United We Must Stand

The election of President Obama was a sign of how far this country has come in regard to racism; the reaction to his election is a sure sign of how far we have to go. The open and blatant racism displayed at tea party rally's and other right wing gatherings are a serious step backwards, as are the voter suppression efforts by the GOP and the Shelby County v. Holder decision that makes voter suppression easier to achieve. Add to this the disparity between the income of white and black people, along with the thinly disguised racism used to justify cuts in all assistance to low income people and you have provided all the evidence needed for minorities to feel oppressed. Furthermore when so many young, unarmed, black men are being killed by police officers and other armed white men we should all ask some very serious questions about our justice system!

Obviously, we are still dealing with racial issues that I wanted very much to believe we had put behind us. It would be foolish, however, to believe that the behavior of the Police in Ferguson is strictly a racial issue. Regardless of your race or ethnicity the concentration of wealth and political power into so few hands combined with the militarization of our police forces should be alarming. In Ferguson police officers were wearing gas masks, helmets, and body armor. What they were not wearing were badges or identification of any kind. So here you had anonymous, unrecognizable men pointing assault rifles and machine guns at demonstrating citizens while other officers were firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. I hate to sound like a libertarian, but this scares the hell out me! Will such force be used to suppress anyone objecting to the greed of what has become an oligarchy. To those of you who think I am over-reacting, let me remind you of what happened at Kent State during the Vietnam war!

The people of this country have to wake up. You cannot suppress the rights of one group of people without endangering the rights of everyone. We are all in this together, and we must make a stand.  Everyone deserves freedom from the fear of violence and oppression!  Furthermore, everyone deserves a decent job and a fair wage.  Get involved.  Flex your political muscle. Administer a political beating to the right wing bigots, and to the Republican Party for pandering to those bigots! Fight the greed of the oligopoly and the divisiveness that helps the oligarchs hold on to their power. Work to restore to our system the concept of one person one vote by letting all politicians know you will oppose anyone who will not support a constitutional amendment to overturn the horrible Supreme Court decisions that have greatly increased the influence of money on our government. If we are ever to get our country moving in the right direction again, we must fight those who divide us.