Friday, July 31, 2009

Solutions Not Problems


















This is a conversation between a friend and me. My friend is white and he is a good friend of mine. Enjoy.....................


From: Dario Mobley
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 7:21:46 AM Subject:


Hey,

Did you get a chance to listen to my loud mouth on that sports show?

What do you think about the Michael Vick thing?

What do you think about Obama sitting down Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates?


To: "Dario Mobley"
Date: Friday, July 31, 2009, 11:19 AM

I never did hear the radio thing. Could you try to send it again. I am not sure what Micheal Vick thing you are talking about, I have not been paying alot of attention to news lately. As far as the glamorized photo op you are talking about, that is just plain ridiculous! It is so nice that we elected a racist president. You know me, I don't like racist comments going either way (remember that wonderful Indian lady?). The fact that he called that officer stupid before he even knew the facts proves to me that deep down he is a racist. All he knew was it was a black homeowner and a white officer, so automatically, the officer was wrong. Never mind that the officer was trying to protect that mans home, and never mind that the officer once gave mouth to mouth to Reggie Lewis to try to save his life, in Obama's eyes, he is stupid and wrong because he is white. And before you tell me he is not a racist, lets not forget the comment about how his grandmother was a "typical white woman". What do suppose would happen to a white presidential candidate if he had black relatives and he said one of them acted like a "typical black woman"? That candidate would be run out of town and you know that is true. Sorry to go on so long, but I just cant stand racism in any form towards anyone.


Talk to you later


From: Dario Mobley
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 1:52:46 PM
Subject:

Hey,

I have attached the radio show to this email..

Let's try to take politics or our contrast of political belief out of this and think about this for a second. Firstly, Obama is half Caucasian. Is he racist against himself? For him to come out and state his judgment about Gates and Crowley was wrong. It does not matter if the officer was white or black. I agree with that. However, in a slight defense, I would think most people would take the side of their friends. Even with that being said, the problem with what he did that I acknowledge to you is that he should not have verbalized his thoughts without having the facts because he is President of the United States.

As far as the "typical white person" comment, that comment is all how you decide to interpret it. Are you searching for problems or are you searching for solutions? I can understand the "typical white person comment" clearly because I interpret as him referring to an eighty-six year old white woman who grew up in a time when things were different. It was at a time where whites were verbally and openly racist against blacks with full cooperation from the law. There were democrat and republican presidents during that time so please understand why and how I view that comment that way. The civil rights act was signed in 1964 and it took a while for people to change their views and some still have not today. However, there were people who were not racist then and there are definitely moe people who are not racist now but the views are rooted in how I was reared by my parents.


I wanted to express that to you so you could hopefully understand. But where are we at with this man? Do some people feel that Obama does not represent the United States because he is not 100% white or because he can relate to the struggle of all people instead of just a particular group? Again, I understand you have political beliefs that are deep rooted with the way you were raised. However, it seems like everything that Obama does is not acceptable to you and a lot of other people. There is nothing that he can do right. Is that really logical or even fair? Is this because you don't agree with democratic policies or because you feel that he does not have you and your family best interest in mind?

I have never seen you as a racist and never will. There were many white presidents that I felt were racist so if I don't consider myself a racist, I can not consider you a racist. Additionally, from being around you and being a friend of yours, that stamps my overall view of you as a great person. The thing that seems to be happening with people in general is that we feel like we have to take a side. We either have to be on the black side or white side, conservative side or liberal side, and so on. I believe that each person should be judged on an individual basis and that is how we should proceed with our analysis of anything when it comes to treating a human being. We can't allow politics to filter into making us take a side on things that we fundamentally agree about like "treating people how you want to be treated". I am all about understanding and working toward solutions and not creating more problems as I believe you are. Similarly, I think Obama was trying to accomplish that by sitting the two gentlemen down and talking it out like civilized human beings. How can you or I know Obama's intentions for doing that? You choose to believe that it was a photo opportunity. You don't really know and even if it was a photo op, how can sitting two men down on an issue that is dividing the country be viewed as wrong in any way? Now, both guys did not want to apologize but obviously both guys were wrong in some sort of way. Gates should have cooperated and just filed a complaint after the guy left. Crowley could have identified him from a picture in the house or some other way and should not have arrested him. Both were wrong yet none of them apologized because they both felt that they had to choose a side that does not have any room for middle ground. I don't feel we have to choose a side. Look, you and I are always going to have different political beliefs because that is how we were reared but for some reason, a guy from the deep south and a guy from the South Western-Western part of the United Sates became friends and they can clown and joke like they are brothers regardless of their political beliefs. I think people can talk things out and if it comes to a point where you have to agree to disagree, that is much better than yelling at each other with no attempt at finding some sort of common ground. I think that is how we can achieve solutions and eliminate problems. Hopefully, I have just allowed you to understand my point of view a little more. The issue of people treating each other right is an important issue to me. It's not about white, black, democratic or republican for me. It is about people. It only takes one person to make a change. Hopefully, we are making that change by talking this out.

3 comments:

  1. OK. No response. Well put Dario. You finally put it into words for me, "people seem to be trying to find problems instead of solutions." From some people's perspective (seems to be all white people) no matter what President Obama does they will find something wrong with it, thus making a faliure as President (in their eyes) Please if anyone reads this and disagree with what I said about all white people, i beg you, please send me video of someone black repeatedly bashing Obama (No Fox News sell outs either). Someone intelligent, fair, and of sound mind.

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  2. You will not find many black people that will bash President Obama on how he feels about race, and the controversy of it; especially if he is misinformed at the onset, as was the case in this particular incident...Some will criticize his political views and how he leads the country, however, what President hasn't been criticized?
    It’s unfortunate that most don’t seek a solution to the problem, but perpetuate what is seen or already exists. Most people, if any, have lost sight in the case of Gates and Crowley; both men were right in their reactions, however, they let anger in the situation fuel how they handled it. As seen, or rather heard by the free world, the lady that called never even got involved in what race was entering the house, seemingly forcibly, she was concentrating on her neighbor’s home.
    Now fast-forward, Gates got angry because he had to show identification in his home, understandable. However, he didn’t have to berate the officer doing his job, or get belligerent. He can say whatever he wanted in his home and then close the door, but he chose to exit his threshold and continue to rant. The police officer did what he thought was the proper, arrested Gates for disorderly conduct, outside.
    Both individuals were right and wrong, the solution would be this; when the officer arrives and asks for ID, give it and say, I feel wronged for having to show you I live in my own house; are you doing this because I’m black and you feel I don’t belong here, or are you/were you trying to protect my property?
    It’s all in how we talk to one another that escalates a situation, if anger and bravado are involved you get an incident that should not be an incident.
    Now I’ll say this, is racism still alive? Yes. But, we should try everyday to smother it with actions, words and how we treat others. We should be firm, educated and fair in how we look at each incident and try to find the solution to the situation before it rises above into volatility; especially if it involves the races, any race.

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  3. J. Kee.... enough said (I agree). Like it Dario. Its always easier for people to point fingers and place blame so they don't ever have to look inwards and take the effort to change anything about themselves.

    Mr Jones. I believe you'd find it really hard to find a black person to really ridicule Obama. I don't mean this in a negative way, but aren't all blacks happy to see this? I'm happy to see this; this is what the United States of America is all about. Opportunity. Everything blacks have put up with in this country and to finally have a black president. I'm happy to have seen it in my life. If it happens more often and some of the wounds of the past heal, I think blacks will be more out spoken with their political differences with a black president just as white people are with everything.

    With each generation things are improving. I told Dario this the other day, "When our generation gets in the decision making position, things will be a lot better than what they are today." It just takes time; but there will always be hate in the world.

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