Race Matters

In the year plus since I have last sat down and written something here there have been plenty of intense news stories to consider.  There have been mass shootings, and foreign policy crises, and all kinds of things that could have been discussed here.  I came close to posting when the street car extension went down in defeat, if nothing else to dance a little victory dance, but even then, no.  Too much other stuff in my life.  Just keeping up on the Facebook is hard enough sometimes.

But then on a Saturday afternoon, a man was shot by a police officer in the town of Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis--and life has been off the hook since. 

Partly it is because I have this amazing Facebook friend.  I've never met her in person, but she is a talented writer and the kind of person who stands up hard for what she believes in.  She even appeared on national television after a certain Facebook post about mommy fitness went viral and she presented an alternative message so well that the media wanted to interview her.  Well, my friend became very intense about what was going on in Ferguson, and posted stuff from non-MSM sources that were more reflective of the black experience.  Most of them I was in agreement with and some I realized were treading in land I could not, as a white person, access.  They aroused emotion and some argument.  Other places on the internet were ablaze with commentary, from national sites like CNN to local sites like Tony's Kansas City.  Of course I could not go just half way with this stuff, but plunged in head long as usual.  None of it has changed my mind about the way I feel about race matters--stuff I have blogged about years ago.  But everything has been brought up afresh with the events in Ferguson.  I find that unfortunate, since we have struggled hard in this country to make progress.

The main thing that I want to say here is that the old narrative that fueled the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is broken and needs revision.  Now, I am not saying that it needs to be thrown out completely.  Slavery was real.  White European people came to see black African people as less than human, something that just boggles my mind (and a stream of thought that is very much alive today, alas), and because of this white people could see their way to treating black people very badly.  The Civil Rights movement swept aside all legal bits of this inhuman treatment, and even put in place some things to force equal treatment. 

So what happened?  Something did, because parts of American society are badly dysfunctional.  Especially black American society. 

Maybe it is not so much that the narrative is broken, but that it is misused.  It is used to deflect responsibility for one's actions.  It is used to jump to conclusions.  It is used to lump everyone in a given group all together in one monolithic stereotype.  It is used to lower expectations and to allow for failure to become acceptable.  It is used to avoid asking hard questions and hearing hard answers.  It is used as an excuse.

Racism, prejudice and bigotry are alive and very well in today's society.  We are not past Race Matters by any means.  There are certain things that as a white person I will never understand, no matter how empathic I can be.  Yet we have to stop and ask, Is this current narrative and what we say to ourselves as a country about race and the history of black and white people in this country working?  I would propose that what we say is not working, not working at all.  The proof is in Ferguson, Missouri, and it is playing out live on your TV, on your computer or smart phone, in comment sections and blog posts, in anger and fear, in destruction and distrust.  

I am pretty hard to scare.  I recognize that the MSM is manipulative with its "if it bleeds it leads" mantra.  I look at crime realistically, rarely allowing news stories to frighten me unduly, taking me past doing common sense crime prevention and simply being aware of my surroundings.  But Ferguson scares me.  The profile of Ferguson is not far off from suburban cities in Kansas City and even south KC itself.  Communities such as Raytown, Grandview, Ruskin and even the older parts of Overland Park and Olathe have experienced White Flight and significant population changes. Have their polity and politics kept up with the change?  Do their police forces relate to the community as it is composed now?  Could a mob come into my neighborhood and destroy what me and my family have worked for in a night of terror?  I look around and see a lot of positive signs:  The Grandview police department is light years ahead of where they were.  KCMO has a black mayor and police chief.  My neighborhood is integrated. I have good neighbors.

I would hate to have the powerful outside forces of racial politics and fear transform good neighbors into people I have to worry about harming our community structure in the name of race.  It is time for all races, tribes, groups and statuses to look realistically at the way we talk to ourselves about Race Matters and to take responsibility for our own sins and bad actions.  That is one way to snuff the fuse of the race bomb. 

It's Sunday--After a Long Week--Therefore--Kittens!

Wayside Waifs and other animal shelters are full of kittens right now. I stopped in to visit on Friday this past week.

I have to say I have never seen so many cute, energetic and pretty kittens all in one place before.

It was a kittenpalooza there--and it's not just Wayside Waifs. All the shelters in the metro are reporting in with lots of kittens.

Here is the smallest "cone of shame" I have ever seen...probably weighed more then this little girl.

Alert tabby and white beguiles visitors with her charms. Note the ear tufts--nice flourish.

They are better in pairs really--if you have no pets now, and are considering adopting young ones, consider two...

They play with each other, not you so much. Cuts down on the kitten scratches and nibbles.

Wayside also have adorable puppies and grown cat and dogs. Most of the dogs are still very young--this shepherd mix is only two.

Animal rescues and shelters in our area have been helping out in the tornado zones by collecting animals that had been in the shelters and rescues in those areas--particularly Joplin, MO--and bringing them up here to KC for possible adoption. This frees up space in the shelters there for animals that are found in the process of rescue, recovery and clean up. In that way, reuniting owners with their beloved pets is more possible. Also supplies are being given out to pet owners in the damaged areas to help them feed and keep their animals healthy.

Wayside Waifs is at 3901 Martha Truman Road in south KC. On the web at www.waysidewaifs.org. Phone 816-761-8151.

Presidents and Disasters

Some have given President Barack Obama some grief for not going to the tornado scene in Joplin right away. He also got some mild push back for not going to Alabama until a number of days had passed. Those with memories will remember that President G.W.Bush got it six ways to Sunday about merely "flying over" New Orleans in the earliest days of recovery after hurricane Katrina. So, should the POTUS go to disaster areas? If so, when?

Now, I view this more from the point of the first responder. I could give a care about the "optics" of a situation. I think that President Bush was 100% right in his call to not go on the ground too soon after Katrina. I think President Obama hit just the right time in Alabama, after the majority, if not all, of rescue and recovery was completed, but before too much clean up had happened. He could do all of it: be a consoling presence, show leadership and get the really cool pictures in the rubble, without being disruptive to what was going on.

So here are my parameters: The visit must not complicate the lives of the fire service, EMS, or law enforcement at all. The president should be as "self contained" as possible--bringing as much of his own logistics as he can. Saving of life and property must always be the first priority; if a president's visit will slow that, it needs to wait. There are other ways to show that you care--videos, radio addresses, statements in speeches, etc. etc.--that can be used until a ground presence is not a major hindrance. People do appreciate the president coming by, I think that is true, but it must not take resources from the immediate task at hand.

We in Missouri will welcome Mr. Obama when he comes--currently scheduled for Sunday. It might be sooner if conditions in Missouri can tolerate it and the president has to return from Europe early due to the volcanic ash cloud's affects on air travel.

Addendum: I left this post and I was pretty satisfied with it. And then I wasn't. So I am adding this and modifying the last paragraph, which had suffered from an invasion of partisan snark. Because I am not going to pick at any president politically for how he handles going into disaster sites. Or not going, as the case may be. People who pick at this topic are incredibly inconsistent: Republicans defend Bush for not rushing to New Orleans, yet rake Obama over the coals for not going to Missouri. I am thinking you are better off sticking to general principles, and judging according to those principles, applying criticism evenly, regardless of political labels. Using disasters for political gain is incredibly distasteful to me. It is not a time to trot out nasty partisan politics--it is a time to pull together and help those who need help, both now and in the long term.

Joplin Hit By Tornado Sunday

The problem with tornadoes is that when they hit, they are close to 100% destructive. The bigger, stronger, wider and meaner they are, the more we need the advanced notice to do what we can to protect our lives. However, they do not give the lead time of hurricanes, and they are random in appearance. This "thunderstorm-complex-capable-of-producing-a-tornado" makes no twisters, this one makes a little F1 that stays on the ground for five minutes--and we are bitching because the local media interrupted programming for warnings and watches. Then this storm produces--not nothing or a piddling F1 but an F4 or F5 tornado that is big, strong, wide and stays on the ground for miles--and we are left standing there with our proverbial mouths open.

I have looked at a lot of post tornado photos lately. I decided to put the Ruskin stuff I have in an album on Facebook, and so posted 40 something images there. (Linked here if you'd like to see.) Then a tornado as big or bigger (and from the looks of things, I'd say this monster was wider than the 1957 twister) hits Joplin, and now I am looking at eerily familiar images again.

That day, Sunday, it was well known that conditions were favorable for the formation of strong storms that could be tornadic. I remember looking at radar around 2 pm and noting a line of severe storms that blew up starting in eastern Jackson County and lining up to the northeast. The line was building south and moving SSE. It was this line, extended south, that produced the tornado that hit Joplin, as well as a smaller twister near Higginsville.

For the emergency managers and the people at the National Weather Service, the question is whether and when to put out warnings for a given area. For us, the population at large, the question is what shall we do in response to the warnings if they appear. Most sources are saying that Joplin had a 20 minute notice or so that there was a tornado on the ground in their area. That is not enough time to move very far to shelter, but it is enough time to find shelter in the general area you are in. The general consensus of experts is that tornadoes move too fast and too unpredictably to give a long lead time that would give enough time to evacuate and move out of the way of a storm. The usual counsel is to shelter where you are. Some hospital people are saying they had about five minutes notice. My guess is that they had five minutes between the time they decided this was the real deal and the time the tornado hit.

A balance has to be kept. People need warning so they can take the action they can. Warning without hazard makes people lackadaisical in their preparation and action. No warning, or late warning in the face of hazard creates unprepared people, and perhaps casualties that could have been avoided. Generally, warnings are issued erring on the side of safety. People need to help out what the NWS and emergency managers do by having an awareness of the world around them, both in terms of being in touch with media and in looking out the dadgum window every so often.

Photos--tornado clean up, separated by 54 years--both from the Kansas City Star.

News Digest and Quick Commentary

Item: Mo. Gov. Wants Prescriptions For Certain Cold Meds My first reaction was immediate and personal. What a pain in the butt! It's already a bad deal to have to remember to go to the store when the pharmacy is open, but to have to see my doctor before hand for something that can be fixed with a little red pill (like a sinus headache)? Not to mention the extra cost in money and time. What's to stop meth dopers from going to another state for the chemical? It will not help if not universally applied, and that is just too much nanny government for me. Although the surveillance has its own problems, using the registry in this and other states is a good way to track down meth manufacturing abusers of pseudoephedrine. This drug really works as intended for most people--let's keep it available for those who need it.

Item: Gov't Orders Cities to Change Street Signs Apparently, six years ago, it was decreed by the Federal Gubmint that all street signs shall be rendered in all CAPS. Now, the same Federal Gubmint has decreed that street signs shall be rendered in Mixed Case. It was just a few years ago that the ALL CAPS signs started appearing around Kansas City, Missouri. Now, starting in 2012, those signs will have to be replaced. The gubmint says that signs with mixed case are easier to read--that is that Red Bridge Road is easier to read and comprehend than RED BRIDGE ROAD. Hmmm, OK if you say so on that, but this is an unfunded mandate for states and cities already strapped for cash, even with replacement over the span of several years. Besides what's to stop the overbearing Feds from changing their mind five years from now? Let cities and states make the final decisions for form, within the structure of simple, fundamental specs from the feds which do not change every five minutes.

Item: Wikileaks opens up diplomatic communications A serious offense against this nation? I do think so, although I am not so much wanting the head of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange as the heads of those who put the documents in this man's hands. We have already seen one person prosecuted for the previous leaks. Let's find out and prosecute the source of these new leaks. By the way, has anyone heard much from President Obama on this? I'd like to hear some passion from our president, and not so much his intellectual side when and if he comments. Something on the order of, "This is a travesty and we are going to find out what happened and we are going to bring the force of the law on those responsible." That would be good.

Enjoy this chilly night!