Lately it at least appears that the police in some states around the country are really making an effort to bond with the communities that they protect and serve.  Hopefully, these communities will reciprocate in kind.  There is no doubt that there will continue to be police officers who will reject this effort and continue to abuse their power but like in any job, not everyone will abide by the rules.

We can also rest assured that there will be those in communities around the country who will find reasons, even if they are knowingly fabricated, to reject the efforts of communities to bond with the police because they are driven by anger.  Some are angry because they feel that people of color are raising a fuss and creating turmoil for no real reason because everything is already equal and this so called discrimination against them by the police and other white people is a figment of their imagination.  And people of color are angry at what has been happening to them for decades and the thought that this has been deliberately ignored by our elected officials and others who are in power.

And because those powers that be have patently ignored this situation and continue to wink at it while the lives of numerous people of color have been and continue to be lost, those who comprise these groups feel that something else must be done, even if they haven’t the faintest idea of what that ‘something’ is, before any attempt at reconciliation between police and people of color around America can even begin.

I believe that that ‘something’ for the majority of people of color is validation.  They want white people to openly and sincerely recognize that discrimination against people of color simply because of the color of their skin still exists.  They want them to realize that there is such a thing as white privilege.  They need this validation if they are to be able to move forward and work toward reconciliation.  That notwithstanding, those on the police forces around the country and those in communities throughout America who, for whatever reason, reject efforts at reconciliation must realize that whether or not they intend to be, they are a part of the problem and an obstruction to the solution.

Although the police officers and community members who feel this way may have a valid point and a right to their righteous indignation, this will never be an effective tool in helping to solve this complex problem.  This is not to say that those involved in working to find a solution to it cannot harbor these feelings, but it does say that if they are serious about solving the problem they must be able to move beyond them.

If both sides can move beyond these feelings then a solution can be reached and we can begin to heal.  Although there are no guarantees, if we work together and arrive at a solution the odds are in favor of police officers and community members gaining a better understanding of the complexity of the others situation.  By each side viewing the situation from the others’ perspective we can grow and develop a foundation that assures that each group is and feels mutually respected and appreciated.

There will no doubt still be times when these groups disagree and there will be anger and bickering but it will occur on a completely different level; one which is not driven by the divisiveness of race, raw feelings and that plays out under the shadow of suspicion of the lack of equal justice under the law.  I said in an article that I wrote and posted to this blog on July 13, 2016 entitled ‘All Lives Matter.  They Always Have, Do Now And Always Will’ that I believe that America’s young people will ultimately be the ones who will solve our problems involving race and our country’s policing dilemma.  These thoughts were reinforced by a poem entitled ‘My White Boy Privileges’ that was written by a 14-year-old Caucasian boy and posted to social media, which went viral.

This teenage boy openly acknowledged that he recognized because he is white, he has privileges that people of color do not have.  He said, and I paraphrase here, he would be afraid if he was not on the top rung of the ladder.  He further said that when he sees a policeman, he sees a friend and someone who is there to protect him and he would not trade places with anyone.  There is nothing wrong with him not wanting to trade places with anyone and voicing that sentiment.  What is important is that even while wrapping himself up in that ‘white privilege’, he does not refuse to recognize that not all people have that privilege.

The response to that poem on social media as of the time that I wrote this article represented a microcosm of what is a polarized America when it comes to race and policing in America.  Some people responded with appreciation and understanding and others responded with distain and hatred.  What all white people in America need to understand is that people of color do not want to take that sentiment and privilege away from white people, they simply want to be able to experience that same sentiment themselves by virtue of being afforded that same privilege.  This is not too much to ask and it is something that, against all odds, we can and should work together to do by initiating honest and sincere discourse on America’s problems regarding race and her problems with the policing of American citizens.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Let’s see now; how do I brand myself as a Democrat? Am I a liberal, progressive, moderate, neoliberal…?  Am I a populist kind of guy/gal or am I more of an FDR type; just a regular liberal?  Wait, maybe I’m a leftist type Democrat.  No…, maybe I’m a neoliberal; yeah – that’s it, I’m a neoliberal.  W-e-l-l with the way that I think, I’m probably more of a social conservative Democrat.  No…  But I know that I can’t be a libertarian because that’s Republican, isn’t it?

With the way that things are going today and with all of the different names that are floating around out there for those who are Democrats and those who are Republicans, people who are not political geeks but who regularly follow politics struggle to identify themselves (without an argument from those who identify themselves by the same name but define the name/term differently; e.g., conservative/conservatism). Even the political geeks and political pundits argue about this.

Right now USA Today has a headline that declares, “Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders battle over meaning of ‘progressive’. That’s right, each candidate and members of their respective staff are saying things like, he is not the gatekeeper of progressivism and she can’t be a moderate one day and a progressive the next simply depending on who she is speaking to.  If you presented all of the labels available to the regular Joe Democrat or Republican and then asked them, which one are you; do you think that they might have a tough time responding?  Remember when you could just be a liberal, moderate or conservative Democrat or a moderate or conservative Republican?

There are a lot of people who might argue that Democrats ran away from the ‘liberal’ word because Republicans had painstakingly defined it for Democrats and put it out to the world as something terrible and because Democrats were not able to effectively change that definition, they simply renamed it ‘progressive’. But this time Democrats defined it before the Republicans could trash it for them; although, obviously, we still argue over the definition.

So what is the big deal with all of this ‘I am a liberal’, ‘I am a progressive’, ‘I am a moderate’, ‘I am a social conservative’ Democrat etc. and etc.? Is it hard for the candidates to put less emphasis on that and focus more on the nitty-gritty stuff because the media and other political pundits emphasize it because it makes talking about politics more in-depth and, therefore more challenging and interesting to them?  Is it because the candidates themselves emphasize it for purposes of media coverage because they know that this is a tempting hook for the media?

I guess the regular Joe is left to either figure all of this out or just ignore it if they are to determine who they want to vote for then actually get out and vote for them despite the fact that all of the labels create some confusion as to what each candidate actually stands for. To make matters worse, it appears that they will be relegated to decipher this while different candidates are saying I am a liberal so I stand for this, I am a progressive so I stand for that.  And their opponents are saying, how can he/she be a progressive when they don’t stand for this, how can they be a progressive when they don’t stand for that?  He’s not a liberal, he stands for this!

But wait, you haven’t reached the finish line yet; there is still more to contend with. You are only dealing with the primary election.  You have to caucus for your candidate if you really want them to have a chance to win.  That’s right.  You can’ just go to their political rallies, show your support and let them know that you will vote for them in the primary and general election; you have to caucus for them.  Do what?

Ask most people (usually the regular Joes of the world) if they are going to caucus for their candidate and they will likely tell you yes because they have heard the word before. Then ask them what it means to caucus for their candidate and usually they don’t really know: you will normally get a bunch of stammering from them or just a blank stare.

What most people don’t know is that their candidate could have, for sake of a simple example, 1,000 supporters and someone else’s could have 500. However; if at caucus 100 (10%) of the supporters of the candidate with 1,000 supporters show up and 125 (25%) of the supporters of the candidate with 500 supporters show up, the candidate with 500 supporters will win.  Of course the process is significantly more complicated than what the example depicts but that is generally how things work at a caucus.

If you do manage to reach the finish line with your candidate as your Party’s nominee, the general election will still leave you and your candidate of choice to deal with all of the liberal, progressive, moderate, conservative etc. and etc. labels. But you will have successfully made it through the primaries process so the rest should be easy.  All you have to do now is stay informed and get out and vote.

That notwithstanding, hopefully the gatekeepers of liberalism, progressivism, conservatism and all of the rest will help us out before the 2016 presidential election takes place. Good luck to all of the regular Joe’s out there, you will probably need it!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Why don’t influential African Americans in the Republican Party like Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Michael Steel, Allen West, Herman Cain and Dr. Ben Carson step up and speak up to try to help save the Republican Party from self destruction? Are they afraid of the repercussions that they might be faced with?  Are they afraid of the personal damage that they might sustain from the sheer impact of any blowback that they might receive?

I tried to find out how many African American Republicans there are but could not come up with a definitive answer. Even if there are very few they should step up and speak up.  They should at least make an effort to educate the conservative faction of the Republican Party on the perspective of African Americans and other people of color on these ‘pure’ conservative points of view.

I read and then reread E. J. Dionne’s recent article, “Republican self-destruction is fun to watch, but bad for us all”, dated January 29, 2016 in The Washington Post. I learned some things that I did not know about conservatives, in particular pure conservatives, and their perspective on governance.  Although I do not agree with all of the things that they advocate in how they believe that America should move forward I believe that there can be common ground and that Democrats and Republicans should seek that common ground.  But that presents a major problem because pure conservatives believe that compromise with the Democrats is a deal breaker and therefore a non-starter.

As naive as it might sound coming from me, someone who has followed politics for a very long time; after reading Mr. Dionne’s article, it strikes me that perhaps I never really knew the definition of conservatism. Maybe the definition is continuing to evolve and I will never fully understand what conservatism means.  A lot of conservatives still argue about this so I shouldn’t let something like that bother me.  But the point is not whether or not I can define conservatism.  Instead, the point is what the takeaway for me was from that article and its impact on my thinking as it relates to influential African American Republicans.

I have watched Michael Steele defend the Republican Party many times on the Hardball with Chris Matthews Show and on other MSNBC shows. I have witnessed him bristle when others on those shows rightly asserted that congressional Republicans in Washington were divisive, seemed to be more interested in obstructing than they were in governing and that they are a Party that is continuously becoming more exclusive, older and whiter.

Michael Steele is a Republican and I can understand why he becomes agitated and comes to the defense of his Party when he feels that someone is attacking it. What I do not understand is how as an African American he can know how many of those in his Party feel about people who look like him and still remain attached to it without making any effort to fix it.  How can he be comfortable with that?

The very definition of conservatism by too many in the Republican Party precludes me as an African American, and no doubt many other people of color, from even considering becoming a member of that party. Why?  Because these Republicans want to go back to what they consider to be the ‘good old days’ when slavery existed (they now seem to want what fundamentally amounts to slavery in a more palatable form), there was no Social Security, no civil rights laws, no women’s rights, no gay rights, no push for universal health care, lower taxes on the wealthy, the government’s focus was on assisting “makers” and “job creators”, and there were fewer minorities.  This definition, which defines how Republicans really feel, is likely also what predestined them to fail in their effort to build a bigger and more inclusive tent.

It is nonsensical for anyone to believe that people of color would want to be part of a Party that wants them to subordinate themselves to white people and allow them to rule their lives no matter how nice and compassionate that those white people might be toward them. I wouldn’t do it and I am sure that today’s young African Americans would not do it.  I want to be equal to them and I want to be treated as an equal.  I want to be able to rise based on my ability and reach my full potential, no matter what that level might be and not held back because they believe that my cognitive powers are limited and I am not cerebral enough in their eyes.  I want to be judged by the content of my character, not the color of my skin.

If the true definition of conservatism is grounded in those previously mentioned things and those things are etched in stone and unmovable then therein lies the problem. It should not be this way.  That is why people like Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Michael Steele, Allen West, Herman Cain and Dr. Ben Carson should step up and speak up.  They have the opportunity and the responsibility to help the Republican Party get back on track.  Their efforts, even if not immediately successful, would be beneficial to the Republican Party, people of color, and to America.  America needs the entire Republican Party and that includes the conservative facet of it.

I don’t know if E. J. Dionne even gave a thought to calling out people like those that I mentioned. Even if he did, in his capacity it would likely be unethical and or against the rules.  In this blog, however, I am allowed to interject my opinion.  The downside is that I obviously don’t get anywhere near the amount of readers that The Washington Post gets and so this message will reach a lot fewer people.

Mr. Dionne said in his article that “An intellectually vibrant conservatism is essential to a healthy democracy. The United States needs conservatives willing to criticize the grand plans we liberals sometimes offer, to remind us that traditional institutions should not be overturned lightly and to challenge those who believe that politics can remold human nature.”  I agree with him.  And that is why we need the Republican Party and the conservative presence to remain a consistent part of our two party system.  They must not be allowed to self-destruct because of their stubbornness and lack of pliability.

And because their continued presence in the political process is in the best interest of America, whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents we have a responsibility to convince them that this is the case. Further, those previously mentioned influential Republicans should be leading the pack among those who should be first responders.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Lately, under pressure by the public, video after video that show police officers abusing their power by using excessive force or deadly force have been released by police departments. Most of the time these videos have reflected the opposite of what the police at the scene spelled out in their reports. Even after these videos have been released and police officers have been indicted and faced a jury, most of them have been freed and allowed to keep their job.  How does this make you feel?

Whether there release occurred because the laws in place dictated that they be released or whether it occurred for some other reason unknown to the public, the system has to be reevaluated and fixed. The best word for what the police officers in these videos have done is hubris.  The same word applies to all of the other cops who abuse their authority.  They do it because they can and they know that they will not be held to account.

It seems that when their actions are questioned the offending police officers’ unanimous response to this problem and citizens who disdain it is; so it’s hubris, what are you going to do about it? And that is the question before the American people: what are we going to do about it?  So far the answer is “nothing”… because we just can’t get our head around the problem.

Here is an idea for those politicians and heads of police departments around the country. Get serious about fixing the problem with policing now and stop hiding in dark corners and ignoring it or simply employing the old tired and worn out kick the can down the road approach to it.  Americans are tired of politicians and others who are in positions of authority using the timeless Potomac Two Step and Kick The Can Down The Road vaudeville-like routine to shirk their responsibility.

No one wants to step up to the problem because it is a political hot potato so they have convinced themselves that it is a massive problem that is all but impossible to solve. As a result, instead of working to solve it, they are spending a great amount of their time in the spin room trying to come up with talking points that will be acceptable to the public and the rest of their time doing actual trial runs on us until they can come up with the ones that we will find to be most palatable.

These politicians and other authorities are trying to convince the majority of Americans that they will continue to chip away at the problem in order to make things better but that this is a problem that is simply too big to solve; kind of like the banks that are “too big to fail”, that’s just the way that it is. They want to project to us an image of the old cliché of an elephant in a dark room that everyone is allowed to touch where everyone comes up with a different description of what is there because they all touched a different part of this huge animal.  Without knowing that this is an elephant there is no way that they can decide what they can do with or about this thing that is in the room.  Voila!  The situation involving policing in America will be resolved if only they can reach this point with their spin then effectively sell it to the public.

My analogy may sound harsh but I do not think that it is harsh because this avoidance by those responsible to address this problem has more to do with the impact that addressing it will have on their personal careers than it does with the supposed fact that it is impossible to solve. It is understandable that no one from the fair-minded street cop to the fair-minded top cop to the fair-minded ambitious politicians wants to attack this problem but someone has to step up to it.

Here is something that might help them to man up, woman up – or whatever it takes, to get them to step up to the problem: a template, so to speak, on how to determine that it is an elephant that is in the room so that they can determine what they should do next. First, turn on the light!  That should make things a lot easier.  If you continue to keep your heads in the sand or hide in any dark corner that you can find to avoid tackling the problem then it will never get fixed!

Now bear with me while I present the template that I have to offer. The bad cops on the street have a roof over their heads, which consists of – from the top down – ; the chief, deputy chiefs, division chiefs (senior command), commander, captains, lieutenants (command) then the sergeants, corporals, private first class cops and finally the buck private cops all of whom I will refer to as the street cops.  This roof prevents the rain (accountability, fairness and justice) from falling on them.  They know this is the case so they feel free, and perhaps even motivated, to conduct themselves in any way that they please without fear of any consequences.

If any of the cops in this chain of command are unscrupulous or dirty cops then this forms a portion of the roof over the heads of any other unscrupulous or dirty cops. If the top of the chain of command is unscrupulous or dirty then it is likely that many if not all of the others in that chain of command are that way because they were selected by the corrupt chain of command or their selection was influenced by them.  If this is the case then the roof is complete and these dirty cops are completely protected from the rain.  If there are cops in this chain of command who do not fit this unscrupulous, dirty cop mold they are usually intimidated and too afraid to challenge the status quo.

The police force senior command and command are usually heavily influenced by the Manager of Safety and the Mayor. Even if the Manager of Safety and the Mayor are individuals who are honest and above board and believe in fairness and holding members of the entire police force to account, there are political implications that, as a politician, the Mayor is extremely likely to consider that would impact on how he decides to deal with any problem with policing.  If there is a problem for the Mayor then this is likely a direct problem for the Manager of Safety and indirect problems for all other politicians that could become entangled in the effort to fix the problem.  This is why we are witnessing what we are experiencing now in America when it comes to addressing the problem of bad policing and what to do about correcting this problem.

So how can using the aforementioned template help in getting those responsible for fixing this problem to step up to it and fix it? Here’s how.  First, the Mayor must appoint a Manager of Safety and Chief of Police that is clean and did not come up through the ranks.  This is where we as voters and the public come in because we too have a responsibility to fill.  We must apply pressure to the Mayor to select such a chief and let him know in no uncertain terms that if he refuses then we will make him pay via recall, at the next election if applicable or in his efforts to further his political career if he is term-limited and cannot run again.

Once the new Manager of Safety and police chief are in place they can begin to replace those corrupt cops in the senior command and command ranks. This will remove the intimidation felt by those in the ranks of the scrupulous street cops and motivate them to begin to help clean up the problem before the ax even reaches their level because they now know that the rain can and will fall on these unscrupulous cops.

Knowing that the roof has been removed and that the rain will fall on them will be just as effective on the good cops as it will on the bad ones. Good cops will become more comfortable with challenging their fellow officers whenever they begin to abuse their power.  And if that is not enough then they will likely feel more comfortable with reporting these officers to their superiors.  However, the fact that unscrupulous and dirty cops might also begin to clean up their act before the ax reaches them must not mean that they get a get out of jail free card and should not be replaced and still held accountable for what they have done.

All police departments hierarchy are not set up the same way in every city as the one mentioned in my example; but correcting the problem should function the same way by working from the top to the bottom. This suggestion is not something that is meant to be a panacea but, instead, is meant to be at least a starting point for those who have procrastinated for so long and are continuing to resist fixing this problem.  It is not something that is expected to work overnight or without a lot of hard work and planning.  Even if people continue to gripe and complain, which we probably will, until the problem is fixed at least those responsible to fix it will have gotten off the dime and began making a reasonable effort to do so.

Eulus Dennis

Who is this Barack Obama? In the eyes of the Republicans he is fickle, weak, does not understand the Middle East, a timid decision maker, not so bright, a liar, a person who does not love America, an illegitimate president, a president who leads from behind, a president of America that any of the 2016 Republican presidential candidates would be better than and many other negative things that would comprise a list that is longer than I would care to mention.  Further – in their eyes, he does not pound his chest nearly enough to emphasize America’s strength or bully the rest of the world and threaten to annihilate them if they do not see things the same way that we do and agree to do them exactly our way.

Now I will tell you who my president is in my eyes. He is a strong and principled president who always leads from the front despite the tremendous demands of his office and the additional unwarranted and unnecessary weight placed on him by his fellow politicians whose number one goal was to make him a one-term president and now is to deny him any victories in order to ruin his legacy even if those victories are in the best interest of America.

He is a president who is consistent, strong, completely understands the volatile and sensitive Middle East situation, a strong decision maker, extremely bright, a truth teller who constantly monitors the emotional atmosphere of our country and world situations then skillfully incorporates the results – in consideration of the American people and the volatility of those situations – into his determination and the delivery of his message as to how America will handle these problems. He is a president who loves America and all of her citizens, without doubt a legitimate president, a president that has accomplished great things for our country, a president who is definitely not irreplaceable (no one is) but one who will leave big shoes to fill.  And finally, he is not the blowhard which it seems that Republican leaders around the country and Republican politicians in Washington want.

Obviously, my view of President Obama is the flip side of the coin that depicts how his Republican adversaries and others who see him as an illegitimate president view him. I believe that my perspective coincides with that of most other reasonable people whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.  They might not like him or agree with the decisions that he makes but they do not condone denigrating him and sabotaging his leadership before American citizens and the world based on those things.

The best way to replace President Obama and prevent people like him who support his perspectives and way of governance from leading the country is to exercise your right to vote! I would quickly add that in doing this, the process should not in any way be sabotaged to prevent anyone who has a right to vote from exercising that right.

We are a democracy and have to work harder to act like one no matter how angry and frustrated we might be or might become with one another. We must realize and accept that this type of governance can be and usually is messy but also realize that it is what has helped to make America the great country that it is.

In realizing and accepting this we can continue to fuss, fight and complain but we must not let anything or anybody separate us based on race, religion, gender or any such thing; weaken us and then exploit that weakness for their personal gain or the gain of any cause that they might champion. To do so is playing right into the hands of ISIS and other terrorist organizations like it.  This is exactly what they want America to do!

I have disagreed with decisions that President Obama has made, felt the frustration of not receiving equal treatment as an American by those in power as well as from everyday white American citizens based simply on the color of my skin, been disappointed because my white brothers and sisters either cannot or do not seem to want to understand that disappointment and marveled at those white people who do not believe that there is any such a thing as white privilege. I get upset with them – many of whom I consider to be my friends, and gripe and complain (sometimes to them) about their lack of perception and inability to see something that is (to me) so blatantly obvious.  I can only imagine the reciprocal because I have not lived it but many of them are likely just as frustrated with me and my seemingly inability to see things from their perspective.

But I firmly believe that the great majority of white people want things to be fair and want everyone who is willing to work for it to have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. There are too many white people who have, from since almost the time that the first load of slaves were delivered to the shores of America, privately – and later openly helped people of color to advance for me to be wrong.  And during the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, white people have openly stood arm-in-arm with their black counterparts in an effort to achieve equality for all people.  And they have done this while all the time being ridiculed by other white people and at the risk of their own personal safety.  This is something that should not be taken lightly or for granted.

So I encourage all of us as Americans to consider these things in our decision making and to always incorporate them into our thinking before we act. I understand the fear that all of the recent senseless killing has engendered because I too am afraid.  But we cannot let fear rule us, instead, we must manage it.  We have all been afraid before at one time or another and have come through it safely.  I would wager that if we reflect on those times that we were afraid most of us would arrive at the conclusion that we were better off because we managed that fear than we would have been had we not managed it.

And again I say – if we must, let us fuss, fight, complain and disagree – in a civilized way – about the issues and how our country’s leader handles them but as Americans, let us always remain civil. In addition, politicians whom we have elected to lead and guide us must determine to avoid the temptation to sabotage our president’s leadership and programs and embarrass America in the eyes of the world in pursuit of political gain.  There are much better ways for them to achieve their goals and do it honorably.

Eulus Dennis