Growing up just outside of the Nation's capital gave me a keen perspective on suburban life in a time when you either lived in a city or urban area or you lived in the country but not because you were a farmer but because you just wanted more land and less taxes. Suburban life was such that you took care of your neighbors because you knew all your neighbors since no family was ignored or ostracized. While there were no people of color living in our community, there would have been no animosity waged towards them if they were to buy a home there.
However, as I grew older and older, I realized that animosity towards people of color was prevelent everywhere I went and I could not figure out why... it was more than just their color, but it was about how they spoke, how they dressed, how they lived, how they worshipped, and how they problem solved issues around them. In the military or when not in the military, and I was placed in a situation where we worked together, I found them to be no different than anyone else with whom I worked.
When I dated women of color, I found them no different than white women and it was difficult for me to ascertain mentally whether I wanted to be with a white woman or a black woman. What helped me make up my mind was all the people around me... when with a black woman, other blacks around us treated us just as bad as other whites around us. Of course, I was in the state of North Carolina when these activities were playing out.
Today, when I am confronted with BLM, CRT, WOKE, and Cancel Culture I am developing more animosity towards people who are not like me than ever before in my life. I am angry that 12% of the US population is telling 60% of the US population what should or should not be... rather than trying to work out these issues collectively through compromise...
When I speak to other people who live in Europe and Canada about these white/black issues in the USA, they share my same concerns that there were no concerns until the blacks started raising concerns...
Of course, are these blacks that are causing so much trouble in the upper class, middle class, or lower class? My guess is that they are in the lower class.
- Will education help them?
- Were they raised by a single parent?
- How did illegal drugs impact their upbringing?
- Would different parents have raised them differently?
- Would a different location have made them see life differently?
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