I am a born optimist, but age is slowly taking its toll on my optimism. Most of my friends my age are already convinced our country is going down the drain.
Of course, older people have been saying that for decades, but then, in a way, they have been right.
Certainly technology has boomed giving us incredible tools and toys. One would be hard-pressed to say our culture has improved, except for greater racial tolerance.
With regard to civility, dignity, patience, frugality, hard work, education, literacy, culture, respect, patriotism, self sacrifice, honor, independence and liberty . . . well, we seem to be doing worse.
A recent incident with the Jackson City Council is a case in point. A Jackson man, Enoch Sanders, was speaking to the council during the public commentary period. Sanders was upset about racial profiling in Clinton.
According to several media reports, Sanders said, “Someone needs to take a stand and fight. If we have to, let’s roll and let the blood flow.”
Sounds like a death threat to me. The man should have been arrested.
But no . . . instead, Sanders’ “free speech” is defended by Kenneth Stokes, a city council member.
“Wait a minute, council president. Listen to what the man has to say. He’s trying to explain to you that Clinton police are harassing our residents who drive through,” Stokes said.
Just what is there to understand about the words, “Let’s roll and let the blood flow?”
To make this charade even worse, Stokes nearly gets in a fight with council president Frank Bluntsen who had the decency to mildly state, “We’re not going to have someone come up here and make threats.”
Mayor Harvey Johnson apparently saw no harm in Sanders’ death threat. Instead of demanding Sanders’ arrest or booting him out of the chambers, Johnson said, “I have told the police chief to talk to the surrounding cities and make sure that when they are stopping our citizens it’s for a valid reason.”
That’s telling ’em Harvey. Possible racial profiling by the Clinton police takes priority to a publicly issued death threat against neighboring police.
Apparently, Sanders has been given some slack over the years for his crazy comments because he’s a bit off his rocker. Doesn’t matter. Clear, unmistakable threats of violence — especially to police — should not be casually dismissed. To do so undermines public safety.
Imagine if Sanders was a Klanner in a rural white county threatening to “let the blood flow” against a black community. A death threat is a death threat. Black death threats against whites are just as serious as the reverse.
The ultimate manifestation of reverse racism is the Black Caucus in the Mississippi state Legislature. Can you just imagine the reaction to a White Caucus?
If we want to reduce racism, we must condemn double standards and blatantly racist organizations. The Black Caucus needs to change their name to the Progressive Caucus or some such non-racial name.
Nothing illustrates our declining culture more than our cavalier attitude toward gangsta rap. This is music that idealizes murdering, drugs, stealing, adultery and just about every crass sin one can imagine. Yet the federal government allows it to be played over the airwaves in some grotesque distortion of freedom of speech.
I know. I know. Gangsta rap is an artistic expression of the hardships of the ghetto. That’s a nice one. Urban violence as an art form.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it is a duck. Our cultural tolerance to violent Islamists is another illustration of our lack of moral fiber.
Recent history has educated Americans on Islam and much of what we see is not good. Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and other major religions are concerned with spiritual life. Islam is much more ambitious. It is an entire form of government that is fundamentally incompatible with American values.
This is not unlike the problem we faced with Communist parties in the United States in the early 20th century. How does a free country deal with groups who desire to use our freedom to destroy our freedom? This was not an easy issue and many communists were deported or arrested over the years. As it turns out, Communism was a bloody, totalitarian monstrosity worth fighting tooth and nail. Thank God we prevailed.
We live in an oasis of relative peace in a violent world. Just two states away, Mexican drug lords are threatening the government and terrorizing citizens by hanging headless bodies from interstate overpasses. Mexican society is in a state of dissolution.
That’s what you get when you close your eyes and let the blood flow.
