The stories emerging about the pain and suffering being inflicted on everyday citizens by the rioting are both heartbreaking and disturbing. Those mayors and governors refusing to take action to quash this violence are just as culpable for the suffering as the rioters and looters.
Here are just a few of them I received info. about today.
Minneapolis woman with a disability in tears after seeing her community torn apart
African-American store owner condemns rioters in New York, saying “look what they did to my store”
NYPD officers being attacked openly on the streets
Local mom-and-pop shop destroyed in the Bronx, crushing a family’s years’ worth of work in just minutes
Multiple black-owned businesses destroyed in Philadelphia
Molotov cocktail thrown into an NYPD vehicle
And I'm sure by now most have heard how the WWII Memorial in DC was defaced. It truly infuriated me. My dad was WWII veteran honorably discharged, and he was proud of his military service. Talked about it all the time--his arrival on Normandy Beach, the devastation he saw in Berlin. He said his training in the Army helped him develop discipline. I visited the WWII memorial with my dad shortly after it opened and I'll never forget watching him tear up seeing those names on the wall and talking with other vets and their families who were there, recounting their experiences. When my dad died three years ago, we went through quite a bit to arrange for him to be laid to rest with the full military honors due him as that was his request. And now lunatics who have no respect for life, true liberty or property have defaced a memorial honoring the brave men and women, like my dad, who have served and died for our country.
My heart goes out to everyone hurt by these senseless acts.
Dee, thank you for your comments and my highest esteem and thanks to the memory of your Dad, a WWII vet.
Are the liberal mayors and governors really so stupid to not see what their policies have wrought? I know there are people out there who are very mentally ill. They're against anyone other than their own should they try and better themselves, they are very mentally and spiritually ill people. More government is not the answer, I know I'm preaching to the choir. As Mark Levin said yesterday on his radio broadcast, education is what raises a person, a people out of poverty. Regardless of their color, but in particular people of color. I'm blessed to know many black and hispanic men and women who are very smart and successful business owners, architects, attorneys, physicians, teachers. They got there because they were determined come hell or high water they were getting that bachelors, masters or PhD. They believed, they had a dream. Just like MLK had a dream for Black Americans.
It was in 1964 that LBJ launched "The Great Society", what a wonderful ideal. Yet over 50 years of liberal dogma pounded into our children's heads from kindergarten onward, "The Great Society" ideal has now become "The Riot Society" mob.
Conservative values must start in the home, then discussions with our neighbors. Then run for City Council, the school board, city mayor. I think people-even the liberals are sick of the garbage pouring out of the mouths of politicians. What is happening is the boil on the back of all citizens is very close to popping and once popped it will release the poison. Then we can begin to heal.
I agree with everything you said. And Mark Levin is absolutely right, too. My father was one of those, like me, determined come hell or high water to be successful and live well. I was born after the Civil Rights movement happened, but am grateful to all those who marched to secure a better future for me. My parents being among them. Both grew up in Alabama during Jim Crow segregation. My mother's family was somewhat affluent despite segregation. However, my dad's family were sharecroppers--dirt freakin' poor and illiterate. One of 16 children my grandmother (who I never met) had out of wedlock (something that never set well with my dad), he decided at a young age he wanted a better life. He couldn't attend school regularly, but decided he wanted to learn to read and asked for help from the son of the man who owned the land his family worked on. Being drafted into the army was his saving grace--the first step to being able to leave Alabama. After returning home from the war, he worked as stock boy at a grocery store, saved up his money, and three years later moved further north to D.C. My parents married shortly after he moved, and my dad returned to school to get his high school diploma, then enrolled in college. He was working a full-time job the entire time.
My dad became an ordained minister in 1951. He secured a job in the government where he worked for 30 years and was one of the first Blacks at his agency to be promoted to a management position, which he admitted didn't sit well with some of those he supervised. He eventually retired and went into full-time ministry. At 76, he returned to college to earn a master's, followed by a Ph.D. My parents never received welfare, they wouldn't even consider it, they owned their own home, and raised 6 kids--we lacked for nothing growing up. They were married 68 years when my dad died. During their youth and the early years of their marriage, they encountered racism/racists acts that I can't even imagine. I've heard the stories, so I know I've never encountered anything like what they experienced. Yet, they never let that become the excuse to not achieve their goals and dreams. And they wouldn't let it be ours either. But now we're inundated with talking heads in media and so-called black leaders sounding the alarm that blacks can't succeed because of racism.
My parents considered education and prayer vital to success. Our home was always filled with books of all sorts: Bibles, of course, classical literature, poetry, science, philosophy, history, children's classics. We grew up loving to read and learn and we still do.
We were also taught the value hard work, helping others, and being good citizens. Our parents drilled into us that we could accomplish any good thing if we were willing to work hard, study hard, present new ideas, and remain open to learning. And that is how I live, or at least try to.
I'm not certain that the "Great Society" LBJ promised was truly intended to help black and other minority communities. Welfare programs, in particular, have created a class of people dependent on, and even demanding of handouts. Yet hard work, initiative and self-reliance are what one needs to be successful.
I believe it can change, but you're right it takes a concerted effort of speaking up to our neighbors, friends and family members; running for local government offices; and assuming positions of influence within education and media.
Dee,
What a beautiful and elegant story about your parents and the family they created. You are a gifted writer, I loved reading the short story of your family and the generations before you. Growing up in your neighborhood, I would have liked growing up close to such an ambitious, honest, and hard-working American family. I need not reference any race, color, or creed. Your family's life epitomizes Dr. King's message.
I know there is racism in America. For some, it's generational, and most of us in this forum are sickened by it. As I said earlier, those who believe one race is better than others are mentally, morally, and spiritually bankrupt. The stigma of this racism follows those of us who love people of all color and creed. ...'be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character...' Dr. King's powerful words.
Everyone reading this, please read Dr. King's speech of 1963 from "The March on Washington" and compare it to the protests and lectures today. The fake celebrity tears, and the counterfeit outcries of the politicians. All are jumping on the warm grave of an innocent man, George Floyd, all for their political ambitions. May George Floyd rest in peace.
I was a young woman when Martin Luther King was assassinated and have looked for a leader such as he ever since. It is said that the message of Dr. King's 'I Have A Dream' speech has been hushed by the likes of Sharpton and Schumer. Two men who have traded their soul for the State.
Dee, people like you and people like me, can continue to speak the truth. The Bible tells us to stand in the gap, pray for all. This is a good start.
I hope you'll share your story elsewhere, it's an inspirational story of love and truth.
Thank you for sharing it here with us.