A Presumption of Guilt

After the verdict of the Trayvon Martin trial, there was a lot of commentary about race and racism, with even President Obama taking a moment to comment about it: 

But what really stood out to me was a guest on All In with Chris Hayes. I don’t remember his name or what day he was on, but he said something that made me think of racism differently.  He said that young black men live with a presumption of guilt.  This made me think of racism, not as something that someone actively believes and practices, but rather something that creates a hostile environment for another person.

I am neither smart enough nor experienced enough to debate either side, but I am human.  I am open to looking at it from a different point of view to gain a new perspective.  I want to change the way that I observe other people.  I don’t want to be the cause of a hostile environment for someone else.

This case also reminded me of college.  I went to school at Gonzaga University and during my freshman year, minority students were the targets of racist vandalism.

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The Racist Factor

I don’t want to tarnish what I like to write about with Bill O’Reilly, but I really don’t understand how someone who thinks lynching the First Lady is ok can have a TV show.

I remember when he said this and was shocked.  I was even more surprised that it didn’t catch anyone’s attention back in 2008.

Here’s his justification for lynching the First Lady:

I don’t want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there’s evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels.

Here’s the link to transcript on media matters.

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A compliment

Today, out of the blue, I received a compliment.  It was not asked for, nor was it unwelcomed.  It was the best kind of all, in that it was just kind.  And it totally made my day.

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I spent my iTunes gift card buying some old Joe Diffie & Mark Chesnutt cds. Here’s one of my favorite songs.