I have sincerely enjoyed reading the numerous responses from yesterdays question. Like many of you, I am trying to get ready for the holidays, but will give my initial thoughts. Every person has different life experiences with people, race relations, personal and economic challenges. My mom and dad were married and divorced 4 times each My mom did her best to raise us, but it was a different time back then (1960s). In an effort to have security for us, she made some tough decisions that always did not work out. She worked often, was on public assistance for a while and did her best. My sister, mom and I are survivors from abuse and understand the stresses that can come into play with people, especially people struggling financially and emotionally. I wanted to give a little history to people because for me, sports, especially basketball was my saving grace. But not for basketball and the coaches and discipline of sports, I would not be here now. In hoop, we often played in the city, BNBL, Dom Savio, etc... There were many different types of kids playing. There where black, white, Greek, Hispanic, rich, poor, city and suburban kids all doing their best to be the best. Within the rules. The common theme was just to play hoop. That interaction played out when I went to Tufts to study and play hoop. We called ourselves the United Nations team because there were so many different nationalities on it. It worked because of our coach and his leadership. It starts at the top. A team is a reflection of who is in charge and the members of that team are a reflection of that leader. Having life experiences like I had is not the same as some other people might have had. Luck, fate, geography, socioeconomic reasons all play a role in our lives. Who knows? The simple fact is we are not all alike. Different dreams, beliefs and boundaries and responsibilities. The one thing that I ALWAYS thought we had as citizens in this country, regardless of where we came from, was the love for our country and respect for each other. For me, I noticed a change when people began not trusting the President, people in his administration. some examples are Fast and Furious, Benghazi, Obamacare (you can keep your plan and doctor), the roll-out of Obamacare and the website, abuses by the IRS, immigration and President not involving the American people or members of Congress in his decisions, the lack of civility between members of Congress and the lack of respect by the American people for the President and Congress. It starts at the top. I feel the President has missed many opportunities to unite us. Is he solely at fault? Of course not. But he is our leader and his job is to reassure the American people during times like these. It starts at the top. Was there racism involved in the actions and decisions made by the different parties in the last couple of weeks that led to where we are today? If you believe everyone did their jobs to the best of their ability, then the answer is no. Is it correct to evaluate and review police tactics and training to make sure there is consistency so that they can do their jobs well, keep us safe and come home to their families safely? Yes. Is there more that we all can do to help? Yes. FYI, for all the grammar critics, I have dictated this and did not have time, as usual to check it as well as I would like. I have other thoughts that I need to formulate properly. Until then. Have a good evening.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 22:30:49 +0000
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