Of course, we must have law and order. The basis of any
society is organization and cooperation for the benefit of all. Laws and order
are essential to our communal survival and prosperity. And in America so are
the freedoms, equality and self-government contained and guaranteed for all within
our constitution.
Society is constructed to give greater power and survival to
its members through shared communal resources, skills and talents. They must be
for the benefit of all for a society to survive successfully, otherwise it will
topple. The big, huge vision of a Democracy is to do just that. Provide a society
in which all can flourish together. This society, with its attendant
rules and structures, law and order, exists for the benefit and welfare of all
its members. None of our societal institutions were meant to treat one segment of the population differently than others.
The operation of Law and Order today we are told by Black, Indigenous, LBGTQ and People of Color, is doing just that. It is, they say, the work of Bias and Prejudice, built-in preference and privileges expressed in so many, many facets in our society that we white, straight folk are not aware of because we are used to current conditions we consider "normal" and "just fine." Right down to religious values that support our views. We will use everything we have to make ourselves right.
While Law and Order were purported to be the instrument of a perfect society to preserve and defend freedoms for all, they were actually created to protect and defend white people against all possibly threatening others. Research it. Our white ideals have been subverted, often with very clear intention by some, but for most of us, completely without our knowing, realizing or understanding. The problems of racial and sexual persecution and suppression are couched in the ignorance of our minds and the hardness of our hearts.
And that is what all the fuss is about today as we stand polarized over is there a race problem or is there not in America. We are not a perfect
people and we do not therefore create perfect societal structures. The United
States is a people in process, moving toward an ideal with a set of values
that embraces life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all within its
borders. This ideal naturally and logically excludes the concept of life liberty
and the pursuit of happiness for one segment of its population at the expense
of other segments of its population. When, as a people, we become aware of
these kinds of inequities in our country it is our duty as citizens of these United
States to examine the issues and make every attempt to correct our course and keep us on the mark set
by our struggling forbearers who gave up so much in pursuit of
this ideal; they sacrificed everything for it to create a place of freedom and
safety for future generations. That is the purpose of the democratic government
they created for us, and the charge they have handed down to Americans through the generations. Do we take it or leave it? To leave it is to leave Democracy and drift into autocracy....
We must always be on guard for the subtle slips and sidewinders that distract us from our path as a country and very slowly change the operation of our systems to different outcomes. They are the result of our personal griefs and angers, fears and hates that influence and determine our choices and our votes, our actions and our speech. We are each responsible for holding the values and vision entrusted to us by preceding generations. That means we are each charged with examining the values instilled by our parents and theirs before them, to the values expressed in our Constitution. We are each charged with allowing that Constitutional vision to expand and grow with each new generation and every global situation we face in our life journeys.
We cannot, as Americans, blindly
trust in the proper application of our national values by agencies and institutions
set up to do so, but must continually re-visit these institutions, holding them and ourselves accountable for making conscious
choices to apply the founding values we profess in the ever-changing landscape of human
existence and interaction within our borders. We, the people, are responsible for the slow
gentle twisting of our national values and vision, through whatever life incidents have shaped
them, to support unrecognized biases. We are responsible. Our institutions
reflect the choices we make and carry out our wishes. Not only is Law and Order not exactly what we think it is, many of our core assumptions about the equality of social opportunities and benefits reflect these same discrepancies. Today is one of those times of shining an uncomfortable light on places that need change.
Law and order of the people, by the
people and for the people, is a big inheritance and huge responsibility to
embrace and grow with the changes needed to serve all ethnicities and cultures citizened
within our borders. This is the charge of our Constitution. And let's not forget that our founding vision and the economics of what was really happening in America, a land discovered and exploited by European countries for economic gain and world power through colonization and imperialism, differ greatly. Our real history and our story are not congruous. Teaching a realistic view of the forces that actually shaped our country, one that includes this disparity between our intentions and our origins and actions, will help provide a solid basis for making informed decisions.
To deny and repress voices of dissent crying for a review of
our systems by labeling them as vicious and un-American by exaggerating negative impressions and
mis-reporting or mis-interpreting reports, is to ignore the process of
democracy instilled within our fabric that pays attention to the voices of all
members of society and to repress the only process (that of assessing and
revising to extend our vision and values more clearly to all) that keeps us truly free and American. Let’s welcome
those who do not feel law and order are being applied justly and equally to all
into the discussion tables with those who feel there is not enough law and order. Let's invite them into the legislative halls and the future planning of
America. It is the very same cry our visionary founders are shouting to us through the
centuries. Are we open enough to listen or will we drown them out with
protestations of our rightness under a set of invoked laws and beliefs? Law and order equally for all to ensure the
right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness without repression and
persecution of one group by another only occurs through listening to the voices of all. That is a truly Great America. Let’s work
on it – together.
