The Salvation Army recently published a mini handbook titled: Let’s Talk About….. RACISM

It was a rather depressing read.  Since I was a small child, I have loved to run up to the hanging buckets and put my extra change in.  This was my good deed for the holiday.  When you’re not even a teenager yet, you think you have made great strides in making someone’s life better for the season.  As an adult, for about 6 years in a row, I was one of the bell ringing volunteers.  I even got my sons involved.  

Imagine my disgust when I discovered they are just another major organization involved in a discriminatory, anti-White, and blatant racist position and wants White people to agree to it.  

S.A. definition of racism: the prejudiced treatment, stereotyping or discrimination of POC (people of color) on the basis of race.  Racism also refers to the system of social advantage and disadvantage or privilege and oppression that based on race.  Racism is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas produces and normalizes racial inequities.  

Essentially, they, The Salvation Army, are making their own definition to suit their propaganda.  They then expend it to discuss individual racism.  Ok, I agree, individuals can be racist.  No need to hash out the definition.  We all know a racist person when we hear one / read one.  

Then they define institutional racism.  They say policies that result in inequitable outcomes for Whites over POC are racist.  Then they admit that these institutions never mention any racial group, but the intent is to create advantages.  So, they make a definition to suit their own needs while the rest of the world realizes there is no such thing as institutional racism.  An institute is not a thinking, planning, scheming, racist entity.  It’s not even a building.  It’s a name of an organization.  As such, it cannot be racist.  I do need to point out their definition is an attempt to make sure all outcomes are equitable.  Not equal.  Here’s the difference.  If you gave a learned artist and I the same paint brush, the same paint, the same canvass, the same room to paint it, the same model, etc. you have treated us both equal.  However, the results WILL NOT BE EQUAL.   But these people want the results to be equal – as crazy as that is.  So, they treat us equitable.  As such, they are going to make the learned artist paint with his non-dominant hand, in the dark, with one eye closed and they are going to give me a tutor.  Guess what, the results are still going to be unequal.  

I might be able to get on board with their definition of a “racist policy”.   We all can.  If an organization initiates a policy that is clearly discriminatory against someone for whatever reason, that’s a racist policy.  You know, sort of like businesses having a person of color candidate who clearly struggled during the interview and a white male candidate who clearly knew what he was talking about and hiring the person of color because the company likes to diversify their hiring results.  

The Salvation Army program ends with a section on repentance.  That is, simply, demanding that all White people apologize for the crimes and prejudices of their ancestors.  People generations removed from their birth.  People they have never heard of nor have any affiliation with.  And, under the assumption that their ancestors acted with racist intent!!!  In other words, if you’re White, you’re a racist.   

As critical race theory starts seeping into every corner of our lives, we, as White people, need to recognize when we are being discriminated against and then organize to respond.  With that said, we, as White people need to make sure our thoughts, our actions and our spoken word is not racist.  Period.  

There is a very good and very popular insurance company that’s running, what is meant to be funny, commercials that have hit a nerve with the regular “Joe”.

In the first commercial a former football star is trying to convince the insurance company’s call center employee that he would like to be insured by their company. The representative points out the services are only available to members of the armed services – and that’s what makes the company “special”.

Then the football star introduces himself as a former member of a Superball Championship team and doesn’t that make him “special”?

In the second commercial the same athlete is speaking with a former member of the armed services and trying to get him to use his influence to get the athlete accepted as a customer by asking, “Don’t you think I deserve to be a member”?

And there it is. The constant reminder that these overpaid, over glorified, self importance touting athletes believe they should able to do what ever they want just because they “won a Superbowl”.

It is somewhat relieving that in both commercials the insurance company’s employee and customer make it clear to the athlete that he is simply “not that special”.

Hopefully, more companies and regular “Joes” will keep sending the same message.

See “How the N.Y.P.D. Is Using Post-9/11 Tools on Everyday New Yorkers”, by Ali Watkins, a news article turned political commentary turned advocacy.

The article describes the post 9/11 surveillance, facial recognition and other technologies being converted from anti terrorist surveillance to anti crime surveillance. Much similar to England, France, and oh ya, the rest of the world.

She comments New Yorkers are now subject to near constant surveillance – a burder that falls more heavily on people of color.

WHAT??? Are she suggesting the cameras can distinguish race or creed and turn themselves off when a white person walks by?

It is this type of journalism, or lack there of, that turns people off to the NY Times. Rather than being the paper of record it should be, it is viewed as a liberal woke propaganda daily.

She goes on further to cite Amnesty International’s comment that a person protesting on the public streets from Washington Square Park down to Sixth Avenue would be viewed / recorded on the NYPD’s cameras for about 80% of the time they were marching. Let’s examine that. If you ARE IN PUBLIC you DON’T HAVE PRIVACY. As such, I am missing what the complaint is here. Is she suggesting the cameras on in place to spy on people? To what end? To me, the cameras are much like radar. They are deterrents. If you know someone is watching, you are less likely to smash windows and steal merchandise, etc. Am I missing something?

She ends her piece with this quote, “But without the proper checks and balances, anything that’s good can also be used for bad reasons.”

You mean sort of like news reporting and journalism.

Indeed.

There was an interview with General Norman Schwartzcopf shortly before he died. He was originally hesitant to accept the role as commander in chief of the forces involved in the Desert Storm (the 1st Gulf War). Eventually, he came around and told Colin Powel he would take the job but “he would call them when it was over”. Essentially, he already lived through the nightmare that was Vietnam when the day to day minutiae of fighting a war was coming from the Whitehouse. He said all he needed was the general orders – what did they want him to do. Nothing more. He wasn’t going to run the war from a telephone cord back to Washington D.C.

When you think about it, it is a very concrete philosophy. How can some clown in a blue suit, sitting on a sofa in Washington D.C. understand what the soldier sitting in a humvee, in 122 degree heat, facing hundreds of the enemy needed to do?

More recently, during the Obama Administration, we had the full hands on mess that was Bengazi. Another example of too much hands on and not enough listening to the folks in the field.

And now, we have the absolute waste of a loss of 13 soldiers during a pull out because the day to day orders were coming from Washington D.C. by a bunch of people who never served, who had no clue as to what the ground situation was or simply didn’t believe it, had no tactical skills what so ever, had no experience in military pull outs, and (we’ll find out in years to follow) either didn’t listen to the intelligence during the daily briefings, or simply disregarded it.

Lesson: tell the military what to do in terms of your goal and then get the fuck out of the way.