Tag: racial tensions

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Derek Jeter, Barack Obama, and America’s Racial Tensions

The New York Yankees recently honored their retired shortstop, the great Derek Jeter, who will doubtless enter the Baseball Hall of Fame at the first opportunity.

Jeter and President Obama share several similar traits, but have diverged sharply in their character and how they have used their fame. Both are the offspring of a black father and a white mother. Both are refined men who have reached the pinnacle of their respective careers. The similarities end there.

The baseball hero didn’t achieve his legendary status easily.  Physically average for a major league player, he scaled the heights of the sport by being the hardest working member of his organization.  Even after becoming Captain of history’s greatest team, he continued his diligent workouts.

For Obama, a sense of entitlement, perhaps as a recompense for historical injustice, seemed to permeate his thoughts.

The baseball hero certainly experienced racial tension in his youth.  In an interview with Barbara Walters, he noted that he had occasionally had the N-word tossed at him, as well as sneers from ignoramuses who disapproved of his biracial DNA.  He didn’t make a constant issue of that, however, choosing instead to silence his critics by being the best at his craft and the classiest guy in the business. A published transcript of the discussionnoted this exchange:

“You have an understanding and an education of two races,” Jeter said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world. Have there ever been days where I wished I was this or I wished I was that? . . . No, It’s always been a positive. You always hear stuff from stupid people. That’s never going to change. You chalk it up as ignorance; you know those people are just ignorant and they’re not familiar (with biracial people), sometimes I think they’re afraid of the unknown. That’s basically how I look at it.”

How different that is from Obama, who rode racial tensions the way a jockey rides a horse.  It is supremely ironic that the end result of America’s first black presidency was a major setback of racial relations.

Jeter’s natural grace and style demonstrated the idiocy of racism. The most casual review of his extraordinary qualities would be sufficient to silence anyone foolish enough to succumb to the false narrative of hatred.

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As noted by the New York Post’s  Gil Troy, “ [President] Bush integrated his administration naturally, appointing Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice because of their smarts, not their race. Obama’s election in 2008 was a natural progression of the Bush era’s racial progress.”

In 2015,  Gallup  reported that “Americans rate black-white relations much more negatively today than they have at any point in the past 15 years.” It doesn’t take much analysis to demonstrate that Obama’s constant emphasis of every racial incident was responsible.

John Gibbs, (who is black) writing in The Federalist, stated: “Under President Obama, many black folks think racial division has increased, not decreased…he thinks of a place where racist white Christian fundamentalists came here from Europe, committed genocide against Native Americans, enslaved and segregated black people, denied women, gays, and other minorities their rights, and used capitalism and a rigged legal system to oppress poor people for centuries. He also believes this is still continuing today… the president’s overarching goal has been to eliminate what he sees as the structural, institutionalized discrimination that [he believes] defines America. He has done this by taking every opportunity to see disparities between groups as evidence of discrimination, then using all available resources to fight this perceived discrimination by going to war against the Americans he believes are responsible for it, who are almost always whites, men, police, and Christians.”

Jeter played tough against his competitors. But he has become near-universally admired by those whom he played against because his dedication and respect for his craft and its traditions are undeniable. That, too contrasts, sharply with the former president, who generally seemed ashamed of the nation that chose him as its leader for eight years.  One of Obama’s first acts in office was to embark on an “apology tour” of the Middle East.  He clearly was uncomfortable with the concept of American exceptionalism.

Jeter made a point of learning from and working with respected professionals in his field. Obama’s influencers included deeply unsavory characters, such as the terrorist Bill Ayers and the antagonistic clergyman Jeremiah Wright Jr.

Jeter’s character fulfilled, and Obama’s character denied, the extraordinary words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who, in his March on Washington speech, said:

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”.

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A look back, as a New Year begins

As 2008 drew to a close just six years ago, it would have been difficult for Americans to believe the precipitous drop in the nation’s condition that would occur within the following six years. Within that short span of time, the U.S. economy, its national security, and relations between citizens would deteriorate at a worrisome and unexpected rate.

The Economy

In 2008, the national debt was $11, 039,737,790,000, compared to the approximately $18,028, 000,000,000 that will greet the new year.  All that extra spending, including the stimulus spending program, produced no noticeable results.

Despite the presence of an extremely severe recession (much of it due to the bad economics of misguided subprime mortgage legislation that began under the Carter Administration and was expanded during the Clinton presidency) there was little doubt that the nation would soon recover.

The labor force participation rate was 65.8%, compared to the current 62.8%. While some statistics indicate that the unemployment rate has improved, the reality is far different. As noted in Forbes,   “Despite the significant decrease in the official U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment rate, the real unemployment rate is over double that at 12.6%. This number reflects the government’s “U-6” report, which accounts for the full unemployment picture including those ‘marginally attached to the labor force,’ plus those ‘employed part time for economic reasons.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) stands at 2.8 million accounting for an extremely troublesome 30.7 percent of the unemployed. The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers), stands at 6.9 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

 

Furthering the distress of many Americans, the Center for Immigration Studies,  reports that all of the net gain in the number of working-age (16 to 65) people holding a job has gone to immigrants (legal and illegal).

 National Defense

In 2008, America was unquestionably the world’s supreme military power. Today, following substantial cuts to the defense budget, the unilateral withdrawal of American tanks from Europe, the financial inability of the Navy to sustain an adequate carrier fleet, the dismissal of large numbers of vitally needed military personnel, the alienation of key allies such as the United Kingdom, Poland, Israel and others, the lack of modernization for nuclear weapons, and the decision to not proceed with an adequate missile defense program, the U.S. is seen as a declining force in the world.

Washington’s increasingly obsolete nuclear deterrent is a major concern. Alone among the world’s nuclear powers, the U.S. has not updated its aged atomic weapons. Along with the “New START” nuclear arms treaty, the rise of China as a major nuclear power, and the growing threat from North Korea, this has essentially ended American nuclear superiority.
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In addition to harmful strategic implications, New START allowed Moscow to maintain a vast advantage in tactical nuclear weapons, which it has deployed along its European border on board its new Iskander short range nuclear weapons. NATO has no equivalent weapons in place.

New START was part of the failed “reset” with Russia.  As the U.S. cut defense spending and reduced its leadership role in international affairs, Moscow dramatically strengthened its armed forces, returned to cold war bases, sold nuclear technology to Iran, moved nuclear weapons to its European border, enhanced military ties with Latin America, invaded the Ukraine, and engaged in joint war games with China aimed at the U.S.

North Korea’s army will be larger than its American counterpart by the end of 2015 if scheduled cuts occur.  China’s navy, combined with its potent land-based anti-naval missile force, will soon displace the U.S. as the predominate sea power in East Asia. Russia has spent vast sums modernizing both its nuclear and conventional forces. Moscow has resumed cold war era nuclear patrols around both the continental U.S. as well as our bases overseas.

In 2008, Iraq was slowly, unsteadily, but certainly returning to democracy. Today, ISIS, due to the premature withdrawal of American forces, now ravages that land, committing atrocities on a terrible scale.

Six years ago, terrorism, while continuing to fester, was not ascendant. Today, terrorist forces control more geography than ever in the Middle East, the Taliban is poised to gain substantial power in Afghanistan, and al Qaeda is growing exponentially in Africa. Further, Iran’s Hezbollah, along with Russia and China, has made significant inroads with several South American governments.  Iran itself is poised to become a nuclear power.

The Final Frontier, Lost?

America’s space shuttle program was the envy of the world, and the U.S. had bold, concrete plans to explore and exploit the final frontier.  Obama allowed the Shuttle program to die and scrubbed its immediate replacement, the Constellation program.  Today, NASA can’t even put a man in space, is dependent on Russia to access the space station that was constructed by the space shuttle, and its plans for the future, are, bluntly, unfunded rhetoric, despite the ongoing development of the Orion space capsule, which itself is essentially only a modernized version of the 1960-era Apollo craft.

Racial Tensions

The most unforeseen, and indeed, unforeseeable decline in America’s condition was in the area of race relations.  The election of the first black president was envisioned as an epic turning of the page, a major step that precipitated a new era of harmonious relations between the races in America. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

Rather than engage his historic role to finally bring closure to the history of racial animosity, President Obama, along with his Attorney General Eric Holder employed racial tensions to motivate their base core of supporters for political goals. The result has been a dramatic resurgence of tensions.

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Quick Analysis

“Social Justice” and the Social Contract

In Ferguson, Missouri, martial law has been declared in the wake of unrest following the shooting death of a black male by a white police officer. The person shot has been implicated in a recent robbery. Before any of the facts could be ascertained, rioting ensued and racial arsonists from across the nation descended on the town.

The battle cry of those who seek to politically gain from incidents such as this is “No Justice, No Peace.” Those chanting it don’t want justice via the rule of law to prevail.  It has come to mean a demand for instantaneous, preconceived punishment, regardless of the facts and the truth as determined by law enforcement, Judges and juries.

We are seeing this now in Ferguson, where the Governor has declared martial law, and to a lesser extent recently in Staten Island, New York, where an individual died following an apparently resisted arrest.  In each instance the individuals died after encounters with a white cop.  Both of the deceased were breaking the law albeit in minor ways.

That these two ended up dead is a tragedy.  That both situations were seized upon by racial arsonists and criminals determined to exploit the racial anger and chaos are also tragedies. Individuals such as Al Sharpton have made a career out of exploiting racial tensions.

These agitators for personal gain ignore black on black crime in places like NYC and Chicago and wait in the tree line for “unequal power” events which end with the death of a black “victim,” as defined by them.

“Victimhood,” with all its waivers for personal responsibility, actions and behavior is what people like Al Sharpton sell like a drug.
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The politics of “victimhood” has resulted in double standards throughout American life and the predictable and resultant fraying of the social contract.  “Victimhood” has also been grafted onto certain groups thereby resulting in knee jerk reactions when bad things happen.

America is a nation of laws that protect individual rights.  No person and no group is supposed to be exempt.  Yet that is exactly what far too many of those who exploit “victims” who break the law want.  Non designated victims don’t have a prayer of getting public sympathy for this position because the prevailing progressive ethos does not allow that to happen.

“Victimhood” must be retained only for those who can be used to help bring down the “system” as extreme leftists Cloward and Piven would have it.  So it is reserved for blacks, Muslims, gays, illegals and others extremists wish to characterize as outside the mainstream.  Those they can’t portray as outsiders just don’t count.  Those promoting “victimhood” want chaos because chaos obliterates the social contract and leaves them in charge.

Ferguson, Missouri is currently ground zero for “Social Justice” where first amendment rights and law and order are being attacked in pursuit of Saul Alinsky’s dream of overthrowing an America ruled by laws respecting individual rights.

Ferguson, Missouri  is also social justice progressivism at its finest or at its worst depending on from which side you are viewing it.  It is where this President who was supposed to end racial strife and his allies has taken us in their fundamental transformation of America. Ironically, because this White House has been so eager to add fuel to the fire of racial tensions, Al Sharpton is really not needed anymore.

This article was written by Larry Allison.