Media Produce Fear of Police

My oldest son was outside with all of his friends as I pulled to a stop in our driveway. One of his friends had parked in my usual spot, so I parked behind the car that they all worked on that night.

One of the kids greeted me with a hug, his normal custom, and told me to turn around. He had a stern look on his face, which for this kid was uncommon but I thought that he was fooling with me as this and most friends of my son did often. I think of them as my kids too when they are at my home and tell them as much.

“Dad (all my son's friends call me that),“ he finally prevailed upon me. "You should really turn around," he said. I did. 

To my astonishment, a police officer stood behind me trying to get my attention. A Police officer followed me home! This happened in February of 2016.  He followed me without my knowledge to my house. He did not turn on lights or try to gain my attention in any way other than when I exited the car. 

What I imagined is the picture to the right. 
The scene in my yard so distracted me—of the commotion of teens—that I did not notice the patrol car in my rearview mirror approaching. The officer said, “Sir, I just wanted to let you know your right headlight is out.”

“Okay,” I muttered stunned, and a bit surprised that someone was behind me. The man was one of those fit cop-types too. The one you know knew some type of fighting style that could catch a criminal who darted away on foot.  

“You have a good night sir,” he said leaving. I think he might even have smiled.

“You too,” I responded. After he left, I grabbed the teen who alerted me, and I hugged him tightly with nervous laughter as if he was my rescuer from sudden death!

“I am so glad that you are White,” came the words out of my mouth! “I do not know how this would have gone if you and all these other kids (who were also White) were not here.” He laughed, but I was serious.

I did not let on that I was serious about my involuntary reaction words following the departure of the officer to them. I made a big show of how dangerous it is for me since I am Black and that cops shoot people like us. I had them laughing as I left them to enter my home. The officer was also a White person.

The officer I got was actually like the picture to the left.

One time in my life has the police detained me for looking SUSPICIOUS occurred in Nashville, GA because it was raining outside at night and I was running away from Judge Knight’s house. I had gone there with my cousin to use the phone. We then ran a quarter of a mile or so to the store where a patrol car pulled up, and the officers told us to wait there for our parents. The officers were not mean. We were kids, and we did what they said.

A neighbor had called out of concern because she saw two people running from the judge’s house when she knew that the judge’s wife was at home alone and ill. That we were Black may have been an issue, but I could never know. This neighbor would have called had anyone been running from the judge’s home.

Fast-forward to February 2016. My first reaction was to thank God that there were White people in my yard! I have never been hurt or insulted by the police. I felt guilty. He could have pulled me over and given me a ticket, but he did not. He waited until I was safely in my yard. He did not even yell at me but tried to gain my attention apologetically, and I returned his behavior with fear and distrust.

All of this is because I hear in the media that police shoot Black men, unarmed Black men. I live in Arizona where most people seemed to be armed due to the state laws so I could say he was polite just in case I was carrying, legally carrying and he did not want to surprise me. I could say that he saw the White people in my yard and decided not to harm me due to their presence. I could say many things. He probably didn’t even know I was Black until I exited the vehicle!

I am ashamed, though. I am ashamed that I have started to distrust the police due to what I have seen on TV, heard on the radio, and viewed on YouTube. It is this type of fear that I felt that causes people to believe things that are not true about others.  It causes prejudice.  Little by little, I am allowing the influence of the media to take away my trust in the police. Heck, my wife has an uncle who is a detective! He was an officer of the law for years before that. I have acquaintances who are officers of the law!

I have never been arrested. I received tickets and knew that I deserved them. Thank God I have never met the cops who abuse their position. Even if I did, I would be compliant. Why was I afraid?

I feared because the media, in order to reach its goal to sell information, has fostered a culture of fear and prejudice. They, the media, have taken true events and lambasted them across the information web so much that it has created hysteria. The media is what caused the phenomenon that ended up being World War II! Hitler used it to help win the election in Germany and start another Reich. 

Media, stop supporting fear in my heart and inform me so that I can actually make a choice based on education and not emotion alone. You have betrayed me Media. Stop making me afraid of the police. Stop polarizing the people!

Thanks to you REAL patriots of the world (all nations) who inform us of the truth—real reporters, journalists, and history recorders. I love my USA REAL Patriots for giving the truth though you are small in number. Thanks for keeping me honest about what is going on in society and with me. Now I can guard against the apostasy of New Media.

Mental Musings of a Jaded Republican, I meant Independent!

Donald Trump. Is he as bad as the media says he is? I am too prejudiced against him now to care to find out, sadly I already did not like him because of his behavior on regular TV. When I heard he was running for president I laughed aloud.No one would vote for him, I thought. 

I was wrong. I found his crass behavior entertaining initially. I even found myself identifying with him. I would like to tell someone where to stuff his or her attitudes occasionally. I then realized that I don’t do that because it is rude. I dismissed Trump and moved on. I would not want a rude president.

Now, the media has me afraid that there is going to be a race war. Trump is now the party leader for the KKK and any other anti-minority group out there! This all started when he became a viable candidate for president. Crass, yes he is. Racist? Well, he is now according to the media. I have never heard tell of him so being.  I am not in the world like that, though.

The media gave me video of Trump behaving in what they call a racist way. They say he hates Black people and I believed them. It seems that no matter what Trump does his laud grows. His celebrity grows particularly from supporters of Abraham Lincoln’s Republican Party to which I belonged until I decided to be independent, the party that eventually freed my ancestors.

A fear begins to enter my heart about the Republican Party, the party of the first free Black people in America. It shows that I allow other people to think for me when I should do it for myself and trust my own research. I do not support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee and will not vote for him because he has bully behavior and that it the ONLY reason I should have. I have witnessed that. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. I fear for the Republican Party though I left it. I fear that it no longer stands for what Lincoln believed, the safety of the Republic of The United States of America.

So, if a republican candidate stands before me, all I see is the fear of discrimination. That is not what birthed the Republican Party. I became Independent because the party no longer represented what I thought it did in the past.

I am not inclined to vote for Hillary Clinton because of her association with the last Clinton in office. That's it. I am not judging her for her so called lies or even her political positions. She could not do much without a Congress to back her if she gets into office other than to appoint judges. I don't want her to win, no. I don't support her party's platforms.  I have never trusted the Democratic Party because they supported the enslavement of my ancestors. Yet, I find myself wishing President Obama could run for another four years and I did not vote for him in either election!

So, is racism alive? Yes, but not in my living room. Are police shooting people? Yeah, not the ones in my area. Is Trump the antichrist? I don’t know, but he is a bully. Am I a Republican? Depending on the day I might be, but not today. It is the party of my ancestors' emancipation. I do not like either party right now—never liked democrats. I fear I might have to write in a candidate for nomination—Mitt Romney.

We do not get to choose who wins president, but we do get to choose who runs. I suppose I will still carry my Republican card and live like an Independent. The old Republican Party is what I long for now. The old Republican party of Regan is what will save us. The Post Civil Rights Movement Democratic Party is also what we need. We need both parties to start again. Yes, I admit we need both parties to function as a whole in this nation.

We need a revolution in the parties and media to be true to its original purpose to further democracy by giving the readers awareness of the truth. Well, I suppose the readers and viewers need to revolution also so that we can be ready to hear the truth that the revolution media gives so that we can have good choices from the revolution parties to support, not just for the presidency, but all elected government.