by daChipster

So, Bill Cosby. When I was a kid, I enjoyed Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids on Saturday mornings. When I was a little older, I had one of his albums. In the 80s, I watched the Cosby Show. In the 90s, I saw him perform live. Having enjoyed his body of work and the positive messages he’s portrayed, I am terrifically saddened that all these accusations have come out. Saddened, but not surprised. It seems anybody who wags a moralistic finger at those below him ends up a hypocrite, these days.

But, it’s not a “black thing.”

So, Ferguson. I don’t know why people choose to care about one shooting over another. I don’t know why protesters were so strong, and the media so present, on this one, but so weak and so absent on John Crawford, or 12-year-old Tamir Rice, both Ohioans killed by cops recently in separate incidents when somebody called 911 to report them carrying a gun, each of which was fake.   I suspect it has a lot to do with long-simmering tensions in Ferguson, that erupted once the heat was turned up by Michael Brown’s killing. Turned back down to simmer, these tensions boiled over again when a grand jury failed to indict his killer. That decision literally and figuratively lit the matches that blew Ferguson up last night.

But, it’s not a “black thing.”

In fact, with all due respect to the black community, most of what’s going on is not about them, per se.

It’s not black-white. Or brown-white. Or yellow-white. It’s not a race or color thing at all. 

It’s a poor thing.

Unless someone comes up with strong evidence within the statute of limitations, Bill Cosby has successfully gotten away with decades of serial rape and sexual assault, because he had the power to cow any accusers, and the money to buy the silence of those who wouldn’t scare. He only pulled this nonsense because he had the money and power to get away with it.  Anybody black, brown, white or plaid, who didn’t and tried the same thing would rightfully end up a registered and jailed sex offender.

As we see in Ferguson, the black id is still in a justifiable siege mentality. Centuries of enslavement and oppression are not to be wiped away by a couple of decades of people mouthing “equality” but not backing it up with action.  But it’s not just a black thing. It so happens that they are still on the downside looking up because they are the ones still in the slums. Irish and Italians are just two groups who faced similar circumstances, and also had endemic crime in their neighborhoods, while being blackguarded by WASPy politicos and editors. Same with hispanics today.

Those who stand in opposition to Affirmative Action, public education, and other attempts to level the playing field bleat phrases like “Equality of Opportunity, not Equality of Outcome!” All the while, equality of opportunity is a sham.

The only people with equal opportunity are those who can pay for it.

The only people with equal justice are those who can pay for it.

The only people with equal police protection are those who can pay for it.

The only people with equal access to reproductive health are those who can pay for it.

The only people with equal political speech are those who can pay for it.

The only people with equal access to the ballot are those who can pay for it.

The only people with equal representation in Washington are those who can pay for it.

As in Animal Farm, we are learning that some people are, indeed, more equal than others.   Roosevelt New Deal liberalism recognized that equality of opportunity means NOTHING unless it leads to equality of outcome.  But the ones who get equality of outcome are not the ones chased and shot by police.  If punished at all, their crimes are federal, and they are politely arrested, post bond, and are back at the office suite after lunch.

That the people in Ferguson are black is only a coincidence of current history. In 1776 America, they were all white. In 1789 France and 1919 Russia, as well. In 1947 they were Indian. In 1946, they were Chinese. In 1959, they were Cuban. In 1979, they were Iranian. It’s not a black thing.

It’s a poor thing.