New Orleans/Minneapolis/Dallas

Pigs. That's what we called the cops in the sixties, before Nixon got elected on a law and order platform, blacks were incarcerated in unprecedented numbers and whites rallied around law enforcement.

Oh, what a long strange trip it's been.

Life surprises you. It's a good reason to keep on keepin' on. If you'd told me America was hurtling towards revolution, that its ills would come to the forefront, I'd have laughed. Things have been going in the wrong direction for so long now I've given up hope.

But then came Ferguson.

Credit cell phone cameras. In a nation fixated on the image, even more than the weapon, we're all intrigued by the footage. Suddenly, the oppressed can document impropriety.

Of course I'm not defending the sniper. Killing is completely unjustified, I have sympathy for the families of the deceased. But when you keep a whole swath of the public down, when racism runs rampant, when guns are available easily, do you expect peace to reign, do you expect that no nitwit will twist the message and do something untoward?

Like those shooting up abortion clinics. They may be insane, but they've been hearing the right wing agitation for so long they've taken the law into their own hands.

And let's stay with the right wing agitation. It was a long game which has now played out, come to fruition. To achieve its agenda the Republicans began the Federalist Society, to put right wing judges in place. To the point where getting an abortion in a right wing state is rough, to the point where even if you're a citizen you might be unable to vote. There used to be protections, but the right wing Supreme Court got rid of them, saying everything was copacetic, that racism no longer exists.

Kind of like anti-Semitism. Everybody hates the Jews. I know, because I am one. Amazing what people will say when they don't know you're a member of the tribe.

But at least my skin is white. Black people are black all day long, identifiably so, and as my African-American Uber driver said today, racism is worse than ever, it's just that the white people know better than to verbalize it in mixed company.

He also said that racism was exacerbated by the loss of educational opportunities. You know, the death of affirmative action, which was eviscerated because one white person might have to step aside to enable a whole race to get ahead.

And the left wing elites are not much better. Where is the opportunity for the black man in today's society? Especially one who's been to jail? And Donald Trump is just stirring up hate, but at the bottom of it is economic dissatisfaction, that the immigrants stole the working class's jobs.

Meanwhile, the privileged whites cling ever tighter to their guns and money. Leaving little chance for the downtrodden, those without opportunities.

This is not a law and order issue, this is a cultural issue, an economic issue. When are we going to see all people as equal? Not only in protection under the law, but in opportunity?

Bill Clinton put a dent in welfare. Everybody with something hates those with nothing. Believing if the poor just pulled themselves up by their bootstraps they too could make it, not realizing the door is shut for so many, who aren't even aware of the slim opportunities they have, who would tell them?

I've lived through this before, in the aforementioned sixties. The white kids were sick and tired of living by conventions that made no rational sense. And the black people wanted respect.

Ain't that a funny word.

We'll tune into the NBA but we won't give a black person who is not famous a job.

And then we criticize athletes for their lifestyle when the truth is white men are no different, when rich they like to screw and waste money too.

And why are we looking up to athletes anyway?

And music is dominated by African-Americans, check the statistics, hip-hop/rap rules. Isn't it funny that the younger generation can see the value, but those in power cannot.

Then again, a couple of decades back, the refrain was "F... Tha Police," whereas today music has veered from being social commentary to a dash for cash.

That's the bottom line in our country today, the bottom line. Cops stop cars for revenue as opposed to the infraction. Because the whites don't want to pay taxes, believing they earned the money and the underclass does not, pay taxes, that is. But the underclass pays sales and payroll taxes, assuming you can get a job.

So the whites rally around institutions, believing they've won. You can't question the government, unless you want to drown it in the bathtub, the Dixie Chicks sacrificed their career for speaking their truth, because people no longer want to look under the carpet, or in the mirror, and realize they're imperfect and change has got to come.

It will.

Because eventually the pot boils over, the lid blows off. Everything looks cool and then you realize it is not.

Let's start with jobs. A national work program to redo our sagging infrastructure, which needs it, now, when money is still cheap.

Then let's readdress the safety net. No one should starve, no one should lack a roof over their head. And they should not be restricted in what they can spend on, that erodes their dignity, it's really no different from making a Jew wear a yellow star.

Then we've got to take back our prisons, so much of the infrastructure that has been privatized and now has no oversight. Some things need to be run by the government.

And we've got to address the drug laws, hell, decriminalization is a start. And let nonviolent offenders out and institute more programs integrating them back into society.

And not only do we need to reduce the cost of college, so that in-state universities are not dominated by out-of-state students because they can pay the full freight, but we must help the disadvantaged get in, and stay in.

And there must be more money for elementary and secondary school education, and there must be a balance amongst all schools, so everybody gets an opportunity.

You think that immigrant is taking your job, that black person is making life dangerous, but the truth is these people are helping you, adding to the rich fabric of our country.

Enough with the demonization.

Enough with the guns.

All lives have value.

But we only seem to pay attention when they're snuffed out.

How about those who are still here? Who are minorities, who have few advantages. They're just as good as you and me folks, they could make it if we helped them.

Lyndon Johnson spoke of a Great Society.

Today it's every person for him or herself.

The cops need to feel safe, they need to be protected.

But the people do too.

It's kind of like the law. Innocent until proven guilty.

But in today's America a black person is guilty until proven innocent.

That can't go on.


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