I’ve been studying Sundown towns quite a bit over the last few months. Therefore, this story really jumped out at me. James Loewen speaks of many towns that were still sundown as recent as the 2000s! So this isn’t some old civil rights issue that went out with MLK. No, this is STILL going on in America. Like all Sundown towns, there’s no surprise that this is in the north…New York to be exact:
“LINDENHURST, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Blatant racism has struck on Long Island, as a black family got a letter imploring them to leave their town because of their race.
As CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported, the case is being investigated by Suffolk County police Hate Crimes Unit.
Ronica Copes of Lindenhurst read the letter aloud. She could not stomach the shocking anonymous letter sent to her home this week.
“Attn: African-American family. This is coming from the Lindenhurst community,” the letter reads. “Lindenhurst is 84% white population. You don’t belong here. Please leave Lindenhurst as soon as you can. It will be better for all of us. Find a town where there are more people like you. Sorry if this is rude, but it’s the truth.”
This one was probably the hardest murder by the police that I’ve watched of them all. So many parts of the story make no sense whatsoever. Another thing that rings loud is that if a Veteran gets this kind of treatment, why is it hard for folks to believe that African American boys & men perceived as “thugs” aren’t getting treated the same for doing nothing as well? There’s always the presupposition that, “They must have done something…” to warrant the death penalty.
Please remember, that’s just what all of these killings are, the death penalty, because video after video, story after story indicates that there is no threat to the officers lives.
His name: Army Sgt. James Brown.
His mom, Dinette Robinson-Scott, wanted the public to see what happened to her son. Like other mom’s, this points back to the same goal of Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till. She wanted that open casket so the world could see what America was doing. It was a way to shame the country into repentance.
Has America been shamed enough yet? Jet magazine’s photo of Emmett provoked outrage everywhere in 1954. But in our video age…Video of Tamir Rice wasn’t enough? Video of John Crawford wasn’t enough? Video of Walter Scott wasn’t enough? Video of Eric Garner wasn’t enough?
This is why I DO NOT co-sign the Evangelicals when they claim God is going to punish America for its lack of morality TODAY (e.g. homosexuality, abortion). Just because murder(er)s, (who went away free as evidenced by the kiss above), were ignored, do you think God was pleased with this country then?
The list keeps growing…
Oh, and let me mention that I didn’t see any of those “good officers” that everyone always point to, running to AT LEAST call 9-1-1. Obviously intervening is too much to ask.
Now I wonder what the liberals would say if this had been video of an American soldier doing this to an Iraqi citizen, and the Pro-Life conservatives? If you have no problem with this, is there any truth to the saying that “they seem to only care about life in the womb, but they truly don’t care about life outside of the womb.”
I thought time & space was our argument and that life is life. Life is God-given and has personhood in the woman, not just outside the woman.
Amazing all the things from his past that were brought up as “possible causes” like PTSD & “sickle cell crisis”? (Will this trait now be used against every African American with sickle cell seeing that we’re the main ones afflicted? Shame that he served in Iraq twice, survived combat, only to come home and be killed while serving a DWI sentence that he turned himself in for. The fact that emergency medical services were never called is very telling. Sad that this is how he got thanked for his service…and he likely won’t get a movie ever made about him.
Another child to be raised without a dad.
Another parent, burying her son.
As the saying goes these days. If the country really wanted to do something about single parent black families, stop killing their fathers (or putting them in prison for crimes that you later make legal…but we’ll pick up the drug discussion another day).
Dad’s, with all of the cheating that is going on in sports these days, how do you talk to your kids about this issue?
It’s hardly new. “Back in my day”, I wanted to throw a knuckler like Phil and Joe Niekro and a spitball like Gaylord Perry. Those were fun guys and Joe and Gaylord were cheaters, but hey, it was funny right? Did George Brett really mean to run Pine Tar that far up on the bat?
Come on! Lighten up!
Now this was before we really got serious on baseball cheaters like McGwire, Sosa, Bond (allegedly), A-Rod and the list goes on and on in that sport. But then there’s “Stickum” in football, anabolic steroids, growth hormone in almost every Olympic sport, blood doping in cycling, academic cheating from junior high through college for basketball and football players, car modification cheating in racing…maybe it is true, if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying!
So we really shouldn’t be tripping out about Tom Brady.
But this article in The Root breaks down that we do view and talk about cheaters differently, I highly recommend giving it a read.
Here are some of the highlights:
“If he were black, people would be calling him a criminal and saying that his behavior reflected some innate values. They would blame hip-hop, single mothers and the culture of poverty. If he were a black player, the conversation wouldn’t be about Goodell or the system but how the lack of a work ethic and morals led him to cut corners, to win “by any means necessary.” If he were black, the conversation would turn to affirmative action and how he was forced to cheat because he lacked the skills needed to excel at this elite level….Brady demonstrates yet again that whites are innocent … until proved innocent. Any evidence to the contrary proves that the system is flawed, that we have a miscarriage of justice.”
Dad’s when you’re having this discussion with your kids, do you unknowingly talk differently based on the color of the athlete?
It’s something to think about and it’s how we teach our children about so-called race, without ever talking about race in our homes. Then we proudly exclaim to the world, “I teach my kids that skin color doesn’t matter, everybody should be treated the same!”
So do you treat everyone the same in your actions and judgements on who’s a cheater and who isn’t? Perhaps this is a good discussion to have with ourselves first, and then our children as well.
I hope my man got paid for the risk he took for this “scientific” research! We’ve seen that a black man’s arrest, trial and execution takes all of 2 seconds in this country right now.
Don’t believe me?
John Crawford – Walmart (toy gun he was purchasing): Killed immediately
Tamir Rice – Cleveland Park (toy gun, 12 years old): Killed immediately
Black homeowner – S.C., holding gun when he was the one who called the police because he was being robbed (read HERE): Shot…thankfully he lived.
I’ve been saying this for a year now. We are entering an environment where all the Nation of Islam has to do is just open its doors to the many young African-Americans who want to come in. These “kids” are not atheists or agnostic. Most will be Baptists, Methodist, Catholic, Church of God in Christ or just plain “Evangelical”, and the roots they’ve received from their respective churches all their lives are likely as shallow as a puddle on a sidewalk.
Therefore, to give them an opportunity to just talk, let alone mobilize about white supremacy will pull like gravity.
So I was not surprised at all to see the following:
EXCLUSIVE: The Nation Of Islam Speaks On Involvement In Baltimore – “America Will Never Be The Melting Pot We Want It To Be”
“Political leaders, athletes, and musicians headed to the city of Baltimore this past week, making headlines for their kind words, ideas, and inspiration after peaceful demonstrations turned violent following the funeral of Freddie Gray on Monday. Gray, 25, died from a spinal injury while in police custody. While the chaos of arson and looting took over headlines, one group’s efforts to prevent it all peculiarly went unnoticed – The Nation Of Islam.
Since its formation more than 80 years ago, the Islamic religious movement has dedicated their mission to bettering the mind, heart, and economic state of African-Americans. While the group has faced criticism for its harsh militancy position during the civil rights movement, some group members were seen on the front lines of the Baltimore riots, preventing possible looters from invading stores and bringing together Crips and Blood gang members in a photo that went viral over the weekend.”
If God allows you and I to live long enough, we’ll see another “race riot” in two months or two decades. History has shown that “race riots” in the USA are just as predictable as the weather.
The response of the Christian community is, well, as I said on social media to my wife:
“Forgive me as I don’t want to jack your post. But it jumped out at me that this article was written on a site who’s worldview is much different from ours. However, as it was during Ferguson, the vast majority of Christian sites/commentators are once again silent. I can’t help but reflect once again on the Good Samaritan parable, MLK’s comments about the silence of The Church during his protests/persecution, and 1 John 4. It confirms yet again, if I were on the side of the road unjustly beaten, in jail for protesting (not because my hockey team won a game) or just feeling troubled and saddened by the actions of my nation, comfort would be far more likely to come from those who need the gospel themselves, not by those who claim to share my belief in the gospel and its power. That in and of itself may be more shameful than what’s going on in the nation today…for at least I know where “they” stand, but I’m forced to ask on Sunday (e.g. within the Christian community), “who is my brother?” – 4:19, “We love, because He first loved us. 20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
Yes, sometimes as a so-called “Black Christian”, you feel quite alone during these times in our lives. It was this same environment in the early ’90s, that resulted in a rise in the number of African-Americans turning to the Nation of Islam. So many just wanted someone spiritual to speak up about crack in our communities, police brutality in our neighborhoods that resulted in a video of a man named Rodney King being beaten worse than a dog, and later riots in the streets of L.A..
But the Nation of Islam need the gospel, they do not have an answer.
The message below from Thabiti Anyabwile resonates with you African-American Christian. The NOI, Bahia, and now Kemet may make our flesh feel justified, but it will not justify our souls. Only Jesus Christ can do that, and I thank God that even when things seems to be at their worse, He still has men out there saying, “The Bible DOES deal with race! God is not a white-devil used to enslave your minds!”
Check out the message from this brother. He broke IT DOWN (some of y’all know what I mean when I say that). I can truly say he’s my “favorite” dude right now and I’m so glad God is using him to teach me at this time in my life, when I’m even standing out wondering, “Lord, am I missing something? Can people not get rid of their ethnic identity to be one with my people group in the Church?”
The Justified Life with God is a Compassionate Life Toward Men – Thabiti Anyabwile
Furious Fathering 