Definitions According To My Trusted 1943 Webster’s Dictionary(*1990 Webster’s). I include these for I find too many people use the words with no idea what they mean:
- Prejudice. Prejudgement; an opinion or decision of mind formed without due examination of the facts or arguments which are necessary to a just and impartial determination; an unreasonable predilection for or objection to person or thing.
- Bigotry. Obstinate or blind attachment to a particular creed; Unreasonable zeal or warmth in favor of a party, sect or opinion; excessive prejudice.
- *Racism. The Assumption that the characteristics and abilities of an individual are determined by race and that one race is biologically superior to another; a political program or social system based on these assumptions. Racist.
- Endemic. Peculiar to a people or nation; thus, an endemic disease is one to which the inhabitants of a particular country are particularly subject, and which, for that reason, may be supposed to proceed from local causes, as bad air or water.
- Epidemic. A disease temporarily prevalent in a locality; an epidemic disease. Anything that affects great numbers or is generally prevalent; an epidemic of patriotic ardor; an epidemic of terror.
- Pandemic. A widespread epidemic.
- Institutional. Enjoined; instituted by authority.
The Declaration of Independence opens with this simple statement.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
It took America nearly two centuries, a civil war killing over 600,000 men, and a constant, peaceful, civil-rights activism culminating in Martin Luther King’s 1963 ‘I have a dream’ speech’ for our nation, as an institution, to fulfill this promise made July 4th, 1776. We dismantled national institutional racism. Black lynchings came to a virtual stop. Americans of all races, black, white, Asian, Native American, Jew, began abating long-held bigoted and racist creeds on all sides. Eradicating hate is impossible, but as a society, we have worked hard to marginalized it.
All of my life I have watched racism and bigotry diminish their hold over America. We have come so far that now we are beginning to forget the realities of the history of hatred we worked so hard to overcome. We no longer teach our children the world’s long history of slavery, war, and genocide. We do not teach that global poverty and violence is lower today than at any point in recorded history. Instead, progressive public school teachers, leftist ‘Fake News’ media giants, democrat politicians, and black community leaders keep repeating the prejudicial lie that our time is the worst era America has ever seen. Racist, white, Aryans are lurking under every rock and behind every bush, just waiting for the right moment to put their foot on 50 million black necks… none of which is true. Now we are watching America burn as a result.
Regarding the murder of George Floyd, the only thing that sickens and saddens me more than the vile, violent behavior of the rioters and the protesters, is the circumstance of his death. George Floyd was murdered by a man, police officer Derek Chauvin, who was supposed to represent the rule of law. Social outrage is justified, but just as anything good can be twisted to evil, the lawless, animalistic response to Mr. Floyd’s murder is not justified.
George Floyd was not a good, upstanding man and pillar of his community. He was a criminal thug with an extensive criminal record who believed he was above the law. When judged by the content of his character, he fell short of being a man of quality. Had he been gunned down in the street by another black man over some criminal dispute, his mourners would only fill a small church, and the event would be quickly forgotten after the compulsory retaliatory drive-by shooting. George Floyd would become a mere statistic in the endemic cycle of violence in America’s black communities. If America’s black communities would take to the streets… real protests in the spirit of Dr. King, not violent rioting… every time one of their children was murdered by one of their own, maybe they could really start saving black lives.
However, George Floyd was not a victim of a lawless inner-city culture. Rather, he was murdered by a representative of the institution of law. Instead of receiving the due process of law, as guaranteed in the Constitution, he was callously strangled. The content of his character is not relevant. He had a God-given right to fair treatment, and officer Chauvin denied him. He had a God-given right to turn his life around. Chauvin denied him. It is absolutely sickening. A century ago, when racism was the law of the land, officer Chauvin would have born no consequence what so ever. A century ago, it was impossible for a white man to murder a black man. Kill, yes. Murder, no.
Had the Minneapolis Police Department, mayor and district attorney shown old-time, institutional reluctance in investigating officer Chauvin, protests would be justified. Instead, he was immediately fired and arrested. Within 24 hours, three more police officers were fired. After a brief investigation of fewer than 2 weeks, all four officers faced charges. Chauvin with second-degree murder, and the others with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Instead of demonstrating a ‘pandemic of racism’ Minneapolis demonstrated an institutional adherence to the rule of law. They demonstrated that one bad cop does not define who they are. There was nothing to protest. A peaceful march for life would have made a far more profound statement and allowed all of America to grieve for a life stolen.
Unlike all of the businesses and lives destroyed during the riots, the black community knew before they took to the streets that George Floyd was going to get quick justice. They knew officer Chauvin was looking at up to 25 years for 3rd-degree murder charges, or up to 40 years for 2nd-degree murder charges. He will be old and penniless by the time he gets out of prison. They violently protested anyway. The protests quickly devolved into riots, then vandalism, looting, assaults, and killings. These are not LGBT protesters. These are not Jews. These are not Asians. These are not Native Americans. They are violent, lawless black rioters burning and looting their own neighborhoods. They are being egged on by their bigoted community leaders as they paint a vivid picture of the character of black America… all as law-abiding Americans of all races watch from home in horror.