Despite the significant events going on, I’m having difficulty finding something to post about. I think that in many cases the real story is being ignored in favor of the anti-Trump angle. I’ve been tired of the political infighting for months, years. And I’m tired of thinly-sourced stories making headlines for days on end.
Some major stories are incredibly under-reported. For example, approaching 20,000 people have been arrested around the country on charges related to the riots in various cities. Los Angeles, of all places, has had the largest number of arrests followed by New York City. That should be big news but it’s not.
I would write about Black Lives Matter but I find it incredibly difficult to write anything meaningful about it. To the extent that the group has a manifesto, I see little to nothing actionable in it. That life is harder for blacks than for whites should be obvious. Maybe it’s just obvious to me because my parents inculcated that recognition into me from an early age. Are police officers afraid of blacks? Of course they are. Does that excuse unarmed young black men being gunned down in the streets? No. I think there are many, many problems with present day policing—everything from the people who are becoming police officers to how they’re trained to police culture. We didn’t get to where we are overnight and things won’t change overnight but we’re in a “when do we want it?—now” culture.
What worries me the most about what I see going on around me is that I’m concerned that the last 70 years of progress in race relations are being thrown under the bus in pursuit of I don’t know what.
“I don’t know what”
Racial separation I think, Blacks will continue to dominate sports, music, and to the average television viewer, you will think the racial components of America have been reversed. Advertising and programming will be dominated by black actors.
But whites will continue to move away from the cities, poor whites will remain, and pair with blacks, Their children and grandchildren will consider themselves Black.
Fear is a strong motivator.
When I shop, I never follow young Black men into a store, there are other stores selling the same thing without risk of death. Sorry, you can take that chance if you want to, but to me, that’s just dumb.
Being outside after dark is over for us. Neighborhood is half black now, and we draw the shades and no, we haven’t told the children why they can’t go out and chase fireflies, but they can’t, not anymore.
As of mid-year there was only one black artist in the top 10 sellers of 2020: The Weekend. Blacks do better in top box office: in 2019 three were in the top 10 (Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Hart). In sports about half of the top 10 paid athletes are black. In other words blacks aren’t quite as dominant in those fields as you seem to think.
I think the future trend will be a bit different than you do. I think everything will be animated. Animated/CGI/deepfake characters don’t get old or fat or take vacations or have embarrassing relationships or step out of line in any way. Or catch or spread COVID-19. The pressure on companies will be enormous.
Three interesting stories not really covered in American media.
The resurgence of COVID in Western Europe.
The goings on in the Middle East; UAE / Israel, the “separation†of religion and state in the Sudan.
I am glad American media have not focused on Belarus. It’s prob one factor why it has not turned into a Ukraine situation.
I haven’t commented on Belarus because very few Americans are interested and there is no particular reason they should be. Belarus isn’t a country. It’s an ethnicity. First within Lithuania and then within Russia. Talking about “Russian influence in Belarus” is a bit like talking about New York influence in Long Island.
I suppose many Americans would react to those statements as “echoing the Russian line”. If you understand the situation, that’s how you’d assess it.
I don’t pay a great deal of attention to the situation in the Middle East because a) I don’t know enough and b) other than oil the U. S. has no actual interests in the Middle East. Israel is not the 51st state and it shouldn’t be.
Serenity Prayer, Reinhold Niebuhr
1999, Prince
TastyBits
Nowadays, BLM spew racial hatred, call for vengeance, and riot. Looting is reparations. We are a long way from King’s urging of reconciliation and peaceful protest. But then, were James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Malcom X, or Whitney Young ever on board with King? The media chose King to represent the civil right movement (pushing the older leaders aside) because he was palatable to whites, and they would listen to him. The others were too off-putting to show on TV.
So, I guess we’re back to square one on race relations.. Maybe we’ve gone backwards into the 19th Century.
More interesting, BLM has been subsumed by Antifa. There are some blacks in the streets, but the protests are largely white, and upper middle class white at that, with many young white women. These are maoists, not black activists, and their goals are far beyond reparations.
One big change from the 60’s is that these mobs are actively supported by local mayors and governors. They are riding the tiger and think they can control it. They should read up on the Red Guards.
And there are other developments. At Portland, and maybe Rochester, the mobs contain paramilitary groups that are well-organized, well-coordinated, and armed with radios, bats, lasers, strobes, pepper spray, and guns. The killing of Danielson by Reinoehl was apparently a group effort, including spotters, trackers, and get away cars.
It is doubtful the Portland City Police and the Oregon State Police could clear these mobs from the street. The election will not change anything. I expect riots into the far future.
Set back race relations 70 years? I dont really see myself firing the POC we have working for us. I dont see them wanting to leave. I dont see the interracial couples getting divorced just because of current events. I dont really see much changing. The white people who think there is no racism and that black people already have it better then whites will just be more resentful. The white people who think that blacks have it pretty good but might have been inclined to see need for further change will be angry about the violence. They will effectively join the prior group. Their media will make sure they stay angry.
The white people inclined to believe that racism is a problem will also be pissed off by the violence so they wont put in a lot of effort to change. The white people for whom racism is a crusade will continue their crusade. The net effect here is that tribalism will dominate.
I am guessing that black people will just be frustrated but not especially surprised.
Steve
For a good example of white people who believe that there is no such thing as racism, in fact the US has never had systemic racism, you can look at Lang’s site.
Steve
As I’ve said before in my family racism was just about the worst sin you could commit. It’s not that I don’t think that systemic racism doesn’t exist; it’s that I don’t think it’s actionable. Consider this thought experiment.
Imagine that you’re 6’5″ tall and the tallest adults other than you are never more than 5′ tall. The scale of everything would be wrong for you. Doors, tables, and chairs would be too low. Systemic heightism. It’s unrealistic to think that the entire society should change to suit you.
Or consider the world as experienced by someone who is left-handed. You are at a grave disadvantage. Even the language is skewed against you: “dextrous” (from Latin dexter, right) is good while “sinister” (from Latin sinister) is bad. There are mitigations, for example, there are stores where you can buy things made for left-handed people but that won’t change your perception of unfairness. Disclosure: I am ambidextrous.
Again, it’s not really actionable from a practical standpoint. It’s just the way things are.
steve, you don’t see the demands for segregated housing and segregated classes on college campuses by black activists as a step backward?
Wakey, wakey.
Its not about racism. Its about Marxist ideology, extracting money and power.
Back to the intellectual debate………..
Dave, I don’t generally pay too much to what some 20 y/o is talking about on a college campus. If we start seeing separate housing for blacks on campus and it becomes widespread then I think it will be an issue.
We likely see taxes go up a bit and some programs aimed at reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. As we all know Karl said that would be 4th stage Marxism so that will be an issue. Democrats seeking power is a sign of advanced Marxism too. Fortunately we have conservatives around who never seek power.
Steve
What started as agitation on college campuses is now doing billions of dollars in damage on the streets. Think of it as a harbinger. Things to come.
Someone on this thread mentioned Dwayne Johnson, he’s mixed race but in today’s world he has to make a choice.
I’ve always liked what I have seen him say and do. So I wanted to let everyone know about his families struggle with
COVID-19. From his Twitter feed:
checked out. #mahalocovid
Quote Tweet
kai choyce
@kaichoyce
· Sep 3
The Rock announced that he, his wife, and their 2 daughters have recovered from Covid. They first suspected they had it when no one could smell what he was cooking.
😊
We had the campus protests in the 60s. Not much changed. We didnt all end up having free love and living in communes. We didnt turn into communists. We didnt end up having a big race war. 50 years later pot is decriminalized in a few places. It didnt stop us from getting into another war that was just as stupid. None (almost) of the awful predictions from back then panned out. My prediction would be that we have major riots largely based upon race in another 20-30 years, just like we always do.
Steve