I wondered the same thing. When we lived in a close neighborhood in
Renton, our neighbor's front door was in easy sight from our front
door. One late evening Cathy said, "Mary's door is standing wide open
and there're no lights on". We hiked over and banged on the open
door. Mary came trundling down the hall. Obviously embarrassed, she
said, "My daughter dropped me off and I had to make a dash for the
bathroom".
But that was in an all white "middle class" neighborhood. I can
imagine if I were the fellow in the news story, wondering if going to
the door myself was wise. And maybe if his neighbor had been a large
young man, he would have thought of police violence. But his neighbor
was a young 28 year old woman with a heart condition. In my mind,
despite reports of discrimination within the police force, he did the
right thing. He called a non emergency number and requested a
Wellness Check. Yes, he might have stayed by his front door until the
police arrived and become alarmed over the large number of
officers...in plain clothes, showing up to do a wellness check. But
if he'd yelled out, his neighbor might be alive, but he might be dead.
No, to my way of thinking it is a serious national problem among
police departments. You'll notice that the investigator reported that
the incidence of violence was about the same under the previous Black
police chief, as under the current White chief.
In all of my 84 years I have never had a run in with the police, the
state troopers, the National Guard, and only one bad experience with
the FBI. That was back around 1950, when the FBI was hassling my dad
for his past membership to the American Communist Party.
But what I'm getting at is that my experiences have been what we would
consider "normal". Yet for the first 14 years of my life we were
definitely among the Lower Working Class. And yet, living in a dump
of a rental house, the fire chief would check on us himself, to be
certain we were not in danger of fire. The local police would come up
the hill to check on us when he knew that dad was on the road. We
were looked on by caring officials, not seen as a threat. The
difference between my family and a similar Black family was simply
that, Black and White.
We urge people to join the Democratic Party and change the Party
Planks to reflect the people's needs. But the problem is far too
complex to be solved by taking over a political party...as if that
could even happen! The problem cannot be compromised, as Barack Obama
thought. If indeed that were his real reason. The problem is
ingrained deep within our social nature. The vary traits that enabled
us to become the King of the Animal World, has also been our worst
enemy.
Jesus understood this. He urged that we become "born again", shedding
our animal nature and embracing a higher one. But even though He
understood the problem, Jesus could do virtually nothing about it.
And while many great minds understand the basic issue, and what needs
to occur in order to change it, lesser minds become cheer leaders,
such as Donald Trump, and gain the support of the masses.
I often think that our make up includes one little gene, a "greed
gene", that one day can be blipped out of each new baby. But then,
what if all that does is to turn us into mindless robots?
Sheesh...
Carl Jarvis
On 10/15/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
While I listened, I wondered why that concerned neighbor didn't just knock
on the doorframe and then go into that apartment and check for himself to
see if everything was OK. After all, he, too, is black. He knows the history
of the Fort Worth police department. He was concerned about whether or not
his neighbor was sick. Knowing what the police generally do, why in God's
name would a black person in a black neighborhood, call them for help?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2019 11:24 AM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Murder and Robbery!
Today's Democracy Now is well worth the investment of an hour.
After headlines, the hour is divided between the Fort Worth murder of the 28
year old woman, shot through her bedroom window by a young out of uniform
police officer who shouted, "hands up!" and fired in less
than a second, killing her. And the second half of the program tells
of the investigation of the massive robbery by corporate Banksters who have
grown fat and wealthy through trickery and foreclosures, leaving many
Americans homeless.
It's no longer good enough to simply be concerned. We need to take action
and become involved anyway we can.
Begin by going to:
democracynow.org
