MORE BROKE!

  The title might be bad grammar, but I beg pardon and plead writer's license to make a point. There is something so wrong with our system that we cannot make any kind of distinction between right and wrong, between differences in events. We do not have the patience to wait and sort things out, to delve into the truth of whatever matter is the issue.

We hide the truth like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar, only this cookie jar contains matters of life and death, considers or designs the values of our society. Brother, do we have it wrong! Moreover, until we straighten this mess out, unless and until we accept the dangerous uselessness of lying, well, there is no hope of stopping the chasms developing within American society. These are chasms so deep, the bottom invisible, that the existence of America is at stake.

Please, do not make the error of thinking there is right only on one side and all the wrong is on the other. We have done such harm to ourselves with that thinking, but it is understandable as we look backwards in time to the devastation wreaked on America by the lack of values, by the corruption, by the hatemongering of the Trump administration. However, we must, MUST, look past that and self correct, stop the dangerous trends we have, for they will only make it even more difficult to change ourselves.

The shootings, the murders, of so many Black people, especially those incidents that decide that traffic episodes and minor violations are worthy of immediate capital punishment, must immediately cease. Period. There is simply no excuse for it, and indeed, there is often no excuse to pull someone over or issue a ticket for some of the infractions. But it is done and the horror continues.

However, we also cannot jump to conclusions that all tragedies at arrest scenes are the fault of law enforcement. We must learn to wait for the evidence. We must require all video from body cams and witnesses to be collected and released. The truth will out in these times when there is almost always a recording of events. However, not all of these shootings are the same, and when police officials lie, trying to cover up the uncoverable, as the blood of the victim cries out for truth, they only aggravate the situation and make it impossible to ever believe them.

Take the sad situation of a 16 year old kid, Ma'Khia Bryant, shot by a police officer as she held a knife and charged at two other teens, with the evident attempt to do bodily harm to them.  Put yourself in their place, a knife held by an angry opponent as she comes straight at you. What do you feel? Do you think death is arriving at your door right now? But there are police present, so there is hope for you, you think. The police officer is now in a bind. In a hostile environment, what does he do? Does he shoot, as the knife holder is seemingly intent and focused on doing harm to her foes, or do you think that the better idea would be to say it was too late or there was uncertainty or whatever excuse would work. But would it, for would people say then that the officer did not value the lives of the Black would be victims? Rocks and hard places, with lives at stake.

The shouting has already begun on both sides of the matter and that is exactly the problem. This is not such a clear cut event, tragic though it is. Whenever a life is lost, or taken, it is tragic. But what exactly happened here? How much time did the officer have to make a decision? Whose life was at stake here? What about the videos, whosever view they support? But we immediately jump to conclusions. Each viewpoint supporter shouts so loudly, so incoherently, so sure of oneself, that they cannot and will not hear the other, nor look at the evidence, nor accept the verdict of that evidence.

I do not know what happened there; nor do most, other than the cams, the videos and those involved. However, we must remember that each participant or bystander had a point of view, physical, emotional, political, and could not see the whole picture nor feel the emotions, intents and thoughts of the people involved. Hence their information is inherently faulty for completeness and meshed with that or others. The whole picture must be drawn, completed, before decisions are made.

Unless we all unlearn bad behaviors and habits of the past, we will never have a chance at the present, never mind the unfathomable future. It is a hard thing to do, rife with deep emotions, with hurt that does not go away. But if we are to be America, then that is what needs to take place. The question here is - are we ready, are we capable, are we understanding of the problem and its consequences if we do not reform and change paths -right now!

I am not optimistic.