• About

thoughtsonamericadotcom

~ A great WordPress.com site

thoughtsonamericadotcom

Tag Archives: Dr. Martin Luther King

Eric Garner Caused His Own Death, Like Mike Brown

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by Greg in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

black Americans, civil rights, constitution, cop death, Dr. Martin Luther King, Eric Garner, Eric Holder, holder, John F Kennedy, Jr., Michael Brown, Mike Brown, New York Death, obama, police death

Another cop found not guilty for indictment for the death of a black man. Another round of protests. More shouting about ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’. The president again sticking his nose in. Holder announcing another investigation into a police department. America under protests from Atlantic to Pacific to the Gulf. And all because Eric Garner decided to ignore police instructions.

Meanwhile, the true problems of black Americans are left unsolved, because Holder, Obama, Farrakhan, Jackson, Sharpton, and the democrat party prefer psuedo-issues to real problems. Blac-on-black crime has risen to levels not seen ever. Black men are getting girls and women pregnant, then running out on them at an alarming rate. Children are stuck in schools where the teachers are more concerned with union rules, made-up issues to rally round, and generally, a lackadaisical attitude towards the students, with the attitude of “If the parents don’t care, why should I?” Poverty abounds in the black American life, but, unlike Asians, Pakistanis, and others, black Americans blame their lack of progress on “Whitey keeps me down!” As such, those welfare-bred, poverty living, ‘gangsta thugs and hoodrat babes’ with their free cell phones and EBT cards, instead of working to provide a better life for their families, prefer to listen to gangsta rap, wear low-hanging pants, give short shrift to laws, as if laws are for anyone else but them, let their children run undisciplined through the streets, to help perpetuate the ongoing saga.

I have watched the Eric Garner arrest many times, on every news channel that cares to show it, as well many cable and broadcast channels that just ran it for news. Mr. Garner, just like Mike Brown, is the cause of his own death. Mr. Garner knew that he was in the wrong. The police asked him several times to turn around, put his arms behind his back. Mr. Garner, instead, because he had an audience of his neighborhood peeps, decided to show off. You can hear him tell the cops that he didn’t do anything, he wasn’t going to do anything they asked, and then he fought not to let himself get cuffed. Mr. Garner, as can be seen in the video, was overweight, by a large margin. Mr. Garner also had asthma, apparently. Mr. Garner knew that he was not physically fit, yet, on a hot day, Eric wanted to show off for the crowd. Mr. Garner had all sorts of internal issues, from heart to high blood pressure. Mr. Garner had ample opportunity to calmly, and with dignity, submit to the arrest. Mr. Garner did not, and paid the price.

In America, nowadays, we have fostered an attitude of no respect for authority, a desire for fifteen minutes of fame in front of the camera, and a desire to flaunt our egos on FaceBook, YouTube, and any television show that will have us. We are a Jerry Springer/Maury Povich/Jersery Shore/Real World/Survivor whatever, America, where you can do anything to be famous. As a result, Mr. Garner felt that this was his opportunity to expose himself, or rather his ego, to the world. With the plethora of cell phone cameras steadily rolling, instead of behaving responsibly as a father of six, count them, six, children, instead of acting as an adult, he decided to defy authority, as if he were the child. Mr. Garner could have defused the situation at any time, well before it became the spectacle it has become. As I see this and Mike Brown, I feel deeply ashamed to be a Black American.

I feel ashamed, because we have allowed today’s black women and men to spit on the achievements of great men like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who believed in discipline, who believed in respect, who believed in laws, and respecting laws, even if the ones responsible for enforcing those laws have no respect for the ones they are supposed to be protecting. Dr. King did not believe in lawlessness. Dr. King did not believe in abusing others, refusing to obey laws. Dr. King: “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” And again: “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” Most importantly: “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” (Quotes from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.) Dr. King said “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” And he said “If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.” Most importantly, he said “Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” (http://mlkday.gov/plan/library/communications/quotes.php) In all of these, Dr. King identifies what is missing in today’s black America: A desire to do the right thing, rather than a desire to do what is good for oneself right now.

Mike Brown and Eric Garner died at the hands of law enforcement. Mike attempted to take on the police, and paid the price. Eric Garner refused to cooperate, and paid the price. These are but two of many who have ignored what Dr. King fought so hard for, for black Americans to be treated as a person. Dr. King died to bring true civil rights to black Americans. Yes, Mike and Eric could have been handled in a different manner. For Mike Brown, he could have been tasered, and brought down. But the officer had already been attacked, and feared for his life, so Officer Wilson took the action he thought was appropriate. It is a shame that Mike died, but had Mike not tried to be a thug, maybe, just maybe, he would be in college now, headed for a career in the NFL or starting his own business on graduation. Eric Garner should have turned around and presented himself to be handcuffed. No, he didn’t deserve to die, but he has to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. Yes, Officer Pantaleo should not have had the choke hold on Eric. Yes, there should have been better care at the site. But, again, Eric Garner is also responsible for his death.

There are other, more important things, issues, problems, for black Americans to be focused on. To make two people, who contributed to the circumstances of their own deaths, ‘martyrs’, is to sully the achievements and the work of Dr. King and those who truly fought with them so that we could live free in America. We, black Americans, must get out from under that misconception that the US owes us something. We owe America, just as the Asians, the Mexicans, the Italians, the English, the Pakistanis, the Indians, our responsibility to build a good life, raise a good family, and defend the US and the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. In the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You; Ask What You Can Do For Your Country.” In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

“We Must All Hang Together, Or Most Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

Advertisement

Responsibility in The Black Community

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by Greg in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

black communities, civic responsibility, Dr. King, Dr. Martin Luther King, I Have A Dream, justice, responsibility, responsible

I watched two different videos of “police brutality against black men” this week. In both instances, the culprit ignored police requests to turn around and put their hands behind their backs. The result was, the police had to take actions that resulted in pain for the culprits. It’s disgusting that the police in having to do their jobs, have to go to such levels to arrest people. And it’s even more disgusting to have many denounce the police’s actions as being unfair.

It used to be, if you resisted arrest in any way, what happened was on your own head, or body. Nowadays, in our entitlement state, black people are told, you can resist the police, and they can’t do anything against you. The truth is, the police have a dangerous job. Every time they approach a suspect, or a situation, this could be their last time on this side of the earth. Even if there are many officers are around, none can know what a suspect will be doing. So, most officers err on the side of caution.

I hold responsible those who believe it’s their right to resist officers. Especially in the black community, resisting arrest becomes an opportunity to get on television, YouTube!, any video forum, and declare they are the innocent. Then, you’ll have the ACLU, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, all come running out to defend the suspects, and disregarding the fact that these suspects were resisting arrest. This becomes a bad, very bad, example for the black community. I do not respect anyone who resists a cop’s request to submit. If you’re innocent, there isn’t a reason to resist. If you’re guilty, you’re only going to get yourself in an even worse position when you go to trial. And yet, in the two videos I saw, the officers said turn around, and the suspects continued to fight back, wouldn’t turn around, and ultimately, paid the price.

I am telling you right now: If the Right Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were alive today, he would be ashamed at the way his legacy is being tarnished. Jesse Jackson has deliberately failed to maintain Dr. King’s legacy, his hopes, and yes, his dream. Defending the undefendable appears to be the lessons of today’s “civil rights” activists. When the marches were being done, it was to insure that we, the black community, would receive the same treatment as the white community. When police have to manhandle a suspect, they do it the same as they do any other suspect. That’s what civil rights mean: You take the responsibility, along with the liberties.

For the black community, we need to have the black leaders stand up and denounce those who would cry out about abuse when police officers are doing their jobs. We must have the black leaders stand up and make people understand, they have a civic duty to obey the laws, and to follow the orders of those we commission to keep law and order. If the black leaders can’t or won’t, and the community refuses to, we cannot expect the police to want to come in and protect us, when we won’t stand up for what is right. The Civil Rights Act gave us the right to vote, and protects our rights, but it also, as I said gives us responsibility. We cannot expect a free ride.
Dr. King had a dream, where all God’s children, regardless of color, creed, religion, are free. But the good doctor also knew that with the rights we demanded to be acknowledged for the black community, comes the responsibility to act as a citizen of the US. This means accepting responsibility to obey the law and to follow the laws of the country we are part of. The way the current “black leaders” and “civil rights activists” in many black communities would shame the good doctor, and would embarrass him, and all those who marched, demonstrated, and even died to get our rights and freedoms recognized.

We must, in the black community, stand up and be counted. We must denounce those who would tear us down. And we must respect the law, or the law will never respect us. That is part of Dr. King’s legacy, for, as he said in his speech of August 1963: “And that is something that I must say to my people who stand on the worn threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” What this means, to me at least, is that we must not blind ourselves to doing what is right by letting someone else tell us that we can ignore laws and our responsibility.

The theme for today is Responsibility. We must be responsible for our actions, for our behavior, for our families and for our communities. We must responsibly follow the laws. We must responsibly stand up and be counted.

We Must Be Responsible, For We Set The Examples For Generations To Come.

“We Must All Stand Together, Or Assuredely, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • August 2019
  • September 2018
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014

Categories

  • America
  • Apple
  • Clinton
  • Donald Trump
  • espionage
  • FBI
  • Flint Michigan
  • Human Race
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

A WordPress.com Website.

  • Follow Following
    • thoughtsonamericadotcom
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • thoughtsonamericadotcom
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar