My Thoughts on George Floyd

George Floyd, while not on the straight and narrow, did not deserve to die. Especially in the manner in which his life was taken.

That being said, the whole "Let's burn down a bunch of inner cities" narrative and actions is just beyond stupid. The entire country saw what happened to Mr. Floyd and condemned it with no hesitation or quantifiers. We all knew Floyd was being arrested for committing a crime, but we didn't care about that. His murder was unjustifiable, plain and simple. When the riots and looting happened, all that support dried up. While his murder was completely unjustified, it should not be used as an excuse to loot, piliage, and kill like a bunch of Vikings invading Northumbria.

Plus, the whole narrative that white cops are are hunting and killing unarmed black men (and women) is just not supported by facts and data. In 2019, nine unarmed men, and one woman were killed by police. In two of these instances, the cop was black. In one case, the perpetrator tased the officer. In another, they attempted to run the officer with their car. Yet another there was struggle for the cops weapon. The criminal lost. Four of the events were considered questionable, with two of the officers being charged and convicted.

If you really want to sit down and have a conversation, you need to be ready to have OPEN dialogue. This cannot be a one way street. No whitey is the bad guy and it's all your fault. No white privilege bull unless you are ready to hear why so-called white privilege exists. The topics you wish to discuss can be covered, but you have to hear and listen issues from our perspective. While you should have the expectation that justifiable grievances will be addressed, we also have expectations. We expect you to address the nearly 75% of black babies are born out of wedlock. You want to stop the cycle of poverty, stop having children while still a child, and get your high school diploma. We want to know why the murder of George Floyd caused such an uproar, yet the weekly deaths of innocents in the crossfire of turf wars causes nary a ripple in the pond of "social justice". The number of black on black murders that occur in black neighborhoods far exceeds the deaths of blacks at the hand of cops, justified or not.

If you truly want to overcome the issues, most likely the first thing you need to do, is to stop calling us all racist. As soon as that word is uttered, the dialogue gets shut down. Why would anyone want to sit when that kind of attitude is brought to the table?

I really do want to see people in the black community succeed. But success requires a toll. A toll that one must be willing to pay. And yes, I will agree that often times the toll is higher for those who are black. But that shouldn't be used as an excuse. There are many examples of black people who have overcome those obstacles and have succeeded. And I'm not referring to anyone who is in the sports or entertainment industry. There are black people who are doctors, lawyers, dentists, plumbers, stone masons, railroad engineers and conductors, and almost any field you care to bring up. The ability to succeed in these areas is about you, not me. These fields are not closed to you because you are black, or because of systemic racism. It can't be handed to you. It wasn't handed to me. You have to lay the groundwork, and then reach out, just like I did.

I spent over 27 years serving this great nation. At times, I mentored black men and women. At other times, I was mentored by black men and women. I learned most of my forecasting skills from Norm. The person most responsible for my promotion into the ranks of Senior Non Commissioned Officer was John. The fact that both of these gentlemen happened to be black mattered little to me, as I'm sure me being white mattered to them not at all. We were colleagues, and that was all that mattered.

One final thing I will have to say, for black Americans, it will have to be a generational change. It won't happen overnight, no matter how many marches happen, or how many buildings get burned down and looted. It will take great leaders in your community to show the way. Leaders brave enough to take on the tasks at hand. Leaders with the ability to express the vision. Leaders willing to discuss the obstacles within and with out the black community. The VAST majority of all Americans want to see black Americans share in the infinite pie that is the American success story. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it benefits all of society.