KLUGMO wrote:
As the devils advocate I would say why did you think this was a race issue?
She explained already, that there is a long HISTORY and TRACK RECORD of racist treatment by cops of minorities. And that alone explains why someone could immediately be suspicious that they were being singled out for something, that maybe the cop wouldn't have pulled someone else over for.
Even in the natural world... Look at a family pet, that may have been beaten on a regular basis for years and years, and guess what? Even if you moved that pet to the most caring family in the world, for years, and possibly the rest of the pet's life, if even the nicest person in the world raised his hand too quickly (even to pet him) the pet will still FLINCH at first, expecting the worst from even an innocent gesture.
It's a similar principle.
Nature is nature. Abuse an animal or a person too much, and they will be scarred for a long while... maybe even the rest of their lives. It diminishes over time, but that FEELING of SUSPICION of intention, will likely ALWAYS be there on some level.
Only TIME, and ALOT OF IT, changes that widely and broadly.
Having a black president is a HUGE step in overcoming much of that reality, but realize this.... you do not change HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of years of bad history, merely because one black man made it to the Oval Office.
You have professed to being a Christian Klugmo. Part of Christian love and compassion is having the ability to EMPATHIZE... to step in someone else's shoes, and try to appreciate their struggles or pains from THEIR PERSPECTIVE, from THEIR EXPERIENCES and REALITY.
And I believe as a Christian, that DOING THAT, is FAR MORE PRODUCTIVE than playing Devil's advocate (and toughly so, btw) in this particular situation.
Don't forget that, IN MOST OF OUR OWN LIFETIMES, we were alive, when black Americans were not allowed to sit at the same lunch counter or drink from "white only" water fountains.
ONE LIFE TIME.
Don't think that in ONE GENERATION everything is now perfect, and equality has been achieved fully.
But we can be VERY PROUD as Americans, that SO MUCH has been accomplished in racial equality and race relations, in such a SHORT period of time.
It CONSTANTLY amazes me, that President Obama as a child, would have been old enough to hear Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech, and could have even listened to it LIVE being delivered by Dr. King in front of the Lincoln Memorial. And in that child's OWN LIFETIME, he grew into a man who helped achieve in great measure, the HOPE, the DREAM, Dr. King prayed that day, would come to fruition in future generations.
That in ONE PERSON'S LIFETIME, we have gone from separate schools and restaurants and separate HUMAN RIGHTS itself, to a black American being elected President of this great nation, is a MIRACLE of change, and a testimony to why this nation is so amazing... so profound, and so NECESSARY in our world.
It is not just WE AMERICANS who were amazed by this, but as you saw clearly during the election returns, virtually THE WHOLE WORLD WAS GIDDILY SHOCKED as well!
It is not just us, who believe in the promise of our founding beliefs, but the world itself... even when they say they hate us... much of them, deep inside,
WANT TO BELIEVE in this nation and our founding principles.
We have let the world down in many different ways throughout our history, but as I have always maintained... We are MORE RIGHT than WRONG... we accomplish FAR MORE GOOD than EVIL in this world. They want to believe that too. And the election of a black President, revived that believe in them all over again. And gave them the feeling... "Maybe America really is about the principles they profess to believe in! Maybe they really do hold the promise of being a light to the ENTIRE WORLD... a nation worth aspiring to and emulating... hey look at that... maybe they really do, truly believe what they claim to believe!"