Last nigth while channel surfing, Karen and I heard Kerry Washington, the lead actress on the show Scandal, being interviewed on the red carpet. Although we had just turned the channel on, we were regaled by Ms. Washington telling the interviewer that she was having a time wrapping her arms around what being an African American in America means because she had watched the Michael Brown funeral that morning. For those people unaware of the chaos going on in Ferguson, Missouri, during the last ten days or so, Mr. Brown was shot and killed by a policeman in circumstances that are at best confused and at worst conflicting. As of this writing, the results of the investigation have not been released, although that hasn't stopped plenty of people from weighing in on the incident. The two most obvious outcomes are that Mr. Brown was gunned down in cold blood by an over-anxious officer or that the officer killed Mr. Brown to protect himself from being assaulted by Mr. Brown. Darren Wilson, the office involved, hasn't spoken nor has a report of the incident from him been released to the public.
In other words, people need to be patient and let the process work its way out.
Unfortunately, that's not what's been happening. Ms. Washington is the latest example of this.
Ms. Washington, in her most disingenuous, doe-eyed manner, asked the question as if to convey her inabiliy to process what was happening, when it was clear to anyone with functioning grey matter that she's highly offended by the death of Mr. Brown at Officer Wilson's hands. Although this is a gross generalization, I feel comfortable lumping her into the same camp as Jesse and Al, although she has more education than either of them in how she delivers he message.
Even so, since Ms. Washington is having such trouble understanding what it means to be African American in this society, I thought I might pose some questions for her to ponder that might lead her out of her quandary.
-- As a highly paid actress married to a former NFL player, what about America has assisted you or hindered you in your mutual careers?
-- Do you believe that innocent until proven guilty only applies to blacks and other minorities or should it apply to all Americans irrespective of race?
-- Is it possible that the judicial system is the best in the world but imperfect nonetheless, which explains the sometimes uneven results in cases, as opposed to racism?
-- What about America's racism allows a black man to become President of the country, a black woman to become Secretary of State and another black man to become Attorney General?
-- At the time of the SCOTUS's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, how many SCOTUS justices were black?
-- Likewise, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted, what was the racial composition of the Congress? To simplify, how many minorities were in the House and Senate that passed the legislation before a white president signed it into law?
-- Do you believe that only whites can commit hate crimes?
-- Is looting by blacks of stores owned by people unnconnected to the shootings a reasonable, logical or legal action to expect? Please explain.
-- Do you believe criticism of the only black Justice on the Supreme Court as being an Uncle Tom is just and proper?
-- In your opinion, is it fair for the MSM to have labeled George Zimmerman, the man charged with and then acquited of murdering Trayvon Martin, a white man of Hispanic descent? Similarly, if you believe that's fair, would it be fair to describe President Obama as a white man of African American descent, given that he, like Mr. Zimmerman, is biracial?
-- Given your stature and visibility, what are you doing to end black-on-black crime, such as occurs in Chicago on a weekly basis?
-- If Major General Greene had been black and a white president has ignored his funeral, would you feel equally indifferent about that?
-- Does the shooting of an unarmed white teen by a black cop merit the same scrutiny that the shooting of Mr. Brown does, or is that different?
-- Is looting by blacks of stores whose owners are unnconnected in any way to a given shooting a reasonable, logical or legal response to the shooting?
-- Recent reports have come out that in Mississippi a white Marine was attacked by and lynched by a mob of black men for no apparent reason other than that he is white. Does this rise to the level of a hate crime for you?
-- Can you explain the difference between your disgust of racial profiling when police look at black youth and the argument that black crime is the indirect result of whites failing to provide economic opportunities to blacks? Before you respond, please consider your and your husband's careers.
-- What do you believe the root causes of the disintegration of the nuclear family unit within the black community? Do blacks bear any responsibility for this, or is it only because of white oppression?
-- Given that economic opportunity underlies many of black America's complaints, please explain the following examples of success: Dr. Ben Carson, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Myron Rolle, Michelle Howard, Harris Faulkner -- only one of whom, it should be mentioned, is either an actor or an athlete.
-- Since affirmative action is nearly thirty-years-old, I would like you to state whether you believe it has remedied, to any degree, the past injustices against blacks in this country. Does affirmative action need to continue and, if so, for how long? Furthermore, I wonder if you think similar set asides are reasonable for other aggrieved groups such as Asians, Native Americans, Arabs, Irish and Latins. If not, please explain why they do no merit similar treatment.
-- Comment on the murder of the Australian exchange student by three black and Latin youths who hate white people and the two black youths who murdered a World War II veteran and how those do not qualify as hate crimes.
-- Finally, since America seems to be such a disappointment to you, please list the alternative countries where you would consider living that would afford you and your family the same opportunities without the indignities you and other African Americans face here. Please be specific and state your reasons for your choices.
-- Does Martin Luther King's famous dictum about his children not being judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character still apply to blacks? Should that dictum be extended to other racial groups or is that a goal only for blacks?
-- Can you explain Sharpton's championing of Tawana Brawley and Jackson's support for the Duke lacrosse rape accuser and whether you think those incidents harmed or helped the cause of black Americans? Assuming you believe, as I do, that they harmed black Americans' cause, whom would you suggest as an alternative to them?
In no way am I capable of dictating to an African American what it is like to live in this country. The history of slavery, degradation and inequality here is indeed deplorable. At the same time, steps -- major steps -- have been taken to remedy and make up for these iniquities.
Enough is enough already.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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