Creating racism where there is none… is RACISM, people!

Yet again, Springfield P.D. has been deemed racist by the black community, this time because they had the nerve to do their job.

Our story begins on a traffic stop at 18th & Pine. SPD had this guy pulled over because they were alerted he may have a gun. So they’re speaking with him, and they ask him to step out of the car after they witness him acting suspiciously and reaching under the seat. Probably just looking for his registration and insurance card, no doubt.

Then he takes off. (red flag #1)

SPD engages him in a brief chase (according to officers, at more than 40 MPH above the posted speed limit) and soon end the pursuit, then his car is spotted on Taylor Ave. The driver hits an occupied vehicle that was on the side of the road then ditches the car at the Abundant Faith church, jumping from the moving car (red flag #2), which hit a car in the lot and then the church itself, and then runs into the church, while a service was being conducted. He was singled out by the churchgoers to officers as they followed after him. He kept his hand in his pocket (red flag #3), and wouldn’t allow officers to put his arms behind his back (red flag #4), causing him to get Tasered. A weapon was not found on him or in his car- though he said he could take them to a gun if the charges could disappear (”how much would it take…”)- but they did find pot, and over $800, on him.

I’ve never had $800 in travelers’ checks on me while on vacation, let alone real money. Who the hell carries that kind of cash around? (I have a guess…)

So enter our players.

The pastor of the church (and the alderman of that ward has jumped on board as well) is screaming “racism” because of the fact that this incident occurred in an east-side church, and would supposedly have been handled far differently at a “west-side church”. The pastor is quoted in the paper as saying he didn’t want to “play a race card” and that “it’s not my desire to cause a divide between blacks and whites or between east side and west side”.

My personal opinion, that’s a load of total bullshit. I believe that was exactly his desire. I think he saw the opportunity to create a racial issue out of nothing and ran with it and then recruited the alderman for support and extra media coverage.

First of all, right or wrong, police officers have to assume every subject they stop or encounter at least potentially has a weapon. It’s the same principle of universal precautions in hospitals- you have to assume every patient has something infectious and use safe practices with every patient. Same as with the police- if they don’t at least recognize the possibility of a subject having a weapon, they can die. What’s more, that was the whole reason they pulled this guy over in the first place- they were alerted to the possibility that he may have a gun. Turned out he didn’t at the time of the arrest, but he supposedly knew the whereabouts of one, provided all his troubles up to that point just sort of vanish. How convenient. Oh, and he did have marijuana and an exorbitant amount of cash on him too.

Secondly- and this is the key that certain individuals seem to be all too willing to overlook- the guy ran from the police. People who run from the police are always guilty of something, or else they wouldn’t run. Unless they’re just stupid. Plus, this guy has a history of manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance as well as aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. That’s aggravated unlawful use OF A WEAPON.

But let’s look at some other scenarios: suppose the guy did have a weapon and burst into the church. Right there, you would almost certainly have a hostage situation. Then there would have been all sorts of criticism of the police department- either they were too aggressive or not aggressive enough. Or suppose it did happen at a west-side church, although what the location of the church has to do with anything is beyond me. Would the police have rushed in after him or not, disrupting the service? Should the police have rushed in after him or not? Again, where the church lies geographically has absolutely no bearing whatsoever. Suppose all the officers involved were black. Would the same uproar have been made? I think not. I do think there are at least some race issues that exist, but SPD is in a no-win situation no matter what they do. If they follow him into the church, they’re racist because it was on the east side of town, with people assuming SPD thinks that’s where all the trouble is. If they don’t follow him into the church then they’re racist for not diffusing the situation quickly enough because it was on the east side of town, with people assuming SPD thinks it’s not worth their attention.

It’s easy to point fingers at the police department. But walk in their shoes and see how easy it is to do their job, only to be criticized for everything they do and everything they don’t do.

Again, I do believe that there are some issues at the city and at the police department that need to be addressed, but screaming “racism” every single time blacks or the east side of Springfield is involved with something, with no basis for the accusation other than blind assumption, just further compounds the problem and is also racism itself. As I’ve had to state many times here before, you cannot allege racism and then follow it with a racist statement of your own. To do so is racist (and also lends itself to showing yourself as a complete idiot).

But I guess the moral of the story is that it’s okay to be a racist- as long as you’re not white.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, America.

The CLASS of 42

This past Sunday was Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball, commemorating a historic point not just in sports, but also in society: the beginning of integration of blacks into professional baseball.

Jackie Robinson broke into the majors on April 15, 1947, to the chagrine of many closed- (i.e., simple-) minded players, managers, owners, and fans, and went on to become an amazing athlete and arguably one of the best baseball players of all time. Naturally, considering the times, he was constantly faced with bigotry, hatred, racial slurs, death threats, and just plain ignorance, yet simply came out every day and played the game he always wanted to play. There was even a manager for Philadelphia (the name escapes me at this moment) that said something to the effect of “I don’t want that n*gger playing on ‘my’ field”. The players at the time were extremely close to “striking” and just not playing if they allowed blacks to play professional baseball. Several players, however, including the great Stan Musial, decided they would go against the popular opinion of the times and would play against and especially along side Robinson and any other blacks that came into the league.

Hypocrisy Gone Wild, volume two

So much discussion yet again about adjusting the police recruiting and application so as to be able to hire more minority officers.

The paper reports that the city has hired some mope from Sangamon State University to “boost its minority-hiring numbers”.

Okay, I only have a high school diploma, but can somebody–ANYBODY–please explain to me how this is NOT racism?!

How many times do these people need it spelled out for them: Hiring someone simply because they are of a certain race IS JUST AS RACIST as NOT hiring someone simply because they are of a certain race. How difficult is that to figure out?! To take a quote from one of the greatest movies of all time, “How can you be so obtuse?!” And to say that it’s “what white people get” because blacks have suffered this for so many years IS JUST AS RACIST AND BIGOTED as the whole concept of not hiring a black man because he is black in the first place.

Saint Barrack

Barrack Obama is a young, good-looking gentleman from the street gang known as the “great” Chicago Democratic Machine, currently serving in the U.S. Senate, who has recently announced his candidacy for President of these great United States.

Notice I didn’t call him a young, good-looking black gentleman. Mr. Obama is, in fact, black. His race should have nothing to do with anything, but oddly enough, his supporters have decided it has everything to do with everything.

Quite a few journalists, not just from my local paper but nationwide, have labeled him everything from a breath of fresh air to the second coming of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Jesus all rolled into one. Come now, folks.

The Death of the "evil" Chief Illiniwek

So much hubbub has been generated the last few years over certain pro and college teams’ mascots and whether or not they are offensive. Specifically (to this discussion), the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana’s Chief Illiniwek, who has been figuratively killed by the do-gooder bleeding hearts.

The Chief has been a symbol of the U of I for nearly a century. Until the last few years, nobody anywhere has considered him to be offensive. Then all of a sudden the NCAA decided (or was convinced) that he was offensive to American Indians. No specific explanation as to HOW he was offensive has ever been given, that I have ever seen, other than he supposedly “demeans” American Indians.

About me

I’m just an average Joe- okay, an average Johann- who tries to be on an even keel, but I do also have some pretty strong feelings and beliefs regarding some things. Some people may not agree or particularly like my views, but that’s part of what makes this country what it is- we have the right to disagree without one of us being killed for it. God Bless America. I’m not “right” nor “wrong”, and neither are you. That’s why they’re called “opinions”.

For example, I believe abortion is wrong, but I believe in the death penalty. It’s like fishing- throw ‘em back, and kill ‘em when they’re bigger. Come on, folks, that fetus has absolutely no say in the matter, and it did nothing wrong to warrant being stabbed in the head and ripped into several pieces.
However, if you violate someone else’s civil rights, especially the most important, fundamental right to be alive, then I think you should lose your rights. Don’t like the time, don’t do the crime. Prisoners live better than I did in my first apartment after my divorce.

I have no intent of mindlessly offending people at every turn. However, I do not believe in “political correctness” as it stands today. We as a society have gotten so hell-bent on completely removing from our comments any verbiage that can possibly outwardly or inwardly offend someone that now nobody can say anything without somebody somewhere deeming our comments offensive. Things like racism exist in the world. That is a sad fact of life. But it does not exist in EVERY single situation that a non-white male is wronged. To say it does is no less racist. You can’t play the race card and then follow it up with a racist comment of your own. Picking and choosing when race matters and when it doesn’t, depending on what’s “in it” for the person involved, is plain and simply racist in and of itself. Don’t get me wrong- there are countless examples of racism out there, but simply to scream racism just because a black person is passed over for a job or promotion, for example, without sufficient evidence beyond “the guy that got the job is white and the guy that didn’t is black”, is racist. Like it or not, it is.

I believe in being honest, no matter how much it may hurt. It’s just that there is a way to do it without being blatantly offensive. I believe in fairness. I believe in playing by the rules. I believe the new guy that works his ass off deserves more than the lazy apathetic schmo that has been there for 20 years. Seniority should only take you so far- performance needs to matter again. Unfortunately, in many workplaces (mine included), if you’ve been there the longest, you write the rules. I think that’s ridiculous, yet I am also able to accept it, no matter how much I don’t agree with it. Some call me idealistic or say I wear rose-colored glasses, and maybe I am and I do. But since I am able to acknowledge- let alone accept- beliefs or realities other than my own, that puts me a step ahead of those that live in their own little “it’s all about me” vacuum. Sure, nowadays, people have to look out for number one, but I don’t find it necessary to number two all over everyone else in the process.

Oh, I’ve got more… it’ll get jotted down as it comes.