It's not about race!

It’s not about Race

There’s been a great deal of discussion since Michael Brown and Eric Gardener, both black men, were killed by police officers, both white men. Similarly, when Freddie Gray died in police custody “discussions” included demonstrations, both peaceful and violent. A number of individuals on one side of the argument complain because when a large group of people who turn over cars and set fires in a violent fashion are mostly white, it’s not called a riot. Like it or not, these events that take place when a hometown loses a sports competition, or even sometimes when their team wins a competition, are characterized as a “celebration,” not a riot. This has more to do with the motivations for the action than the race of the participants.

Thursday’s Star Democrat, in an article entitled, “Differing perceptions of Waco, Baltimore are bothering some” questions the perceptions and portrayal of crime in America. “There was no live news coverage of the Waco shootings,” Jesse J. Holland of the AP writes. True, and there was no “live news coverage” of the “5 shot in Baltimore” Wednesday reported on page A7. There seems to be an almost acceptance of murder when it’s “black on black” just as it comes as no surprise when motorcycle gangs, mostly white, solve their territorial issues with gun violence.

And don’t try to tell me that psychologists and sociologists haven’t been studying the breakdown of families, including fatherless homes, substance abuse, and child abuse as the root cause of gangs. Everyone wants to put every major failing in our country down as racism; black vs. white, or white vs. people of color, when that is only one facet of a much larger problem; the failures of our families to raise their children with respect for themselves, for their parents, or for the society we all live in.

Frank L. Miller

8559 Dogwood Blossom Lane

Denton, Maryland 21629

410-479-0498