Manns Medium

​ There is an article titled “ Everyday words and phrases that have racist connotations ” written by Scottie Andrew and Harmeet Kaur, CNN with a contribution from CNN's Anna Bahney. It begins with “Master bedrooms" in our homes. "Blacklists" and "whitelists" in computing. The idiom "sold down the river" in our everyday speech. Many are so entrenched that Americans don't think twice about using them. But some of these terms are directly rooted in the nation's history with chattel slavery. Others now evoke racist notions about Black people. "Words like 'slave' and' master' are so folded into our vocabulary and almost unconsciously speak to the history of racial slavery and racism in the US," says Elizabeth Pryor, an associate professor of history at Smith College. But America's reckoning with systemic racism is now forcing a more critical look at the language we use. And while the offensive nature of man...

There are misconceptions and then there are plain bonehead assumptions, when it comes to the recent rash of officer involved shootings and it appears that many are guilty of the later. A misconception is the assuming that someone is a bad person long before ever really getting to know or even taking the time to get somewhat acquainted with that person and defined as “.a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding.”  This happens a lot in life especially when we generalize about a certain segment of society based squarely upon the actions or perceived actions of some within that segment of the population.  If you consistently see a certain group of people committing crime over and over again, then one tends to assume and build a misconception that all people of that same particular group must also commit crimes on a regular basis.  This misconception leads us to assuming the worst or the best of a section of society even thoug...

When you attend school, people wish to say that there you can gain book smarts but when you education comes from the streets, people say you are gaining streets smarts.  Depending on who you talk to or at the time you talk to them, one would push one over the other and there has even been behavioral test conducted to see which actually came first, the chicken or the egg.  For some reason we think that life is so complicated that we must have a pre-programmable gene within all of us that causes us to act a particular way at a particular time.  Though I can respect these experts’ thoughts and ideas, I have to vehemently disagree with their assessment. This pre-conceived notion to do evil is not a part of our make-up but a direct result of our environment and the choices that we make.  If you make a statement that you believe in a particular thing and you fail to live up to that statement is not a result of anything other than you making a statement you that you fa...

When directed to this article, I had no clear thought of why someone wanted me to read it but after doing so, a thought of why it was written appeared in my mind.  Now I am not a mind reader nor do I pretend to be but I think that there may be some truth to an article being written not to inform but to force conformity.  In other words, an article not written to educate the public but provide those who refuse to do their jobs an excuse. The article is titled “ It took 2 years for charges in  Greer's  death. That could be the easy part ” and appears to have been written by Justin Jouvenal.  In it he reports “ It took two years, the involvement of county and federal prosecutors and a special grand jury before a former Fairfax County police officer was indicted Monday on a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting of an unarmed Springfield, Va., man in 2013.  But for prosecutors, the hard work may just be beginning.  Legal experts and former pro...

At first glance, this story reeks of an over-zealous Sheriff Deputy who clearly got far too excited with his authorization to use deadly force.  In the article titled “Deaf man killed by deputy: Deaf man shot 6 times 'failed to follow' cop's orders.”  as reported by Linsey Bald for News Examiner with assistance from the Huffington Post.  In the article it states “A deaf man was killed by a Florida deputy after an altercation at a towing yard went terribly wrong. Two deputies, undercover and in plain clothes, heard an argument occurring outside Fryer's Towing Company on Saturday afternoon in Daytona Beach. On approach, the deputies saw 52-year-old Edward P. Miller, deaf from birth, with a gun. When he failed to comply with the orders of the cops, they shot him dead.  Reports the Huffington Post: “Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said Miller was ‘brandishing a firearm’ outside when Deputy Joel Hernandez and another unnamed deputy arrived. Hernandez, 35, fired his ser...

According to an article written by Meg Wagner, Cory Siemaszko of the New York Daily News titled “State of emergency declared in Ferguson after day grows heated in wake of Michael Brown shooting, photo of Officer Darren Wilson surfaces” there were a small part that made me begin to believe that true love of community was still alive and well in Ferguson, Missouri.  Now I am sure that many probably missed it because it was not as dramatic as the rioting and looting.  It is not quite as memorable and the conflict between residents and police.  It may not give them as many page views or increase their ratings.  That small piece “Emboldened, some troublemakers tossed Molotov cocktails and the started looting stores, including the Ferguson Market & Liquor — the business from which Brown allegedly stole a $48.99 box of Swisher Sweets cigars.  They were chased out by other demonstrators who stood watch over the store until the troopers could secure the premises.” ...