Yeah over time I have become increasingly... skeptical of the liberal media's spin on the racial discussion. So, NPR radio is my main news source, and also BBC, I find them to have, generally, fair reporting, without resorting to the same bullshit plaguing most other news outlets. But, I will say that almost every time I turn it on, I hear, before long, a prolonged discussion about race/disadvantaged peoples. Now, let me first (second?) say that I am 100% on board with the need to continue to make improvements. I'm by no means a person who thinks that there are no racial inequities anymore. But it just seems that the focus has become slightly askew from what is sensible. I support BLM, through speaking with black Americans and my own observations, I be;lieve there still exists some aspects of systemic racism in America. How could there not be? There has been a contingent in America trying to regain slavery, and, failing that, marginalize and demonize black people, for a long time. Things have gotten a lot better, but I DO still believe we have some progress to be made.
But, I do not think the extremity of identity politics is a good or healthy thing. My example of "casual racism in food choices" is a good example. That was on NPR, my main news source. It made me sad. They were trying to suggest it was cultural appropriation for a white person to post a middle eastern recipe. I'm sorry but that's bullshit. If America is a melting pot, that means all of our diverse cultural influences should be merging together into something new and beautiful. I'm not a racist for cooking mostly Japanese, Chinese, and Indian foods at my house. In fact I am celebrating their amazing food culture and appreciating the fuck out of it.
I guess the gist of this post is that I agree we should have a narrative about this, and I believe there is still an issue, but I think the way the liberal media is covering it is often (not always) disingenuous. I will also say this: I beliege that the primary issue facing America today is independent of race. It is the economic divide which grows wider and wider every year. This is true regardless of your race, if you're poor you're shit on, and if you're not, you're not.
Now there is the question of why such a higher percentage of black people (and Mexicans/central Americans) are in poverty compared to white people. And I think this is where the conversation should be focused. The reasons are complex, and I know that on the ground, cops are more afraid of black people in inner cities than they are of white people. And it's sensible for them to be so, because there is more hatred between cops and poor black people than there is between cops and poor white people. We need to ask why this is. There are various factors, but it is clear to me that there is a difference because of the extension of Jim Crow-era policy, as recently as the 1980s, the CIA literally flooded Black neighborhoods with crack specifically to destroy their neighborhoods, and buy hem up, and gentrify them. This was released in the Freedom of Information Act, so we know it's true. I do realize the 80-s were quite some time ago now, but it seems to me that inner city b;lack cmmunities still suffer from the fallout of this. It created a culture of drug dealing to survive, and resulting police brutality and terrorizing.
Ultimately I think we need to radically alter the police institution in this country, which is why I support BLM, because that was its original point. We need to stop militarizing police, and we need to divert some of the funds they are using to outfit police department with military weapons and fucking tanks, into instead creating opporuntities to provide social services for people. Cops are asked to do too much. When someone is having a crisis, what they need is a mental health counselor. When someone is experiencing hardcore drug addiction, what they need is treatment. Cops can't do all of this, but they're being asked to.
Of course s0me individual cops are awful racists, but I very much dislike the sentiment that "all cops are bastards". They are not. Most cops want to be serving the public good. One of my oldest friends is a cop and he's amazing, a good cop. And there are so many more good cops. We need to move away from this militarized, shoot first ask questions later mentality in the police, and have a more holistic approach.
tl;dr: we have a cop culture problem, and it transcends race, though it does still disproportinately affect black communities. And this isn't random, this is because of hu8ndreds of years of subjugation. But it's a mistake to focus entirely on the racial aspect because it goes far bey9ond that and ultimately our biggest problem in America is not race wars, it is class wars, the elio\tes vs the increasingly poorer common man.
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