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| Not OK. Never. Ever. |
Just when you hope, things won’t get any worse, life proves you wrong. Like you, I watched the video made by Lavish Reynolds, whose unarmed boyfriend was shot four times by a police officer. Her fear, worry, sadness, but even more strength and composure, had a big impact on me.
"You shot four bullets into him, sir"
You always hope for the best, but deep down we all know the latest horrific incident, won’t change a thing. And that is before this morning’s shooting of five Dallas police officers. A bit of discussion perhaps, that may or not may prove to be helpful - one day. For now – and quit some time to come – same old, same old. The rest of the world simply cannot comprehend why America refuses to have a proper discussion about racism, police brutality and private gun ownership. US based media bombard us with infographics on which states allow people to carry long guns unconcealed. As if anyone cares.
Like many aspects of life, the burdens falls squarely on minorities, in this case black American men. Everybody says, only in America you can achieve the impossible. President Obama is the epitome of this. Other than that, there is little to show for. A few token signs here and there perhaps.
Today a sniper in Dallas killed five police officers. Despite it all, I believe the majority of police officers choose a career in law enforcement because they want to serve the public. Some are rotten apples from the start. Others change somewhere between police academy and many years of service. A very different view from things in Holland. Over here most of us think of the police as the good guys – with some exceptions. The public at large trusts the police, as it should. Officers handle situations as human beings – not that I agree with all those speeding tickets. A far cry from the United States, where Mad Max fused with Robocop, programmed to see only black and white. Or so it seems.
For a long time I have been wondering whether or not a civil war is brewing in the United States. I don’t know. Yet I fear the writing is on the wall. Just yesterday I watched an episode of Family Guy where a plane crashes. No-one gets hurt and nothing sensational happens. Not good enough for the local Quahog news, so they create a computer simulation of what could have been, had the plane crashed into a school. Drooling with excitement the anchor announces a second isanemulation where the plane crashes into a school for bunnies – hey it’s still Family Guy – followed by mock-up crash and burn into the same rabbit hole, but one passenger makes it out alive and beats up his wife. Never mind nobody got hurt – let alone killed – in the original accident.
No better way than Family Guy that to show how the press can become an accomplice. They – together with Silicon Valley – will sell your soul for a single click. An example from Mic.Dot.Com. The news magazine pretends to be shocked by the Dallas shootings, yet they also report a statistic that seems innocent enough, but isn’t.
"The ambush marks the deadliest day for law enforcement in the United States since 9/11."
A similar headline would have been equally apt when it comes to each and every recent lethal police shooting involving a black man. One example of how the media – subconciously? – rewires our brain and makes us see events in a different, more partisan, light. Not much different from the reporting that generated the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown.
That’s just the press, refusing to acknowledge the death spiral they’re in. On their way down they'll sacrifice the very people they pretend to serve - in order to postpone the inevitable. Of course they do so in a neutral and balanced way.
It will take a long time for the debate to die down, if at all. There is one more thing I’d like to mention. Something I also found on Mic.Dot.Com. It’s a post by Joe Walsh under the name @WalshFreedom. My gut reaction is: whose freedom, Mr. Walsh? The former congressman writes:
“Now this is war.
Watch out Obama.
Watch out Black Lives Matter Punks.
Real America is coming after you.”
Vile, full of hate, expressing an unrealistic, dangerous, distorted - dead wrong - view of the world, Mr. Walsh has no more idea of what those dead police officers stood for than I do. Yet he seizes the moment to spread his message of dishonesty, hate and bigotry. Rather than acting like an elder statesman – something that has nothing to do with being a politician – he shows what “real” America stands for. Not that I know. Neither does the majority of American people. What I can tell you, is that it has nothing to do with the Land of the Free. Or else terms and conditions wouldn’t apply.
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| Tell me Mr. Walsh: Who is the agressor in this war of yours? |
The View from Holland
There is little I can do from the other side of the planet. Yet my mind cannot stop thinking about two women I love in infinite and equal measure. Both have – and sadly will continue to – firsthand witness the unjust burden of not being Caucasian – outside the US that is.
One night, as I turned out the lights, she asked me “What will your family say, when you bring home a black girl for Christmas?” It shocked me to its core and made me - kinda - understand. My hart stopped beating. I’m forever grateful, she didn’t see the look on my face when she asked. She is one of the strongest, most impressive people, I’ve ever met. Even her, I thought. That's how bad it is.
A few years later I was having dinner with a girl half her age. She is not my daughter, but I love her – as in one generation loves the next. I told her about it and she added a story of her own. Being mixed race, people often refuse to sit next to her on the train. She is perhaps the most beautiful girl in the world. Both of them are. Me, male, white plus a few other perks, I have no idea what their world looks like. What I do understand is that because of the colour of their skin, their world is a darker, much more dishonest place than mine.
Pointless
The point in all of this? You have to ask? None. Not all in life is related to kink. Thank goodness! Certainly not the things that matter. Least of all when it comes to love, friendship and happiness.
If you insist on the kink connection, I have a suggestion. Don’t pretend you’re superior – female supremacy and so on – no matter how hot the fantasy. The bad guys inevitably find a way to hold it against you. The good people cannot loose. Untill then, they continue to suffer, as the bad guys have the upper hand.
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