Selma 1965 is not America 2014

from The Gray Area:

TIME Magazine does a huge disservice in it’s Review: Selma Is the Film of the Year — But 1965 or 2014? In the opening paragraphs, Richard Corliss recounts President Johnson’s speech following the events in Selma in 1965 and concludes with this: “His [Johnson’s] comments reverberate eerily today, when police again can kill unarmed black men and face no legal punishment“. He follows with: “With Oscar night falling on February 22, just two days before the 50th anniversary of Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death, Selma could be propelled to a Best Picture win as much by the Academy members’ political consciences as by the film’s undeniable power. It’s creepy even to speculate about this, but one more unjustified police killing of an unarmed black could assure the movie of an Oscar sweep“.

Not only are those Academy members’ “political” in all their judgements, according to Corliss, but, given these ridiculous judgements, so are Mr. Corliss & TIME.

This “review” of the new movie “Selma” is nothing more than a hyped continuation of the left-wing media narrative that has no relation to the truth and is destructive, not constructive to the issue.

2014 is not like 1965! Nor, are police killings of the unarmed blacks they allude to unjustified. Nor, is this “a reminder that the … problem has yet to be solved“. Instead, if we were to call Martin Luther King back today to comment on the progress of his non-violent Civil Rights movement, what he would say may surprise these leftist media instigators.

1965 & 2014.

Today, the left wants you to believe that all Republicans and Conservatives are racists, that a race war exists and, therefore, nothing has changed in 50 years. That is a bold-faced lie!

I am old enough to remember Selma as it was in 1965 and witness to the monumental progress in race relations that has been made in those past 50 years, particularly among white people, who were Dr King’s target audience. Don’t get me wrong, there are still people on the right and the left, yes, the left, who hold racist beliefs and/or actively fight against equality of the races (racists by definition). Those people will always be there. But, the good news is, these people are the vast minority. They are the minority because not everything is race based, except to the race activists on the left. They create race problems where otherwise none would exist. An isolated photo from each year may look similar, but the circumstances behind it are very different. Non-violence being attacked in 1965. Violence, looting and rioting being referred to as protest in 2014.

In 1965 there were separate bathrooms, restaurants and water coolers, and back of the bus seating on public transportation. Voting, education, jobs, etc. were all restricted in some manner. Segregation was the legal principle under which we operated. In 2014, the opposite is true. No segregation, equal rights regarding housing, voting, education, jobs, and public access.

Justice for black Americans today is no different than 1965.

In 1965, black Americans could not get justice in police investigations or courts in parts of this country. The left wants you to believe that it is the same in 2014, but that is just not true. Justice exists on a regular basis, equally good and equally bad, for everyone today. But, if that justice doesn’t fit the leftist victim narrative, they won’t recognize justice or accurately judge the problem. Whites, Asians, Hispanics, Jews – everyone – is hassled by police just like blacks say they are. The difference is, other races are not regularly defying authority, taunting police, acting guilty or placing themselves in situations where they can be mistaken for being involved in criminal activity.

The left wants support for a political narrative to continue the dependent culture they have created. Now, because of the failed leftist polices of the last 50 years like “The War on Poverty” and the trend of black Americans voting for Democrats during this period, living conditions for most black Americans has deteriorated causing despair and frustration. But, that is not the condition of the country’s attitude toward race. That is the condition in the country’s attitude toward identifying problems and creating solutions to problems vs creating dependence. Oppressive poverty and broken families leaves many stuck in poverty ridden areas where criminal activity is the norm. Thus, association with criminal elements is unavoidable, and so, therefore, is contact with law enforcement.

In this dependent culture, too many black Americans have been held back in poverty and are told everyday that they have no chance. Told that they are not treated fairly and that they must fight back. There is no place for the truth in this narrative. There is no place for hope. The only way out is more government dependence.Black families have been destroyed by this culture of dependence and thus the strong support that young people need to have positive messages reinforced by parents is non existent. Messages like, “life is not fair”. “Don’t let obstacles hold you back”. “You are in charge of how you handle what happens to you”. “Education matters”. “Don’t accept less than your best effort”. “Race only matters if it matters to you”. The left’s politics owns this, not a racist culture.

The case is that if the left doesn’t like a legal decision, then they instigate reaction, even if the premise on which the reaction is based is totally false. After exhaustive investigation in Ferguson, it was proven there was no “hands up” action by Michael Brown. There was a robbery and a police assault. And regrettably, the young man’s violent actions, bad decisions and politically injected attitude of resistance to social order led to his death. None of that matters to leftist reporters and media like Mr Corliss and TIME Magazine. It is only what they want it to be, not what it is. Because what it is will call into question their previous 50 years of failure.

Problem not yet solved.

The problem that is yet to be solved is not racism, its the dependency and frustration that comes from failed ideological solutions. If everyone, black and white, will acknowledge the truth, that things are so much better than 1965, we have embarked on the wrong path, and that we must work together to solve the real problems created by the last 50 years of bad decisions. That will not be easy, because it requires effort and taking away good intentioned entitlements that are holding people down. Difficult, but, necessary.

What would Dr. King do?

If Martin Luther King were to return today and give his analysis of where we are he would be very disappointed. Not because, voting, education, jobs, due process, et al, hasn’t improved. But because his legacy has been destroyed by the failure of his successor leadership. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, et al, are so bad at carrying on his vision of the future, that he would be ashamed. And now, after 50 years, his famous vision statement, “I have a dream, that one day, my children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character“, is unrecognizable., “The color of their skin” doesn’t really matter, but we will have failed in realizing the payoff, “the content of their character”. The dependence culture has destroyed decision making and character. And that makes all the difference. Not making false and flimsy connections to a different environment 50 years ago. Character matters as Dr. King knew. And you get that in a family.
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)