Why Obama’s words about Racial Tensions getting better falls on Deaf Ears

There is an article titled “Obama tells BET audience despite grand jury decisions 'things are better' written by Sara Fischer for CNN which tells “After weeks of racial protests across the country, President Barack Obama is taking the time to deliver encouraging words about the future of race relations in America to a network that reaches a predominately young African-American audience.  "What I told the young people who I met with -- we're going to have more conversations over the coming months -- is, 'This isn't something that is going to be solved overnight,' Obama says in an interview with BET that will air Monday. "'This is something that is deeply rooted in our society. It's deeply rooted in our history.'"  Once criticized for shying away from the topic of race early on in his presidency, Obama has more recently been forced to lead a discussion on the issue.  In his interview, the President says African-American youth need to be both persistent and patient in order to make progress on the issue of racial tensions in America.  "It's important to recognize as painful as these incidents are, we can't equate what is happening now to what happened fifty years ago," the President said in the interview. "If you talk to your parents, grandparents, uncles, they'll tell you that things are better -- not good, in some cases, but better."  "The reason it's important for us to understand that progress has been made is that then gives us hope that we can make even more progress," he said.

But to people like myself, I see this as falling on deaf ears because so many are dead-set to demand immediate change and all the while use any excuse that they can to force change.  They do not wish to learn from our history and take one step at a time while preparing themselves to be knocked back a few steps as time goes on.  We are a society of immediate gratification and when we want things to change, we want them to change that very second.  Many refuse to be realistic and by history, recognize that real change does not happen like that.  Many wish to quickly compare how things were back then to how things are now and say that there has not been any change.  Few will even mention the fact that we have a black president because they don’t see him as black or they don’t feel the change.  Here are a few other examples of change that many will probably never embrace but it does not take from the fact that they are now present.

FACT: “There are over 300,000 more black men in college than in prison, but you wouldn't know this watching FOX, CNN, or YouTube would you? There are some images of us they don't ever show”.  You would not also know this because the heads of black families does not make it a point to show the younger generation these images either.  We wish to blame our demise on the efforts or non-efforts of others but we are just as guilty.  This is not something you would have ever seen back then, hell even getting into high school took the National Guard and Federal Action.  So instead of embracing this change we ignore it within our own homes and if we are not willing to drive these images and points into the heads of our children, how can we expect any one else to do so?

FACT:  There are good police out there and some are beginning to take a stand for justice without fear of what those who wish to remain in the shadows have to say.  This is a clear example of courage, bravery, honor and valor but these are not the images media wishes to show because of their greed for more viewership and page views.  It’s all about money for them and the more controversial a topic is the more they believe bottom line will increase.  It’s not and never will be about what is good for the nation; it is and always will be about what is good for profits.  Success of a business is not based on the number of customers that they make life better for; it is based on the number at the bottom of their 1040 form.  Just read a little about these brave and courageous people who took a stand at the risk of his own life.  In the article titled “Union Vexed After White Chief Holds #BlackLivesMatter Protest Sign” written by Lynette Holloway, it is reported that “Richmond, Calif., Police Chief Chris Magnus, who gained nationwide attention for holding a sign reading “BlackLivesMatter” at a peaceful protest in his city, came under fire Friday by his department’s rank-and-file for holding the placard while in uniform, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.  The incident occurred Tuesday when Magnus and several other police officers, including Deputy Chief Allwyn Brown, who was also in uniform, attended a demonstration, the report says.  The Richmond Police Officers Association said members were not upset by the message, but by the fact that Magnus was wearing his uniform when he attended a Tuesday demonstration on MacDonald Avenue. The message on his sign is one of the rallying cries that emerged after grand juries in Missouri and New York declined to indict white police officers for killing two unarmed black men.  The union said the chief’s actions violated the state’s Government Code, which states that “No officer or employee of a local agency shall participate in political activities of any kind while in uniform.”  “Police chiefs are not above the law,” Wilkinson said. “While many may admire the chief for proactively engaging with the community on one of the most significant political issues of the day, by doing so in uniform he violated the very laws he is sworn to uphold.”  Magnus fired back at his critics, the Chronicle says, asking, “When did it become a political act to acknowledge that ‘black lives matter’ and show respect for the very real concerns of our minority communities? This should not be about ‘us versus them.’ It should be about finding ways to build bridges and address the schism that exists between many of our residents and police.”

Now ask yourself one question, would you have ever seen anything like this back in the day?  Racial tension is not as it once was and I believe it is getting better.  It may never be erased in my lifetime or even yours but that does not mean we shouldn’t keep trying.  This is not just a job for one race or two, this is a job for all race, all people and all those who know that only through us can real change ever come.  Things are not perfect and they may never be but to sit on your brains and do nothing but complain means that you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.  Don’t complain about something you have no intention on fixing.