad choices, then they won't make the same misstakes over and over again bleeding into another generation doing the same.
On the protesting...oh it's ok to bust out a window and steal a tv because some thug got shot? Or if it was a policmans fault then it's ok for all police all over the country to get shot at?
The Dems are mosty to blame and when it makes a shift of course it the fucking white people.
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That wasn't my intended message. Of course many point a finger at Obama for dividing the country. I contend that the country has been divided long before Obama took office. Did some of his actions and words create tension? I don't think so, because the tension was always there. Did the country divide and start to mistrust each other because of Obama? I don't think so because division and mistrust already existed. I will say that Obama's Presidency and the election of Donald Trump has brought these tensions, divisions, and this mistrust to the forefront.
But instead of addressing it the way it should be we're content to personify our greatest fears about one another. I pray that these happenings don't take us to a place to where there's nowhere to go but further into darkness.
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Okay, Mr. Marcus, you're walking on the fightin side of me now. LOL
No, it's just that ObaMao made them worse...way, way worse. As pres, he made
a national disgrace of himself by belittliing the Boston white policemen, and supporting
the black professor, without knowing the facts. big oops.
Then he went and lit a fire under the Al Sharpton's influence etc etc etc..... by talking about
how Trayvan Martin could have been his son. Without knowing the facts. That's pretty sad.
Can you imagine a white president supporting a guilty white kid that got deservedly shot,
and then saying that the kid could have been his son because he was white?
Obamao threw gasoline on a smaller fire. and he did it with arrogance, and belligerence, like no other
president who isn't black, could.
"Barack Obama is the most partisan president in our life time and he seems to understand almost instinctively that racial polarization is essential to the Democratic Party’s electoral strategy. (See this essay by Seven Malanga in the City Journal.) In the aftermath of police shootings in St. Paul and Baton Rouge, the president said, “These are not isolated incidents. They are symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system.”
Did those comments cause Black Lives Matter marchers in Dallas to chant “Pigs in a blanket; fry ‘em like bacon”? It certainly didn’t discourage it."
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Looks like I was right
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Obama was the most decisive president in Cala mind because he's black and democrat. But mostly because he's black
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He's half white.
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But he looks black and that's triggering enough for cal
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Im not sure anyone is going to say this country is less divided since Obama.
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But it had nothing to do with Obama.
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Right... He's totally innocent.
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Obama's picks for AG have all been racist's.
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great. cleve etc are going to say I bash obaMao because he's black.
and I guess I bash higgardly the lying marxist pig because she's white.
and I think geraldo rivera is a very intelligent, bigoted asswipe because he's...eh...
of mexican descent?
false narratives are a boon to liberals with zero integrity.
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That's all you can do Marcus live by example. Let those around you look up to you and make it clear that bad behavior is not acceptable. It isn't cool and shouldn't be promoted.
Treat everyone on an individual basis with the respect they deserve and make it clear but the assholes don't speak for you.
Refuse to accept the negative aspects of popular culture.
WSS
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I think at the core of the issue it doesn't boil down to racism or sexism but just haterism. Everyone has zero chill and is a hater. If race weren't a thing we'd default to religion. If religion weren't a thing we'd go hard after fat fuckers.if none of that were viable we'd start to see hating over hair or eye color. The human race is a race of haters. Thus has it always been, thus will it always be. The Internet has only exacerbated this trait. The only thing that will ever unite the human race is something like alien invasion. Something we can hate on with impunity.
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The Boston Police incident was unfortunate and should've been an embarrassing but teachable moment for Obama. As far as the Trayvon Martin case goes, I don't see how "He could've been my son." is so inflammatory especially since his own children are now teenagers. There was plenty wrong with that case and none of it had to do with race. Don't forget studying cases and developing training for police officers involving use of force is what I do for a living. Part of that entails looking at them though the looking glass equipped with Criminal Procedure and Legal Authority lenses. That topic is a debate in and of itself.
To comment a little on the St. Paul and Baton Rouge Officer Involved Shootings, those have their own training concerns and teachable moments from them. In most of these shootings, the shooting itself is justifiable. (If you'd like we can open separate discussions on those) However, as a supervisor and instructor my concern is how the officers get there (as in having to use lethal force) in the first place. I guess that's kind of how I'm looking at this racial division issue. I try to look at it with as objective eyes as I possibly can. Which leads me back looking at how we got to such racial tension and mistrust. I'll even concede that Obama was less than effective at bridging any racial gaps. But to say that this problem wasn't a problem or non existent before his presidency is extremely short sighted and morally irresponsible. I say that because I have lived it as a law abiding, and educated black man. So call me a liberal moron if you must, call me an Obama apologist, whatever your conservative heart's desire. I'm at the point where I consider myself to be independent because I feel failed by both mainstream political parties to be honest.
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Which leads me back looking at how we got to such racial tension and mistrust.
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Via a lot of bad experiences on both sides, and a whole of of emotional ignorance. Hate...
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I'll even concede that Obama was less than effective at bridging any racial gaps. But to say that this problem wasn't a problem or non existent before his presidency is extremely short sighted and morally irresponsible.
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"less than effective" ? If a policeman killed an unarmed suspect with 139 shots at close range, would that be "less effective
at using only warranted violence" ? NOBODY, unless I missed it, which is possible... is saying racism didn't exist until
ObaMao got to be pres. Seriously - he made it a firestorm across the country, in already radical circles.
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I say that because I have lived it as a law abiding, and educated black man.
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I'm pretty sure everyone on the board respsects your qualifications and opinons. Me, I just think you understate some things.
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So call me a liberal moron if you must, call me an Obama apologist, whatever your conservative heart's desire. I'm at the point where I consider myself to be independent because I feel failed by both mainstream political parties to be honest. Mr. Marcus
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Maybe fudging a bit on giving obaMao some unwarranted benefit of the doubt... you sir, are no moron. Just discussing
differences in persepective. I'm one of the veterans on this forum - like you, and we all have our own experiences and perspectives
on these matters. Well, everybody except Cleve and woodpecker - they haven't learned how to pay for their own hamburgers yet.
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Priceless on the hamburger thing ?. I'm not satisfied with what President Obama did during with his Presidency. He did and said things that really got people stirred up. I get it.
I think he's a product of a broken system that was intended to show black folks we can rise from the impoverished ghetto (which a majority of us didn't need him to realize). I think in some ways he was elected to show how "far" white folks have come.
Both are insulting to ALL Americans' intelligence and also led to more disinfranchisement with Washington. My biggest disappointment with him and other black leaders (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, etc) is they ride the coat tails of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Thurgood Marshall and do not emphasize education and the lawful and just advancement of black people through hard work and faith (since they claim to be ministers). I understand that white people get upset by this but they must take ownership their part in this dynamic.
Some of it can be attributed to slavery, some to Jim Crow, some to the KKK reign of terror, workforce discrimination leading to a perceived need for affirmative action. This challenge fits the profile of your proverbial double edged sword. On one end...white indifference and on the other end...perceived black expectation of entitlements.
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and....some of it can be attributed to enabling by dems. Instead of getting the op to learn to fish,,
many of those on assistance as a way of life, got a fish. That's sad.
I'm just a white low budget comedian, Air Force veteran... and what little I know about racism, involves
me being the target of racist hate for about ten seconds....... That is kinda a joke, but... I'll tell you a story...
I was in the AF, tech school, early 1970's and one day, a new guy was transferred to our barracks wing floor. Some guys showed up, the new guy
hadn't got there yet, but they said to watch out for him - he was not in his right mind - he was serious trouble. See, he was
a black guy, and per a few black guys from where he was transferring from... the new guy HATED white people. They said
he was sick in the head, and to watch out, he was a loose cannon. We said "got it".
So, we were all very careful about him. He was sullen, and walked around like he wanted to kill somebody.
So it was, one fine morning, that it was his turn to buff the floor. He was pissed about it, but we all took our turn, ya know?
And, I was running a minute late, a lot of guys were already down the stairs to fall out ..in front of the squadron, before
we all marched to classes. I was in electronics.
So, only a few of us were still up, we always carried our shoes til we got to the stairs, so our socks were just fine - no
scuff marks. I went to the bathroom, came back to put my shampoo back in my room, shut the door and head for the
stairs, carrying my shoes.
I closed the door, and just as I went to walk down the hall. an explosion went off against my head. I remember my face
and hands sliding down the cold tile walls... and yelling,...two of my friends running the new guy off down the hall.
I laid there, unable to get up, even with their help. So, I told them to go ahead so they wouldn't get in trouble, and to tell
our squad leader what happened. By the time I came to my senses, I crawed to a water cooler, pulled myself up, and carefully
made it down each stair, and eventually, outside. I was leaning against the wall of our building to keep upright...
The Captain, commander of the squadron, was asking me if I was okay, and
what happened. I said "yes, sir, fell on the stairs, sir". Yes, I lied. I wasn't okay, and only stumbled on the stairs a few times.
We were marching to class, and halfway there, I lost all sense of where the ground was, I knew everything was whirling around,
and a couple guys caught me before I landed. They marched a lot slower the rest of the way.
Later, I was feeling okay, and back in my room, I had visits from a lot of guys. The two friends who witnessed it. They said
he called me a *&^)*(& crackersomething... and said just as they walked out of their room, they saw him swinging the
heavy buffer cable, coiled up in a few circles, and nailing me in the noggin, and a few times more as I slid down the wall.
I had no idea about the other hits. My girlfriends friend, who had been in nursing school before she enlisted...
was making me laugh because she was studying my eyes from two inches away. She said I was seeming to be
just fine- no concussion.... yeah, the news easily travelled over to the WAF squadron on anything and everything.
I had guys I never met come to my room and talk. A lot of guys said I had every right to send him down the river, a couple
said I had 24? or 48 hrs to figure out if I was going to press charges and send him to jail. My friends, a whole lot of guys,
every one of em, said they had my back. A few guys that knew him, said they hated to see a brother ruin his life and go to jail,
but this guy deserved it, and whatever I decided, every single guy had my back, especially if I turned him in.
I was fine, cept a lump on the back of my head...I thought about it all evening. If I send him down the river, the hater would
just go the rest of his life "knowing" I pressed charges because he was black. He'd go to military prison, get court-martialed out of the service, and sometime later,
he would probably kill some innocent white person.
Or, I could not press charges, and the hater would get away with it, and evenutally kill the next white person.
All these guys were visiting me, and saying that whatever I decided, they had my back. That was a huge honor.
I ended up deciding the next morning, that I was going to drop it. Give the guy a chance. I told my buddy from the
beaches of Florida, our squad leader, and some of the guys who came to my room and hung out and talked about it.
Word spread, and it was all quietly kept a secret.
A few days later, two of his "friends" said the guy was up in the lobby of the top floor...was hoping to talk to me.
So, I go up there, and he came around the corner. I was ready to take him on, and he just quietly said "no man,
it isn't like that..."
He quietly asked me why I didn't turn him in, that I could have been seriously hurt, and all the guys on his floor were
my friends, that I had friends all over the entire place....and the guys on his floor
said that cable was very much a deadly weapon, they thought, and said he should go to jail and get court-martialed after.
He said, "man...I was wrong, but I'm black, you're white. everybody is defending you as one of the best guys around...why didn't you turn me in?"
I said "well, the knot on my head pisses me off, but it isn't that bad, I'm not really hurt too bad. And if I did turn you in, I was
thinking you would go the rest of your life thinking I turned you in because I'm white and you're black. And I've
never been anything like a racist for one second of my life."
and then I said....
"But I really am pissed at you, and I decided the very worst damn thing I could do to you, to screw you up in revenge....
was to make you
stay in the service with me and the rest of us for the next four years....."
His stone face started slowly to smile....and again he was serious. He shook my hand, and said he had a lot of
thinking about himself and life to do... and I would never be sorry.
I said "see ya around", he shook my hand, and i walked away.
He transferred, again, to another squadron. A few months later, I was with several friends at dinner, in the cafeteria, and with a several of the gals from the women's squadron across the street.... and a big guy walked up to our table.
He said "anybody here know an Airman Calfox?" kinda sternly. Well, they wouldn't asnwer him, but I said
"that's me, can I help ya?" and as I stood up, several of guys stood up too. He came to me and said he
wanted to meet me. He said he was the new guy's friend - they both worked as volunteers at a racial counseling
center. He told me that the guy told him, and a lot of other guys the story about how he learned not to hate.
He said, man, you changed his life - what you did was a great thing - that story - he first told it to me as
somebody I was counseling. He shook my hand, and I said "tell him I said we're cool, and that it means a lot".
He said "God Bless you, man" and left.
Even the other guys who knew him, who were also black, never knew what had made him enraged at
whites.
And naturally, it just had to be me that was there, minding my own business, at the wrong time.
Too much hate going around, and it's been forever. Improving all the time, but Obamao has fanned the flames
and made it worse. I don't understand racism, and only a few times have I ever seen it. But the first black president
arrogantly and despicably squandered all opportunity to be 'post racial" as he was advertised to be. Instead
of bringing us together, he did the opposite. I can't imagine how much it hurts to really know, long term, about it firsthand.
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