racism | Aging Capriciously

The Tale of a Little Nine Year Old Girl Who Deserves to be Remembered

12 Feb 2023 55 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: African American, black, Bobbi Wilson, Council Member, Gordon, justice, Police, prejudice, race, racism, tolerance, Yale

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Here is a story that I heard on NPR this week. It is a tale of a remarkable little girl. A tale that deserves to be retold. It goes like this.

In a small town (Population 9,027) located in northwestern Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about 16 miles (26 km) west of New York City and 6 miles (9.7 km) north-west of Newark, a little White girl aged nine went out to work on a science project and to help her community. She had learned that spotted lanternflies were a nuisance species and she decided to collect as many as she could and use them in a science exhibit to educate others about them. Until this week, the most noteworthy thing about Caldwell was that it was the birthplace of Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. He was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, was born in Caldwell on March 18, 1837.

As the little girl went from tree to tree collecting these bugs, a former council member and neighbor named Gordon Lawshe saw the little girl going from tree to tree and picking something off the trees. He was not sure what she was doing but he decided to help her. He put his jacket on and went out to see how he could assist her.

Wait a Minute! Hold on there Persico. You have got your facts all wrong. That is not how the story goes!

bobbi-wilson-6b8778a96cdd94370d173e44a92d628ebc427577-s1600-c85

Oh, that’s right. I forgot. It was not a little White girl; it was a little Black girl. It was a former city council member named Gordon Lawshe. However, he did not go out to help her. Seeing a nine-year-old Black girl going from tree to tree terrified him. He wasted no time calling the police on our little budding scientist. You can probably guess Gordon’s skin color so I won’t bother telling you.

After the police came and traumatized little Bobbi Wilson, they realized that she posed no threat to the community. Fortunately, her mother had come out before they took Bobbi away in handcuffs.

Now there are many in America who say that racism is dead. They believe that Black people are always playing the “Race Card” when they talk about unfair treatment or systemic racism. Just the other day, the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction (Tom Horne) said in an interview that there is NO MORE systemic racism in the USA. This man is in charge of education in our state!

In 2008, the U.S. House of Representative issued a formal apology for slavery and Jim Crow laws. This was passed by a voice vote. A rather imprecise method of voting which shields anyone from being identified with a particular stance. A year later, the Senate advanced S. Con. Res. 26 of the 111th Congress, a concurrent resolution apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African Americans. Republicans now seem bent on reversing this apology by making it harder for Blacks, other minorities, and poor people to vote. While monetary reparations were given to Japanese Americans for their internment and mistreatment during WW II, any talk of reparations for slavery generates heated arguments.

Today, the country is seething over the idea of addressing racism in the public schools. It is feared that White Children will feel guilty. Mention Critical Race Theory and you will get shut down quick in school districts all over the country. Even worse is the onslaught on textbooks to sanitize them so that “negative” aspects of American history are omitted.

But all of the above is very academic. For little Black Bobbi Wilson, it probably will not mean much. She would just like to be treated like any nine-year-old White girl with a penchant for science would be treated. Fortunately, our story does not end with her near arrest. National Public Radio published the following article about Bobbi on their website. I have included some excerpts from the article as well as a link to the entire article. It is very heartwarming and worth reading. There are many good people in America and this helps us to remember that.

Yale honors the work of a 9-year-old Black girl whose neighbor reported her to police – NPR, February 4, 2023

Nine-year-old Bobbi Wilson may be in the fourth grade, but last month the Yale School of Public Health held a ceremony honoring the budding scientist’s recent work.

The university entered Bobbi’s collection of 27 spotted lanternflies — an extremely invasive species that is harmful to trees and other plants — into the Peabody Museum of Natural History database. Bobbi was also presented with the title of “donor scientist” during the Jan. 20 ceremony.

“We wanted to show her bravery and how inspiring she is, and we just want to make sure she continues to feel honored and loved by the Yale community,” Ijeoma Opara, an assistant professor at the school, said in a statement.

Weeks Earlier:

Former City Council member, Gordon Lawshe calls the police department to report: “There’s a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence,” Lawshe told the dispatcher, according to a call obtained by CNN.

“I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me, though,” Lawshe added.

Outside, Bobbi, a petite child who wears pink-framed glasses, was doing her bit to comply with the state’s Stomp it Out! campaign, which urges New Jersey residents to help eradicate the spotted lanternfly infestation. She’d learned about it at school and made her own version of an insect repellent she’d seen on TikTok. Making her way from tree to tree, Bobbi would spray the bugs, pluck them from the tree and drop them into a plastic bottle.

Bobbi was still at it when an officer arrived, curious about what she was doing. Body camera footage shows officer Kevin O’Neill approach the child before her mother, Monique Joseph, intervenes.

“You know, you hear about racism; you kind of experience it in your peripheral. If you’re lucky in your life. It doesn’t come knocking on your door. That morning when it happened, my world stopped,” Bobbi’s mother said, according to the university. She added: “The whole community, the science community, got together and said, ‘She’s one of us and we’re not going to let her lose her steam for STEM. We’re going to support the family, we’re going to support this girl.”

So all’s well that ends well right? Well, not exactly. There are thousands of little Black girls and little Black boys in America. When will this end for them? What will it take to end racism? When will we stop judging people by the color of their skins and instead judge them by their character and morality?

Republicans: Why They Were Once a Great Party but are Now the Party of Hate, Bigotry and Greed

06 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: ant-science, anti-education, bigots, extremism. nut cases, idiots, Politicians, racism, republicans, sexism, stupid people. ignorant people, tea party, zealots

The Republican Party has degenerated into a club of opportunists who do little justice to the values that made America great. I characterize the various factions within the Republican Party as:

Less Educated Voters
Bigoted Voters
Greedy Voters
Fearful Voters
Religious fundamentalist Voters

These groups are relatively new to Republicanism and many of them were perhaps initially attracted to the messages of the old Republicans Party, most actually have little understanding of the traditional Republican values. You may well ask: “What keeps them attracted them to the Republican Party today?” I will attempt to answer this question with this blog. It will entail describing each the above five groups in more detail and their attraction to what passes as the Republican Party today.

Over the past years, there were forces both pushing and pulling many new voters towards the Republican Party. Some of these forces started as far back as 1910. The pulling forces included the enticing messages that they would hear from Traditional Republicans. “You too can be rich.” “Trickle-down economics.” “Say no to Big Government.” “No new taxes.” “Pro-Life.” “Keep America safe.” “We protect your rights.” These messages are very compelling and appeal to voters for a variety of reasons. First, some of these messages actually did build on the core Republican values that I described in an earlier blog. Second, they were taken to attractive extremes by the new marketing techniques that infused politics in the latter half of the twentieth century. The “Golden Mean” was sacrificed on the altar of marketing and political expediency to reflect messages that were “too good to be true and suspiciously ambiguous.” These messages had both a push and pull element to their high sounding promises. We will look at a few key messages before examining each of the five groups I noted above.

Vote Republican and you too can live like the rich!

Pushing Forces:

The Pushing Forces included the following changes taking place in US society:

Demographic changes
Ethnographic changes
Economic changes
Religious changes

Each of these forces contributed in many ways to the movement of a large contingent of voters away from the Democratic Party and into the Republican Party.

Demographic Changes include the aging of the USA population. It is a well-known fact that as people get older they get more conservative. The values of conservatism, safety, law enforcement, traditional roles for marriage, relationships and the role of women in society are all powerful forces that have propelled voters to the core value of Conservatism that is well established in the Republican Party. Liberals (who fell in favor) were seen as wanting to change too many of the “normal” institutions in the USA. Traditional Religious voters as well as older voters are generally inclined to support the status quo. The problem for many was: “how do we hold onto a status quo that is changing right before our eyes?”

“The population is also expected to become much older. By 2030, more than 20 percent of U.S. residents are projected to be aged 65 and over, compared with 13 percent in 2010 and 9.8 percent in 1970.” — Census.gov

Ethnographic Changes in the USA population include the influx of many groups into the country who hold values that are seen as “foreign” to traditional USA values. It is one thing for new groups who are Christian to enter the country, but over the past fifty years or so, we have had a much more diverse array of ethnic groups from countries where Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism are the dominant religions. Many of these religions are poorly understood in the US and the practitioners are sometimes seen as promoting anti-US values. One example is the fear that many people in this country have for Sharia Law and the belief that Muslims want to overthrow the US Justice System and replace it with Sharia Law.

Partly responsible for a growing intolerance in the USA has been the fact that projections show that “White” people will become a minority in the USA in thirty years. This gradual erosion of the White majority means that White people must accept a more diverse society in which White morals and values will be one among several other sets of morality and not always the dominant one. This is hard for many people to take as Whites have always been in the power seat in this country.

“The nation’s demographics are on a clear trajectory: White people are dying faster than they are being born, which means they are on target to become a minority in the United States in 30 years.” — Whites projected to become a US minority

Economic Changes in the US economy started to noticeably impact the standard of living for many voters following WW II. At first it was imperceptible. There had always been changes in the economy with ups and downs, recessions and the Great Depression following WW I. However, after WW II, we had a respite from anything that could be called “Global Economics.” With the demise of Germany and Japan and the economic hardships facing Great Britain, France and several other European countries, we had the economic ball field to ourselves. The USA economic boom was reflected in a period of rising incomes and relative prosperity.

The attached chart shows that while USA productivity has continued to increase since 1945, real earnings have been either static or on the decline since the mid nineteen seventies. Whereas, we once had the playing field to ourselves, by the early 70’s the competition from other countries, particularly Japan, was beginning to erode the economic advantage we once had. By the late 80’s, wages in the USA were being impacted by the growth of industry in countries where wage rates were much lower. Foreign competition and increased levels of quality goods from other countries helped to erode the market dominance of traditional USA companies.

These economic changes have fallen particularly hard on voters in the USA who worked in what might be called “transitional” industries. Agriculture transitioned to manufacturing during the mid-twentieth century. Manufacturing transitioned to service beginning in the seventies. Finally, service jobs have become increasingly high tech requiring computer skills and often advanced education and training. People in the “Blue Collar” industries cannot be trained fast enough to fill the jobs needed in the new industries.

The recession in 2008 saw a loss of nearly 9,000, 000 jobs in the USA. Economists like to refer to these job losses as “creative destruction” or as an “economic correction.” The problem is that if you are the worker who does not have the skills to transition to a new job and you have a family to support, terms such as “Correction” do not help you to feed your family.

Recent statistics show that most of the jobs lost in the “Great Recession” have been regained. However, many of these new jobs are in lower paying industries or have gone to new workers with new skills in the labor force. The number of underemployed or unemployed people in the USA remains high and a source of major discontent. Our US system of reeducating workers is poor and in need of major overall.

The Republican Party and its messages have attracted many of these economically struggling voters to their party. The Republican values of hard work, individual responsibility and economic self-sufficiency resonate well with a group bitter over their economic hardships and who view too many others as getting a free ride.

Religious Changes may just be the single most powerful force pushing many voters and citizens into the Republican Party. Since 1900, the country has become increasingly secular and to some extent even non-religious. The following comment is from “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore:”

“According to the Hartford Institute of Religion Research, more than 40 percent of Americans “say” they go to church weekly. As it turns out, however, less than 20 percent are actually in church. In other words, more than 80 percent of Americans are finding more fulfilling things to do on weekends.”

Many of the more conservative religions and branches of religions that may have splintered off from their mainstream congregations have migrated towards the Republican Party. Again, the conservative family oriented values of the Republican Party have attracted many religious fundamentalists who oppose gay marriage, women clergy, abortion and creating a pluralistic culture where non-Christian religions are free to worship and practice their faiths. These religious fundamentalists see the secular changes coming to our country as evil and anti-scripture. They have organized many groups in efforts to resist these changes. This is from the mission statement of one of these groups:

“The Christian Coalition is committed to representing the pro-family agenda and educating Americans on the critical issues facing our society. Whether it is the fight to end Partial Birth Abortion or efforts to improve education or lower the family’s tax burden, the Christian Coalition stands ready and able to work for you.”

Pulling Forces:

The Pulling Forces are the messages that voters hear from the Republican Party and which reflect its traditional core values. However, as they play out in the media, these messages are largely nuances and alterations of the traditional core Republican values. The messages have now gone through a process of “Madison avenue marketing” to make them more alluring and seductive to their intended audience. It should come as no surprise that various voters are attracted to various messages. Some of course may be attracted to all of the Republican messages.

Let us now look at each of the individual voting groups that I labeled above to see how the Pulling Forces (Traditional Republican Values) and the resulting messages have attracted each group.

Less Educated Voters:

This group is largely but not exclusively White Male and under educated. They are generally blue collar workers and many of them had their jobs displaced by the rise of Global Economics with offshoring and outsourcing of their work. New technologies and robotics have also taken many of the jobs that these group once did. They have been attracted by several Republican messages. From gun control to the value of free enterprise, these low educated voters have bought into the idea that a Liberal Government is out to take their rights away and make it harder for them to earn a living. Many of them can rightfully blame the government (both Republicans and Democrats) for using their jobs to stoke the fires of Globalization.

This group is attracted to the rhetoric common among Republicans for restraints on immigration and decreased government regulations. They believe that if the USA government was not so big they would be much better off. They blame liberals for the laws promoting a Global economy and do not understand that education can help them. They often are willing to vote against any kind of education bill. Many of them were marginal students who were ill served by the education establishment in the past. They are no supporters of teachers, universities or increased funding for education. The Republican messages have amplified this anti-education theme to the point that Republicans are now deemed anti-science and anti-education and anti-immigration. It is also very easy for this group to buy into the myth that immigrants have stolen their jobs. They are lured by the type of messages that Trump sent out castigating immigrants and particularly Muslims and Mexicans.

2. Bigoted Voters:

This group is not only uninformed but they are also misinformed. They have already made up their minds on the basis of limited and misleading information. They are biased, prejudiced and xenophobic. The Republicans have had a bag of dirty tricks which probably grew out of Nixon’s escapades in the 70’s and have continued through such political shenanigans as the Swift Boat attacks against John Kerry, the manipulations in Florida with the voting ballots and the Karl Rove fiasco in Ohio. This group is ready prey for the type of propaganda tricks that the Republican Party now use to lie, distort the truth and defame their opponents.

The Republicans seem to have thrown away any concept of ethics or morality when it comes to political elections. A squadron of Republican Talk show hosts from Mike Savage to Ann Coulter keep spewing out lies, misinformation, innuendos and calumnies against opponents whom they have no qualms about personally attacking. I would guess that many if not most of the “urban myths” that often dot the Internet have their genesis in some Republican think tank.

Some other recent examples include the “Birther” movement in which President Obama was alleged to have been born in another country and the messages sent out decrying his support of Islamic terrorists because Obama himself is alleged to be a Muslim. Those Ignorant Voters who subscribe to these lies and innuendos come to believe so strongly in them that there is no changing their minds.

3. Greedy Voters:

The USA has become increasingly materialistic. Evidence of this can be seen in new traditions like Black Friday, Designer Lifestyles, Reality Shows and the narcissistic values that seem to be replacing traditional moral and ethical values in the USA. A large contingent of students today are not concerned about how their chosen careers will help their country. They are more concerned with how much money they can make when they graduate. Greed has been on the increase in this country for many years now. Republicans (always the party of the rich) were well positioned to capitalize on a bloc of voters who do not want to share their wealth. Oaths for no new taxes. Oaths to roll back taxes. Oaths to block reforms in Welfare and oaths to block the creation of a more equitable health care system for citizens have become ubiquitous in the Republican Party.

“We were fed this lie that hard work and dedication will payoff. That’s not true. There are millions of Americans who bust their asses working tons of overtime or two or more jobs just to get by – just to survive.” — Trickle-Down Economics, Greed and the Republican Party are Destroying American Values

4. Fearful Voters:

A large number of US citizens today are afraid. They are afraid of crime. They are afraid of immigrants. They are afraid of minorities and they are basically afraid of change. The Republican messages have helped to drive this fear even further into the psyche of people in this country. Everywhere you go today there are gated communities, security systems, concealed carry permits and people afraid to leave the perceived safety of their feudal like communities.

Part of this fear has come from the aging of the population. As people get older, they get more concerned for safety and security. Part of the fear has come from constantly reading about “crime in the streets.” The news over reports and over emphasizes instances of crime and violence on a 24/7 daily basis. Finally, a large part of this fear comes from constantly hearing messages about the imminent attack of terrorists and others who are supposedly jealous of our lifestyle and want to destroy our country.

“In a Pew Research Center poll conducted in September, 75 percent of registered voters surveyed said that “terrorism” was “very important” for their vote in the congressional elections. Also last month, a CBS News/New York Times poll found that 57 percent of Americans surveyed thought Obama has been too soft on ISIL.” — Republican ISIL fearmongering amplifies extremists’ message, experts say.

5. Religious Fundamentalist Voters:

These religious extremists are attracted to the family and religious values messages constantly being sent by the Republican Party. Anti-gay, pro-family, pro-god in the schools, anti-abortion, anti-women’s liberation messages are a theme of most Republican politicians today. The dramatic changes facing religion in the USA since 1900 has seen a decline in the traditional role of church and pulpit in family life. The increased number of working women, gay couples, divorces and abortions have fueled a desire on many conservatives to return to what they saw as the “good old days.” This actually means the good old days for white middle or white upper class heterosexual males. Not so good for women, minorities, disabled and poor people.

This group of voters believes less in a strict separation between church and state than that which was proscribed by our Founding Fathers. They would put GOD back in the schools and in some cases declare the USA a “Christian Nation.” There are many of these voters who have little or no tolerance for anyone outside their own religions. These so called Christians are characterized by a strong proclivity to support capital punishment, war as a first resort for political persuasion and the Ten Commandments as a foundation for a morality for all citizens. They seldom think of peace or diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes between nations. They do not see the hypocrisy between their contradictory messages of pro-life and pro-capital punishment. Furthermore, they are generally extremely literal and particularly narrow in their selection of Bible verses to support.

See the following short video for further evidence of what I mean.

Martin Sheen Burns a Hypo-Christian

Whither Goes the Republican Party?

Where should the Republican Party go? A party that has endorsed the immoral in its political campaigning. A party that fosters fear and war mongering. A party that is against immigrants. A party that is intolerant towards minorities. A party that minimizes the role of women in society. A party that discriminates against gay people. A party that will not treat disabled people as respectable members of society. A party that does not believe in the value of science or education. A party supports racism and white supremacists. A party that has no compassion for the poor and underprivileged or those who may not have the ability to “pick themselves up by their bootstraps.”

Time for Questions:

Where should the Republican Party Go? You tell me please.

Life is just beginning.

“But my revulsion at the Republicans doesn’t begin and end with Iraq and Benghazi. It’s spread to many other issues over the years. Frankly, the GOP increasingly looks like a party in the grip of some form of hyper-partisan madness that takes self-destructive delight in alienating everyone who isn’t a far-right ideologue. What else can explain the up-is-down, black-is-white, counterintuitive perversity of the stances Republicans increasingly take in response to national news and trends?” — I’m not a Democrat. I’m an anti-Republican.

Consider:

A gun-toting maniac slaughters 20 children and 6 adults inside an elementary school. The GOP response? Loosen gun restrictions.
Banks and the finance industry nearly topple the global economy. The GOP response? Oppose increased regulation of banks and the finance industry.
Well over 90 percent of climate scientists present research in favor of anthropogenic climate change. The GOP response? Suggest that the scientists have joined forces with liberals in a big-government conspiracy.
Economic inequality is increasing dramatically, especially at the very top of the income pyramid. The GOP response? Cutting taxes on the wealthy.
The food stamp program has grown since the economic meltdown of 2008, which led to millions of Americans losing their jobs. The GOP response? Cut the food stamp program.
Money is playing an ever-greater role in American politics. The GOP response? Cheer on the effort of the Supreme Court’s Republican majority to increase the role of money in politics still further.
Wages have been stagnant or falling for many years, and raising the federal minimum wage is a broadly popular way of addressing the problem. The GOP response? Oppose raising the minimum wage.

Our Kind of People

31 May 2022 6 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: bigotry, discrimination, diversity, prejudice, racism, respect

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He’s not our kind of people. She should stick to her own kind. I don’t have anything against his kind, but I really think people belong with their own kind. It’s like the saying, “birds of a feather stick together.” I think people get along better with people who are more similar. Like parrots with parrots and robins with robins.

I’m not prejudiced against anyone. I have noticed that people seem happier when they are with people who are like them. It’s a big world out there and its got room enough for everyone, so why should we crowd it? Don’t you want everyone to be happy?

So if you like coke

And you like dope

You’re my kind of people

(My kind of people)

You’re my kind of people

(My kind of people) —- My Kind of People, CeeLo Green

Why force people who are different to live with people who are not like them? We would all got along better if like stayed with like. You don’t mix salt and pepper or sugar and pepper so why mix people? People are much happier when they are with people who have a great many similarities to them. Fish eaters get along better with fish eaters and vegans get along better with vegans.

Stick-to-your-own-kind-...-or-not1-254x3001 It’s not about racism or privilege but everyone should have a right to say who they have to live with and go to school with or church with. I am all for equal rights for everyone and that includes my right to stick to my own kind. Does that make me a racist because I like one group of people more than another? We all have our baseball and football team preferences. That is what makes sports so much fun. I don’t have to like your team and you don’t have to like my team. Teams stick together and play with their own kind. You don’t see football players playing against baseball players or lacrosse players playing against rugby players.

“I’m waiting, for what, my kind of people, what kind is that? I can tell my kind of people by their faces, by something in their faces.” — Ayn Rand

If you took a can of blue paint and red paint and yellow paint and mixed them all together, you would get something really strange. If you blended the rainbow together, you would just get gray. That would be boring and uninteresting. You need to keep colors separate and then you get all of the beauty of the spectrum. Keeping people with their own kind improves life for all since the colors do not fade. Unless you get a tan and they never seem to last very long.

My kind of town, Chicago is

My kind of people, too — My Kind of Town, Frank Sinatra

That is why I am not a racist because I believe in the beauty of all colors. I don’t think one color is more beautiful than another. I prefer blue while I think my wife likes pink or green more. I just think you don’t want to mix the colors too much or you lose the beauty. It is also easier to clean a paint brush when you just use it for the same colors. Have you ever tried to clean a paint brush that has been used on too many different colors?

A little rock and roll

A whole lot of soul

You’re my kind of people

(My kind of people)

You’re my kind of people

(My kind of people) — My Kind of People, CeeLo Green

kkk-chicago-flashback-0125-20150123-e1446548107862-2lw7l8q-1080x633 Now I suppose some of you will still say that I am a racist or prejudiced and that nothing I can say will change your minds. But I don’t dislike those kind of people, I just want to live with my kind of people and those kind of people can live with their own kind of people.

Don’t you think there would be less problems in the world if we all stuck with our own kind of people? Listen to what the bible says:

Leviticus 19:19 “Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.”

I have to show this to my wife because she wanted to get a Golden Doodle and now wants to buy an Aussie Doodle. I guess the bible says no doodle for her unless she wants to buy a pure doodle whatever that is.

Aussiedoodle-1

————————————-

The above blog was inspired by my friend Kwame who was discussing race with someone who made the comment that we should all stick to our “own kind.” The thought resonated with me since we have all heard it at one time or another repeated as a “code” for discrimination and disrespect. “Stick to your own kind” sounds so benign but it is really a phrase full of hate and fear.

“It’s hard to be different,” Scarborough said. “And perhaps the best answer is not to tolerate differences, not even to accept them. But to celebrate them. Maybe then those who are different would feel more loved, and less, well, tolerated.” ― Bill Konigsberg, Openly Straight

Can You Really See the World from Another Person’s Point of View?

07 May 2022 10 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: bigotry, homophobia, pedophilia, perspective, racism, sexism, understanding, Viewpoints

6402160-Claudia-Gray-Quote-Every-form-of-art-is-another-way-of-seeing-the

One of the most often quoted and pro-offered bits of advice is “walk a mile in their shoes.” Another version of this wisdom is to try and see it from their “point of view.” Jesus said “ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” — Luke 6: 37-42

I submit that all of these bits of wisdom are more than admirable; they are essential to a life of wisdom and justice. The problem is that all of them are impossible to follow. You can’t walk a mile in another person’s shoes because their shoes won’t fit you. You can’t see it from their point of view because you are not standing where they are. You will always suffer from a plank in your own eye since this is nothing more than cognitive bias which we all suffer from.

Ergo, how do I see the world from another person’s point of view? How do I reconcile the fact that there are often many other points of view? Most of our lives we will live in an ocean of viewpoints. They are like waves washing up on the shore. One after another they roll in, break on the beach, and wash back into the ocean. I couldn’t stop the waves from coming in if I wanted to and I could not stop for a second to deal with all the viewpoints that I am constantly bombarded with.

2c087c4a21acb3d800bbee0ce8d4df62 The internet has made the problem even worse. We are deluged with a tsunami of viewpoints every day. From right, left, central, religious, agnostic, scientific, spiritual, communal, familial and hundreds of other perspectives our viewpoints of the world are bombarded by messages that challenge our thinking and our very reason for being. Whose shoes should I stand in? Whose perspective should I try to take?

Another problem with taking someone’s viewpoint is even more basic and problematic. What if I don’t like or can not even imagine myself in their shoes? I don’t sympathize much with pedophiles, racists, sexists, homophobes, and white supremacists. How do I walk a mile in their shoes? I would have to take a few years of character acting classes to even begin to imagine what a member of the KKK feels and thinks when he/she burns a cross on someone’s front yard.

Finally, the world may not like you for trying to understand the perspectives of the underdogs or those less fortunate in life. You may lose friends and family for challenging viewpoints which are hardened by narrowmindedness and prejudice. I doubt few people want to hear about the perspectives of a rapist or pedophile. Taking their viewpoint will not help you to win friends and influence people.

Those of us who are unwilling to try to see things from another’s point of view will find ourselves in a deep pit of myopia. The effects of not being able to comprehend things from the points of view of others is narrow mindedness, prejudice, and bias. Solutions to problems become more difficult as we narrow our perspectives. If we cannot see the world from the viewpoint of a pedophile (regardless of how abominable they may be), how can we ever understand their problems enough to create solutions that will eliminate this scourge from the earth.

What are some ways that we can actually walk a mile or maybe even just a ½ mile in the shoes of someone else? Here are some recommendations.

first-hand_experience-synonyms-2

Experience It First Hand

This might fall in the category which I dismissed above to “walk a mile etc.” This idea will work for some things. You can experience what a canoeist experiences by going for a canoe ride. You can experience what some writers feel by trying to write a short story. However, if you are White, it will be impossible to feel what a Black person does when he/she is treated badly because of their color. This is true for many other demographics besides race including age, gender, education level and intellectual capabilities.

You will not be able to experience what many people experience either because it is impossible to walk in their shoes or it might even be illegal. For instance, you might not be able to experience the thrill or fear that a bank robber does when she/he walks in a bank to rob it. You will also never be able to experience what somewhat with a mental disability feels as they navigate the world. Thus, while some say that “experience is the best teacher” when it comes to understanding the perspectives of others, experience may not always be the best choice.

However, there are a great many things that we can experience first-hand if we are only willing to try them. I know too many people who will not try things. I am sure we all know people who will not do things even though they have never tried them before. They might have tried them once and decided on the basis of one try that henceforth and forevermore they would never do it again. It takes a certain amount of gumption, open-mindedness, and just plain courage to experience new things. If you are glued to your couch watching the TV or if you are afraid to risk and dare you will find the opportunity of experience a closed door.

A few of the “I won’t try it” items that I hear and that irritate me include:

I don’t eat fish
I don’t like to travel
I don’t like Mexican food
I don’t like to read
I don’t like music or concerts

You can add some items that annoy you to hear in my comments section.

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Experience It Second Hand

Years ago, I wanted to try to understand sexism, racism, and prejudice. I started out by reading about these subjects from the point of view of authors like James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Susan Brownmiller, Betty Freidan, Anne Frank, Hannah Arendt, Ronald Takaki, Vine Deloria Jr., and many more. I learned a great deal from the stories and experiences told by the people who experience discrimination first hand.

As I got older, I found more and more opportunities to attend lectures and discussions where I heard first hand people like Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, H. Rap Brown, Jesse Jackson, Audre Lorde, Rosa Parks, and Sarah Lew Miller. I attended anti-racism seminars sponsored by several different groups. I have watched many documentaries dealing with prejudice and bigotry.

I went to important cultural sites that included Indian museums in Oklahoma, the Holocaust Museum in Israel, the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, Jewish Cemeteries in Paris with memorials to each concentration camp and Dachau outside Munich.

My first-hand experiences with people of color grew through my friendships. I went to places that many White people would have put off limits in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and New York.

Along the way to trying to understand the experiences of other people, I tried to help whenever possible fighting racism or bigotry. I wrote a grievance for some fellow Black soldiers when I was in the service. I supported organizations that fought racism like the Southern Poverty Law Center. I conducted some seminars with a friend dealing with Gay rights. I spoke out whenever I had the opportunity against racism and sexism. My writings deal with many of these issues.

I note the above not to impress you. If anything, I am unimpressed by my progress. Somewhat like they say about Alcoholics, “Once an Alcoholic, always an Alcoholic.” The best you can do is to become a recovering Alcoholic. Growing up a White Christian male in a predominately White Christian Patriarchal society, it is very hard not to be a sexist racist anti-Semite.

When I was a kid, I was told it was a mortal sin to walk into a Jewish Synagogue. That was because “Jews Killed Christ.” There were no Black people in my neighborhood and a woman’s role was in the kitchen. After our Italian family get togethers on Sunday and holidays, the men would all retire to the living room to smoke and watch sports while the women retired to the kitchen to clean the dishes that they had prepared dinner on. Italian men loved boxing and would always root for the White boxer over the Black boxer. No amount of argument would ever convince my Italian relatives that Rocky Marciano was not the greatest boxer of all time. How could he not be? He was White and an Italian. Case closed.

BedtimeNooz One year at a Martin Luther King memorial service on the University of Minnesota campus at Northrup Auditorium, the keynote speaker was Dave Moore, a well-known news and television personality. Karen and I attended many of the MLK day celebrations over the years. I had never seen a White keynote speaker. I was somewhat surprised and wondered what he could say about Martin Luther King or any other issue dealing with racism. It turned out to be quite an interesting talk.

Dave Moore, spoke on growing up in an all-White Minneapolis neighborhood. He noted that because there were no Black people in his childhood, he assumed when he was older that he could not be a racist. He admitted how wrong he found this assumption to be. He told the audience how many racist attitudes he found that he grew up with from simply assimilating the prejudices of his White culture. It was a very moving talk coming from a man that was so admired by many people. He essentially admitted that he grew up racist without ever knowing a single Black person.

Later in my life, I had a more diverse group of friends. Many of my White friends would say that because they had a Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, or Gay friend that they were not prejudiced. I have found that most colored friends of White people tend to be the “good” guys as opposed to their non-friends who are usually “They and Them people.”

1006OPEDnegley-superJumbo Now we get back to the difficult if not impossible people to understand. How do we put ourselves in the shoes of a rapist or pedophile? There are many that would think I am crazy for asking this question. I believe we will never eliminate these problems if we do not understand the causes. We cannot cure the problem simply by locking up all the pedophiles and rapists in the world. I do not believe that these are inherited characteristics. There have been times and places in the world where practices bordering on rape and pedophilia have actually been legal and condoned.

“Marital rape is criminalized in many countries. Throughout history until the 1970s, most states granted a husband the right to have sex with his wife whenever he so desired, as part of the marriage contract.” — Wikipedia

“Although there is substantial evidence in the historical and anthropological record of the sexual use of children by adults, surprisingly little is known about the etiology of pedophilia or its relation to other forms of sexual aggression.” —

Thankfully, attitudes have changed about many behaviors and while cannibalism may still be a practice in some obscure parts of the world, it has largely been eradicated. Unfortunately, rape and pedophilia although largely recognized as crimes throughout most of the world have not seen a similar level of diminishment.

But if we cannot and would not walk a mile in the shoes of a rapist or pedophile, it still behooves us to understand their motivations. What are the kicks they get out of these anti-social behaviors? Why do they do it? What can we do besides lock them up to effect permanent cures?

The second-best way (through second-hand experiences) would no doubt help us answer some of these questions. The problem is that no one wants to read about what a rapist or pedophile thinks. I remember years ago reading “Soul on Ice” by Eldridge Cleaver and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”

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“In Soledad state prison, I fell in with a group of young blacks who, like myself, were in vociferous rebellion against what we perceived as a continuation of slavery on a higher plane. We cursed everything American—including baseball and hot dogs. All respect we may have had for politicians, preachers, lawyers, governors, Presidents, congressmen was utterly destroyed as we watched them temporizing and compromising over right and wrong, over legality and illegality, over constitutionality and unconstitutionality. We knew that in the end what they were clashing over was us, what to do with the blacks, and whether or not to start treating us as human beings. I despised all of them.” — Eldridge Cleaver, “Soul on Ice”

Both of these books gave me some insights into the prison experiences of a Black man. Both Malcolm X and Cleaver were once engaged in criminal and violent behavior and both men turned their lives around. Their stories are profound and moving. They also give the world some insights into the pros and cons of a prison experience.

Perhaps more insights provided by rapists and pedophiles might help us to better understand how to deal with these behaviors. I cannot say with any certainty that it would help. The one thing that I am certain of is that nothing we have done in the past seems to be making a difference today. The statistics for child sexual abuse are horrifying.

There are more than 42 million survivors of sexual abuse in America. (National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse)
1 in 3 girls are sexually abused before the age of 18. (The Advocacy Center)
1 in 5 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. (The Advocacy Center)
1 in 5 children are solicited sexually while on the Internet before the age of 18. (National Children’s Alliance: Nationwide Child Abuse Statistics)

The statistics for rape and sexual violence in the USA are equally horrifying.

In 2019, over 652,676 women were raped.
Over 40% of women in the US have encountered sexual violence.
Nearly 80% of female sexual assault victims experience their first assault before the age of 25.
Around 20% of American males have been the victim of sexual violence.
Rape Statistics show that less than 20% of rapes are reported.
Women and men with disabilities face twice the risk of sexual assault than able-bodied individuals.
Sexual violence incidents, preceded by stalking, increased by 1.9% in 2019.

These statistics are from “32 Shocking Sexual Assault Statistics for 2022” by Jennifer Kuadli at Legaljobs.

In Conclusion:

First-hand experience can help us understand the minds and hearts of others, but we are sometimes limited in the experiences that we can actually undertake.
Second-hand experiences have pros and cons. Not all Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Indians, women, or any other group that you can think of will have the same experiences. No one on this earth can speak for all people for all time.
We need to try and try and try again. If the bell really does toll for all people, then we have a responsibility to understand what makes other people happy and what makes them feel miserable.
We share this planet with other human beings and other species. The more we understand others, the more we can make the world a beautiful peaceful and happy place to live.

John’s Top Ten Sleepless Night Questions – This Past Week 😊

08 Feb 2022 9 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: black lives matter, China, discrimination, homophobia, prejudice, questions, racism, russia, russian, sexism, ukraine

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I woke up last night wondering and wondering and wondering. A series of recent events had caused confusion and chaos in my sleepy mind. I realize that I am no genius, but I could not stop thinking and pondering a number of questions which were continuing to nag me during the past week or so. Maybe, in fact very likely, a number of my readers are much wiser than I am and can help me with my questions. I would appreciate any thoughts that some of you might have on any of the following questions. Your answers would help me to sleep better in the upcoming nights.

How is rioting and destroying lives and property “Legitimate Political Discourse?”

Why do peaceful civil rights protestors get beaten and arrested and scorned but Neo-Nazi groups are free to march and stage violent protests?

How come we can use the RICO act to arrest and convict gamblers and drug dealers, but we can’t use it to arrest politicians who advocate or support the violent overthrow of the United States?

Why can we send hit squads to take out terrorists in Syria and other parts of the Mideast, but we can’t send hit squads to Florida, Texas, and other parts of the USA to take out domestic terrorists?

How come ISIS is an “official” terrorist group but the KKK, Proud Boys and Neo-Nazi groups are not terrorist groups?

How come all the USA TV news on the Ukrainian Crisis constantly use military weapons, troops firing, howitzers blasting, tanks rumbling and other pictures of war as a backdrop to their news updates on the Ukrainian Crisis?

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple social media posts in January 2022 alongside a claim it shows Ukrainian troops “preparing for potential combat” at the border with Russia. However, the video has circulated online since at least 2020 in a post by a Ukrainian military command about its troops conducting a military exercise.

7. How do we have time for a political discussion with Putin when the “analysts” say he is simply using the time to strengthen his military position?

8. Why has not one US politician from either party or end of the political spectrum commented on the beautiful moving opening ceremony and the spectacular technology displayed to date at the Chinese Winter Olympics?

9. Why are all the headlines in today’s news featuring negative comments about China and/or its role in the Olympics? Some examples below from this mornings headlines:

Criticism of Zhu Yi, a US born skater, show harsh scrutiny of naturalized athletes in China – The New York Times
Teenage Olympic sensation Eileen Gu wins gold and crashes the Chinese Internet -CNN
Olympics put Chinese authorities’ press intimidation on full display – Axios
China’s holiday box office plunges by 23% as theaters push prices to record highs – CNBC
Beijing 2022: Winter Olympics hit by deluge of complaints from athletes -BBC
China stirs controversy with Uyghur torchbearer – The New Arab
Olympians accuse refs of bias after controversial penalties help China -Insider

Why are US politicians more concerned about the rights of Uyghurs than they are about the rights of Blacks and minorities in America?

Does anyone in the USA know who or what a Uyghur is? Here this might help.

Who are the Uyghurs? — From the BBC World News

“There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The Uyghurs speak their own language, which is similar to Turkish, and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations. They make up less than half of the Xinjiang population.

Recent decades have seen a mass migration of Han Chinese (China’s ethnic majority) into Xinjiang, allegedly orchestrated by the state to dilute the minority population there.

China has also been accused of targeting Muslim religious figures and banning religious practices in the region, as well as destroying mosques and tombs.

Uyghur activists say they fear that the group’s culture is under threat of erasure.”

The Xinjiang Conflict – Wikipedia

“Since the incorporation of Xinjiang into the People’s Republic of China, factors such as the mass state-sponsored migration of Han Chinese from the 1950s to the 1970s, government policies promoting Chinese cultural unity and punishing certain expressions of Uyghur identity, and harsh responses to separatism have contributed to tension between the Uyghurs, and state police and Han Chinese. This has taken the form of both terrorist attacks and wider public unrest such as the Baren Township riot, 1997 Ürümqi bus bombings, protests in Ghuljia, June 2009 Shaoguan Incident and the resulting July 2009 Ürümqi riots, 2011 Hotan attack, April 2014 Ürümqi attack, May 2014 Ürümqi attack, 2014 Kunming attack as well as the 2015 Aksu colliery attack. Other Uyghur organizations such as the World Uyghur Congress denounce totalitarianism, religious intolerance, and terrorism as an instrument of policy.” — Wikipedia

Concluding Thoughts:

John Donne’s famous line, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls” strikes me as a good reason to pursue justice everywhere in the globe. We should never be so comfortable that we tolerate injustice in any country whether friend or foe. Nevertheless, we should be careful about waving a flag of righteous indignation as to the houses of other countries when our own house is far from being in order. To do so, presents a ludicrous form of hypocrisy that is evident to the rest of the world.

We need to walk a fine line between advocating for the rights of others and stepping into a conflict that we have no legitimate right to be involved in. There are 12 million Uyghurs who may be being persecuted because of their perceived separateness. I wonder how many LGBTQ people, how many Indigenous People, how many Black people, how many women in the USA are being persecuted every day because of their differences? The following charts depict some statistics in respect to my question. The numbers seem to be going up each year rather than down.

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Let the World Never Forget: Harry T. Moore and Harriet V. Moore

01 Feb 2022 5 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: black history, Civil Rights, Discimination, Florica, Harriet Moore, Harry Moore, kkk, prejudice, racism

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Today is the start of Black History Month. It is still amazing how little I know of Black history and how little is taught about Black people in our schools. NPR featured a story this morning about two early champions of civil rights. I confess I never heard of Harry T. Moore and Harriet Simms Moore. I wish they were alive today so that I could tell them how much I admire there efforts and bravery in the face of appalling racism and discrimination. Sadly, they both died on Christmas eve by a bomb placed in their house which killed both of them. They were not dead when they were found in the rubble but the local and closest hospital was for “Whites Only” and would not permit them to be treated there. They died before they could get the thirty miles to the nearest “Black” hospital.

This is from Wikipedia:

Harry Tyson Moore (November 18, 1905 – December 25, 1951) was an African-American educator, a pioneer leader of the civil rights movement, founder of the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County, Florida, and president of the state chapter of the NAACP.

Harry T. Moore and his wife, Harriette Moore, also an educator, were the victims of a bombing of their home in Mims, Florida, on Christmas night 1951. As the local hospital in Titusville would not treat Blacks, he died on the way to the nearest one that would, a Black hospital in Sanford, Florida, about 30 miles to the northwest. His wife died from her wounds nine days later, on January 3, 1952, at the same hospital. This followed their both having been fired from teaching because of their activism.

Harry Moore

The murder case was investigated, including by the FBI in 1951–1952, but no one was ever prosecuted. Two more investigations were conducted in the 1970s and 1990s. A state investigation and forensic work in 2005–2006 resulted in naming the likely perpetrators as four Ku Klux Klan members, all long dead by that time. Harry T. Moore was the first NAACP member and official to be assassinated for civil rights activism; the couple are the only husband and wife to be killed for the movement. Moore has been called the first martyr of this stage of the civil rights movement that expanded in the 1960s.

Langston Hughes wrote, and read publicly, the poem “The Ballad of Harry Moore”, written posthumously in Moore’s honor:

Florida means land of flowers
It was on a Christmas night.
In the state named for the flowers
Men came bearing dynamite …
It could not be in Jesus’ name
Beneath the bedroom floor
On Christmas night the killers
Hid the bomb for Harry Moore.

For more information on the life of Harry and Harriet, you might look up the following books:

The Bomb Heard Around the World: The Lives and Deaths of Harry T & Harriette V Moore

by Gregory Marquette | May 1, 2019

Before His Time: The Untold Story of Harry T. Moore, America’s First Civil Rights Martyr

by Ben Green | Dec 19, 2017

Before Selma: The Harry T. Moore Story

by DR Florence Alexander | Jan 22, 2015

The Beauty of Diversity

27 Jan 2022 15 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: acceptance, bigotry, compassion, diversity, inclusion, intolerance, love, prejudice, racism, tolerance, xenophobia

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Diversity is the most beautiful thing in the world. If you can suspend your judgements and look at the world through the perspective of diversity, you will be treated to a kaleidoscope of colors, patterns, habits, traditions, ideas, beliefs, and stories. You will see a world that is complex beyond belief. A world that no artist or musician or writer could even begin to describe. Take away diversity and the world is a grey amalgam of people who look alike, think alike, and act alike. Diversity makes the world interesting and challenging.

For some, diversity conjures up the idea of race. Many people think of diversity only in terms of race or gender. I remember when I used to facilitate leadership teams and project teams. I would use the Myer Briggs Personality Inventory to balance out specific psychological characteristics for my teams. My primary thought was that we needed a balance of viewpoints and ways of looking at problems. The Myer Briggs rated people on 4 scales that included: introversion versus extraversion, thinking versus feeling, perceiving versus judging and concrete orientation versus sensing orientation. I wanted to ensure that I had a diversity of thinking styles and not just gender or ethnic diversity.

There are many kinds of diversity. Scientists have shown that the concept of race is not very scientific. I shall call the various skin colors in the human race as pigmentation diversity. We can also have cultural or ethnic diversity, intellectual diversity, gender diversity and religious diversity. Each of the aforementioned types of diversity can add flavor and spice to life, IF and that is the big issue IF. IF, you are open minded to the differences in the human race, diversity can be a blessing. However, diversity can be a two-edged sword. By its very nature, diversity tends to be exclusive rather than inclusive. Many people think that they are superior to others because of some attribute that they possess.

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Some types of diversity are more exclusionary than others. Income diversity, political diversity, education diversity and pigmentation diversity have led many people to unsubstantiated feelings of superiority. Rich people may feel that they are superior to poor people. Light skinned people may feel superior to darker skinned people. More educated people may feel superior to less educated people. The beauty of diversity gets twisted around like a pretzel until it is no longer recognizable. It is hard to grasp the fact that some people are opposed to diversity and prefer to live among people who are exactly like them. For these humans, diversity is something that they would eliminate from their lives. The concept that “variety is the spice of life” fails to inspire those who think that they may have to share the world with people who are different.

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There are too many people who do not understand the distinction between the concepts of difference and deficit. Diversity is always a difference. A deficit is something that is inferior to something else. Only fools make the claim that diversity and deficits are the same. Rich people are not better than poor people. Educated people are not more intelligent than less educated people. Lighter skinned people are not superior to darker skinned people.

The words better, intelligent and superior have no causal relationship to groups of people. People have a wide range of knowledge, skills, and abilities but none of these have been inextricably linked to color, gender, education, income, culture, religion, or numerous other aspects of diversity. Of course there are some characteristics (particularly age) that can be linked to physical abilities but to assume that all younger people are better than all older people when it comes to physical abilities would be meaningless. It would certainly not be a bias that anyone would choose to use for excluding older people from the human race. I am thinking of the movie “Soylent Green” where older people were turned into food for the younger people when they were deemed too old to be useful to society.

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When it comes to diversity, only the Vulcans had it right. Their IDIC principle stood for “Infinite Diversity through Infinite Combination.” The history of humanity exhibits a love hate affair with diversity. The world is divided up by culture, ethnicity, religion, tribes, clans, and castes. “Mine is better than yours” could be the motto for the human race. My god, my religion, my skin color, my beliefs. Small wonder that so many tragedies are brought on by our small-minded beliefs.

Never before in history have we seen such stupidity and narrow mindedness circling the globe. Stupidity and intelligence are two very different things. In the past four years, I have witnessed stupidity among many highly intelligent and accomplished individuals. Stupidity is a lack of breadth and depth when looking at the world. When one only sees the benefits of their own tribe and sees the differences of other tribes as a deficit that is stupidity. Two major factors account for much of the misery facing humanity today.

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The first factor that is driving volatility and unrest in many parts of the world is the availability of low cost and relatively high-speed transportation. We are now capable of mixing the world with one big stirring spoon. People have been warned in the USA that in so many years, white people will no longer be the majority. This is perceived as a threat. Elsewhere in the world, countries are facing a dilution of their traditional populations due to both forced and chosen migrations. People who have lived with the “same” neighbors for years are now threatened by people of different backgrounds. In the US, we have seen a huge increase in “gated” communities. “Let’s keep out anyone who is different!” Data from one survey in 2015 showed nearly 11 million Americans living in gated communities. This number has surely increased dramatically in the past seven years. Borders may serve the same purpose. A large number of American citizens supported Trump’s building a border wall with Mexico.

One pundit asked and answered the question: “Why does America have so many gated communities?”

“Gated Communities are mainly successful because millions of Americans tend to seek happiness in their way of life. Many of them are willing to pay a high price to live their own American dream while isolating themselves into artificial perfection with people and rules they chose.”

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The second factor driving much of the unrest in the world has been the availability of low-cost communication systems that are capable of both uniting and dividing cultures the world over. The Internet and the cellphone are tools that can be used to improve the world. They can be used to help people understand and appreciate the differences that exist in the world. However, they can also be used to create greater animosity and divisiveness throughout the world. People who are afraid of change and fear differences are much more likely to resort to media that allows them to join tribes of like-minded people. Instead of becoming tools to improve civilization, the Internet and cellphones are used to destroy civilization. By spreading misinformation, disinformation, and distortions, modern media has encouraged a negative rather than a positive view of diversity.

Much of what I am saying is not new. These characteristics of bigoty, ethnocentricity, xenophobia and racism have always been part of humanity. When we mix fear and greed in the “melting pot”, and give pathways to these attributes, the result is violence and devastation.

On a minor scale think of a sporting event where people adopt an “identify” based on some misguided loyalty or egoistic need to a particular team. The Packer fans sit on one side of the football stadium while the Viking fans sit on the other side. The Japanese sit on one side of the soccer stadium and the South Koreans sit on the other side. The Indians sit on one side of the cricket stadium and the Pakistanis sit on the other side. Each side cheers the scoring and plays of “their” team while booing the plays of the other team. When things don’t go well for one side, the result may be violence off the field as well as on it. Soccer has a well-deserved record of riots and hooliganism. I tried to count the number of soccer riots and lost count. Hardly any sport in the world has been immune from instances of violence and mayhem. People don’t enjoy having their “identity” defiled by being part of a losing team.

I mentioned that “sports” is a minor scale event compared to events concerning religion, culture, politics, or economics. Just imagine the potential for violence when Muslims versus Christians or Communists versus Capitalists or Democrats versus Republicans. The amazing thing is that the world is not less civilized than it currently is. People in the USA today bemoan the divisiveness in politics as something seemingly new. I submit it is not new but that it has become more evident with the Internet and media. The media love to hype every event to the nth degree in hopes of selling more advertisement. Due to the numerous channels of communication that distort and bias events according to the prejudices of the perceiver, we now have chasms of truth, glaciers of lies and mountains of deceitfulness. Stupidity and intolerance are beyond the pandemic stage and have become endemic the world over. We have more to fear from bigotry than we do from the Corona virus.

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How can we learn to see beauty in diversity? How do we hope to overcome the ugliness that some people see in the differences that exist in the human race? Can we convince people that a difference is not a deficit? I think of words like tolerance, respect, understanding, open-mindedness, progressive, merciful, kindhearted, loving, and compassionate. Is it too much to expect that we can show these later attributes to people who are different? If we could only extend these thoughts to people who do not belong to our tribe, we could change the world.

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“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior, and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war. And until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes and until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained… now everywhere is war.” ― Haile Selassie I, Selected Speeches

Silence is Not Golden

04 Dec 2021 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: autism, davis school district, discrimination, Izzy, racism, suicide, suicide., tichenor, utah

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No one gets remembered for what they didn’t say. If one wants to be remembered either they must do something worth remembering or they must say something worth remembering. Non-fiction writers either write about something that they believe is worth being done or they write about someone who already did something that they thought was worth being done.

Of course, being remembered should not be the main point of life. You can have a street named after you, a building named after you, a star named after you or hundreds of other items, but they are all ephemeral. They will vanish sooner than the wind blows away. They will melt away faster than butter. Nothing in the world is really very permanent. Bricks and bridges age and crumble. Friends and lovers come and go. Good deeds will be forgotten when you are gone as will bad deeds. Life is mercurial, fickle, and impermanent. Trying to be remembered is an exercise in wishful thinking.

We often try to hold onto life by buying, creating, acquiring, or building things. The genius creates new theories. The prodigy leaves people spellbound by their talent. The entrepreneur designs new products and industries. The philanthropist gives their money away. We are all searching for something that will make us feel good about ourselves. You cannot actually blame anyone since a humans’ life is quite short.

We may someday discover the meaning or purpose of our lives, but I doubt many people will do so before they die. And even if they did, so what. Will the world really be better that one man fought the unbeatable fight or reached for the unreachable star or is it only egotistical dreaming on our part? We want to think that we were born on this earth for a reason. Not one of us wants to think that we were an accident or that the only thing on our parents’ minds was recreational sex.

Existence is an osmotic process that links the needs of the outside world with our own inner needs, talents, and abilities. Maturity comes when we stop simply looking outside of ourselves and start searching inside ourselves as well. The good life is one that balances inside and outside focus. This is the Yin and Yang of life. When we find the alchemy that balances these perspectives, we find the true meaning and purpose of our lives. But it is not etched in stone, and it may change several times before we leave this planet. Life is always an evolving process.

I started this blog off by extolling the virtue of speaking out. I believe that an injustice done to anyone is an injustice done to all of us. Audre Lorde, an American writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist said:

“I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had even spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you…. What are the words you do not yet have?”

For much of my life, I have tried to be outspoken against what I perceive as injustice. I often wonder if I do not spout off too much. One friend told me that “You fight too many battles.” When I heard this, I thought of the comment by the Russian Anarchist Bakunin that he would stop being unreasonable when the world around him became reasonable.

merlin_2894829 Two days ago, I heard a story that is worth being repeated. The story brought tears to my eyes. If you have already heard it, I hope you will not mind hearing it again. I personally would like to hear it being told from every church pulpit, every congressional building, and every auditorium in America. I would like to hear it being told every day until every person in America could empathize with what this young girl went through. I would like to hear it being told until every person in this country would finally speak out and say “enough.”

“Death of bullied Utah girl draws anger over suicides, racism” by Brady McCombs, 12/2/2021.

Ten-year-old Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor was a happy little girl with a sunny disposition who loved life and dreamed of being a professional dancer. Even though she had autism, life was good for Izzy until this school year when in a new grade she became the target of racism and bullying. Isabella was the only Black student in the class. Now if you are familiar with Maslow’s Hierarch of Needs, you will know that 618ff27e9c519.image the issues of Meaning and Purpose that I addressed above relate to a certain position in life. Namely, those of us who are secure enough in our environment that we no longer have to worry about food, shelter, and safety. This is a luxury that does not pertain to all people. In particular it did not pertain to Izzy. She was a girl who because of her skin color and health had to face every day with a battle. A battle designed by others to destroy her peace and serenity. A war waged to undermine her very being by belittling, insulting, and abusing her. Izzy did not have the time to think about the meaning and purpose of her life because she was too busy trying to deal with the very bottom levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy.

Her mom was unaware of the bullying that Izzy was facing until one morning she found Izzy spraying Febreze air freshener on herself before school. Brittany Tichenor-Cox had been wondering what was wrong with her daughter whose beaming smile had gone dormant after she started the fifth grade. She coaxed out of Isabella that a boy in her class told her that she stank after their teacher instructed the class that they needed to shower. It was the latest in a series of bullying episodes that targeted Izzy, the only Black student in class. Other incidents included harassment about her skin color, eyebrows and a beauty mark on her forehead, her mother said.

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On November 6^th, 2021, Izzy’s mom came home to find that Izzy had hung herself. Can you imagine finding one of your children hanging by a belt around their neck in a closet. Their eyes wide open, their tongue bulging out and their face turned blue. What would your reaction be? Her mom blames the school system for doing nothing. Despite repeated talks and calls to school administrators, the abuse had gone on for months. Perhaps the school did not think that Black Lives Mattered. But what about the life of a little girl with autism who wanted to grow up and be a ballet dancer?

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“An ongoing investigation by the Justice Department has uncovered hundreds of documented uses of the N-word and other racial epithets over the last five years in Izzy’s school district against children of color. The probe also found physical assaults, derogatory racial comments, and harsher discipline for students of color.”

Brittany Tichenor- Cox, center, joined by her sister Jasmine Rhodes, right, speaks about her daughter Izzy Tichenor, as hundreds joined the Tichenor family in mourning the death of 10-year-old Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor during a vigil at Foxboro Hollow Park in North Salt Lake, Utah, on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. Tichenor took her own life on Nov. 6th in connection to being repeatedly bullied at her Davis County school for being Black and autistic, according to her mother Brittany Tichenor. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

I am not alone in being appalled by the school’s reaction or lack of reaction to the abuse against Izzy and other minority children. Thousands of people have reacted to this story with indignation and a demand that it be investigated. The concern of so many people is a welcome development in light of the seeming apathy of too many people. I still cannot believe that nearly 32 percent of possible American voters did not vote in the last election. Elie Wiesel said that:

“Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe.”

What can you do to help overcome racism and indifference to the sufferings of others? Can you write about it? Can you join an organization to protest it? Can you send money to a group that is fighting for the rights of others? Can you stand up for people when you see that they are being insulted or abused? Can you call the Utah Attorney General and express your outrage against this abuse that Izzy suffered? Can you ask your church leader to say something today, tomorrow, and Sunday about the ongoing abuse that minorities suffer every day in this country?

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The more of us that take a stand for Izzy, the sooner this will really be the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.”

Utah Attorney General – Protecting Utah. Protecting You.

Office Hours

Monday through Friday

8 am to 5 pm

Email: uag@agutah.gov

General Office Number:

1-801-366-0260

Q’Anon Theory versus Critical Race Theory: Who will win?

28 Nov 2021 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: black lives matter, Critical Race Theory, education, Q'Anon Theory, racism, science, Theory, white supremacy

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In the right corner wearing the red trunks we have Q’Anon Theory. Enjoying 12 wins and 38 losses, Q’Anon is trying to make a comeback. In the left corner, wearing the black trunks, we have the opponent, the much misunderstood and maligned challenger Critical Race Theory. Critical Race f1ec5ba1-d5cc-49e4-a163-f18f9fe04f31_1920x1080 Theory (CRT) comes into this match sporting a record of 25 wins and 25 losses. Both opponents have lost matches to Trickle Down Theory and the Birther Theory. The winner of this match will face the reigning champion, The Theory of the Big Steal.

This match will be judged by a panel of three judges. One from the right, one from the left and one dead center. They will use the “Rules of Scientific Procedures” to judge the match. The match will be scored on six criteria. The contestants will receive one point for a victory on each criteria. In the event of a tie, there will be a sudden death criteria to determine the winner.

The six criteria are:

The testability of the theory’s major tenets
The predictive power of the theory’s major hypothesis
The theory is empirically based
The theory is concise, coherent, systematic, and broadly applicable
The theory has the ability to explain the aspects of a specific area of inquiry
The theory has the ability to describe the causes of a particular phenomenon

Testability of Theory Tenets:

best-pizza-in-washington-dc A theory may propose various tenets. That is the theory will assert specific things that belong with the theory. For instance Q’Anon Theory proposes that a group of Democratic politicians who are pedophiles meet regularly in the basement of a pizza parlor in D.C. to plot nefarious schemes for taking over the world. One of the major tenets of CRT is the notion that racism is ordinary and not aberrational. To measure the Q’Anon Theory all we would have to do is find a pizza parlor in D.C. where a number of pedophiliac Democratic politicians meet. This would be an easy tenet to test since the number of good pizza parlors in D.C. can be counted on one hand.

The tenet from CRT that racism is ordinary and not aberrational seems to me to be more difficult to prove. Indeed since most White people would say that they are not racist, I do not know how you could prove this tenet.

The judges score it 2-1 for Q’Anon Theory.

That makes it 1-0 for Q’Anon Theory.

The Predictive Power of the Major Hypothesis:

A key prediction of Q’Anon Theory is that Donald Trump would institute a series of mass arrests to break up the group of pedophiles and send them all to prison before they could destroy the world. This prediction has not come true yet, but it still remains a powerful possibility given his favored son status among many in America. No doubt if Trump gets reelected we are going to see a purge of his opponents that makes Stalin look like Mother Teresa. worthpoint.com-1929-PRESS-RE-ENACTMENT-PHOTO

A key prediction of CRT is that by confronting the beliefs and practices that enable racism to persist while simultaneously challenging these practices we will be able to eliminate systemic racism.

My opinion is that Trump will have a good possibility of getting reelected and I am certain that if he does, heads will roll, and it will be the end of democracy as we know it in the USA. They will continue to call it a democracy but with Trump knighted as President for life and most of his opponents in jail, it will not be the democracy that many people now believe in. As for the CRT hypothesis, I don’t think that we will ever eliminate personal racism and as long as we have personal racism, we will have systemic racism.

The judges again score it 2-1 for Q’Anon Theory.

That makes it 2-0 for Q’Anon Theory versus CRT.

3. The Theory is Empirically Based:

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A theory that is empirically based is one that is based on facts and data rather than opinions and emotions. There is a lot of emotions on both sides here. Everyone knows how emotional the right-wing faction of white supremacists are. This side is full of hate loathing and hostility towards all things not white. Equally emotional have been the Black Lives Matter protestors who have engaged in numerous protest marches over the deaths of numerous Black males by police officers. I think the judges will find it hard to give either side a point on this criteria.

Unbelievable, the judges give both sides a point on this one.

That makes the score 3-1 for Q’Anon Theory.

The Theory is Concise, Coherent, Systematic, and Broadly Applicable:

No contest here I am afraid. CRT theory is anything but concise, coherent, or systematic. As for broadly applicable, it does apply to most white people, but the world is also full of non-white people. To illustrate what I am talking about, here is an excerpt from one of the leading textbooks on CRT.

“Our social world, with its rules, practices, and assignments of prestige and power, is not fixed; rather, we construct with it words, stories and silence. But we need not acquiesce in arrangements that are unfair and one-sided. By writing and speaking against them, we may hope to contribute to a better, fairer world” — Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic “Introduction to Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge. 3^rd Edition, 2013”

I read the above several times before I could decipher what they are trying to say. This is a big problem for the Left since they are too intellectual and academic. No one can understand what they are talking about. Now you take the right-wing supporters of Q’Anon, and you have a group that is not hard to understand. Here are some writings from Q’Anon theorists.

Eliminate all communists
Eliminate all socialists
Eliminate all democrats
Eliminate all liberals
Eliminate all immigrants
Eliminate all non-whites
Eliminate all gays
Get all women back in the kitchen

What could be easier to understand? Nothing circuitous or incoherent about these statements. I am going to have to say that Q’Anon theory has my vote here. It looks like the judges all agree.

It is unanimous, the judges give Q’Anon a point on this one.

That makes the score 4-1 for Q’Anon Theory.

Well, that’s it folks. Even if CRT took the next two points, it would still be Q’Anon Theory 4 and CRT 3. The winner is Q’Anon Theory.

Stay tuned for our next match when we will have Senator Rand Paul face off against Dr. Fauci to decide who should get any more Covid shots and if the new Omicron Variant is real or just fake.

You Are Never So Alone as When You Stand Out

05 Jul 2021 3 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: bravery, courage, freedom, heroism, injustice, intolerance, justice, racism

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Give me the Fortitude to challenge injustice,

The Courage to stand up for those who are weaker than I am,

The Boldness to do what is right when no one else seems to care,

The Determination in the face of criticism and mockery,

The Firmness to stand my ground when I am abandoned and alone,

The Tenacity to ignore insults and attacks on my character,

The Grit to fight the battle until I can fight no more.

The Ability to believe in myself when no one else does.

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The human race is a history of high spots and low spots. A history of happiness, joy, love, and compassion. It is also a history of injustice, murder, racism, and cruelty. When we look back at the past, we see villains and heroes. The villains are those who exploited and oppressed others. The heroes are those men and women who stood up for the downtrodden. The courageous few who stood up when the majority stood down. Those who had the gumption to endure ostracism and worse because they would not abandon morality and righteousness.

Many years ago, Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) wrote the following prophetic words:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Being faced with injustice poses a difficult choice for many of us. If it were simply a choice behind a high road and a low road, it would be easy. But life is seldom black and white. The choice is often much more difficult. It can be a choice between being alone or standing with the anonymity of the crowd. No one wants to stand out. There is a saying in Japan that the “nail that sticks up, gets hammered down.” It is the same with every other culture. The world is moved by the adage to “not make waves.”

Chinese Activist Blocks Column of Tanks

A few years ago, I fought a battle with the town to fire the library director or else to put him back to work. He had been accused of pedophilia and suspended from his job with pay. Wisconsin is an employment-at-will state and I could see no reason that a poor small-town library needed to pay a salary to someone who was now suspended from his job. I went to the library board and eventually to the town council to challenge this decision. Either fire him I said or put him back to work until he has been tried by a court of his peers. Both boards told me the same thing. A lawyer that the city hired advised against such a move due to the potential of a lawsuit. Lawyers all over this country use the possibility of a lawsuit as a scare tactic to do nothing.

At first, I had support from others in my battle with these boards. Eventually, one by one they all dropped out. “We have to live in this town, and we don’t want to make waves.” I continued what had become a lonely battle. Doubts and recriminations daily filled my mind and heart. I was disappointed by the lack of support I was receiving. I felt deserted by friends who I thought shared my ideas of right and wrong. I was told by the city council that I should not attend any more of their meetings. I was persona non-gratis.

I toyed with the idea of giving up. I wanted at least one other person who could help me justify my crusade. “Why should I care about the library if no one else does?” Instead of giving up, I amplified my efforts. I threatened to send a flyer out to every citizen in Frederic during Frederic Family Days. My flyer was carefully worded to show the cowardice of the City Council and the costs to the Frederic taxpayer due to this cowardice. Within three days of the council receiving a copy of my flyer, they fired the former library director. Because of their spinelessness, they had kept him on the payroll for nearly nine months while he fled to Mississippi. A few months later he was convicted of pedophilia and sentenced to jail.

I did not like the role I played in this battle. I would have preferred that someone else had taken up the gauntlet. However, no one wanted it. I am no hero. I question myself every day. I am always wondering if this decision or that decision is the right one. I lack the self-confidence to assert that I am right and that you are wrong. How can I be certain that I am right? What if I am not?

a76ce78ebb5a097bfdd284a75347259b I look around me today and I do not understand the world. I do not understand the decisions that our leaders make. It seems we have a moral disease. The symptoms of this disease are short-term thinking and greed. Arizona is suffering from an unprecedented drought and heat wave. The water levels in both the Central Arizona Project and aquifers are dangerously low. Yet when asked to cut back water usage by 3.8 percent, the golf course owners in Phoenix created an association to oppose such a “drastic” cut. Their counter proposal was for a 1.6 percent cut in water usage. The Governor of Arizona was the keynote speaker for the associations kick off meeting. Am I crazy? Do you believe this? Are golf courses more important than drinking water and water for farm crops?

If you dare to stand against the greed that has taken root in our society, you are an anti-capitalistic liberal communist left-wing radical. What passes for dialogue in politics today are theatrical stunts, public attacks, name calling and vows to never compromise. Our legislative bodies have been corrupted by men and women who are only motivated by avarice and power. We are beyond truth and reason. Words like reconciliation, harmony and accord no longer have any meaning. Nothing gets done as each side digs its heels in and votes strictly according to party-line. Instead of asking what is good for the USA, politicians only ask, “What is good for my party?”

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The man or woman who stands out is a person of courage. It takes guts to stand up and speak out. It is much easier to do nothing. Sgt. Shultz used to say, “I hear nothing, I see nothing.” It may be comforting to go through life hearing and seeing nothing but at what cost to the world?

Do you think the world needs to be changed? It all starts with us. Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see.”

Stand up, speak out, put yourself on the line. If not you, then who?

quote-don-t-back-down-just-to-keep-the-peace-standing-up-for-your-beliefs-builds-self-confidence-oprah-winfrey-52-16-50

Aging Capriciously

The Tale of a Little Nine Year Old Girl Who Deserves to be Remembered

Republicans: Why They Were Once a Great Party but are Now the Party of Hate, Bigotry and Greed

Our Kind of People

Can You Really See the World from Another Person’s Point of View?

John’s Top Ten Sleepless Night Questions – This Past Week 😊

Let the World Never Forget: Harry T. Moore and Harriet V. Moore

The Bomb Heard Around the World: The Lives and Deaths of Harry T & Harriette V Moore

Before His Time: The Untold Story of Harry T. Moore, America’s First Civil Rights Martyr

Before Selma: The Harry T. Moore Story

The Beauty of Diversity

Silence is Not Golden

Q’Anon Theory versus Critical Race Theory: Who will win?

You Are Never So Alone as When You Stand Out

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