I'm a moderate Cd, but what I differ from a lot of people that I know is that I am very sensitive the issues of black and brown you describe. I have seen first hand the shytholes that these citizens live in. First off, I was raised by great parents. Both working parents. A democratic mom and a republican dad, but both compassionate to the issues of poverty, ethnicity, culture, color. Mom especially culturally intentional. Taught migrants in Miami in the 60s, a writer-producer for public television in Miami, snd dad a USCG pilot and safety engineer after military service for the USCG as well. But my point is, my caring for others, not selfish for myself is rooted in the foundation of my upbringing. I was basically raised from an early age into my early teens by a black woman who managed our household while both parents worked to give five kids everything we needed to succeed. I loved this woman just like my mom. She was not a maid; she was our house keeper. My friends all loved her as well. But she would sit and we'd talked and I listened. A lot of baseball talk as she was a huge LA Dodgers fan and we spent hours watch World Series after World Series.
I grew up on one side of the tracks. Literally very close to US 1 with the tracks alongside that highway. And on one side was a black neighborhood called Howard back then, and my side a white neighborhood now called Pinecrest. But on our side, and kinda in the middle was Suniland Park. And I grew up there up until I left Miami for the Army. I played all sports and what was helpful in my development was that we would all meet at that park. The kids from Howard and the kids from Pinecrest. Black and white meeting to play sports. Mostly pick-me-up games because most of those kids couldn't afford to play organized sports. They were dirt poor, but it didn't matter at the time because we would integrate into that Youth Center, all four seasons and did this for many many years. I learned at an early age not to be prejudiced toward a person of color. These black kids were like brothers when we meshed playing sports. There was a fear among many whites because of the riots of the 60s in Miami. I feared not and there were few if any ill effects in my little world. At school after I left the prestigious Columbus HS, I attended Palmetto and was fully integrated with black students from Perrine. My main mentor teacher was black. A few of my best HS friends were black. I could go into their neighborhood in Perrine w/o any fear from harm. I think only me and another friend and his brother could do that. Why? Because we were like family to them. We had no bias and they knew that. I started working officially (not mowing lawns) at the age of 13. Worked as a busboy, dishwasher, server, umpire, cook up until the Army. And I worked alongside other black kids, many of whom were from Richmond Heights, a large black neighborhood and home to Deon Bush btw. Same deal there tho. I could go in there because of trust. My point here and below is that my foundation is cemented in these experiences and that mindset of understanding is what led me through my military career of a well integrated and multicultural Army. The Army is kind of a microcosm of society, but the Army, during my tenure, was leaps and bounds ahead of society on the subject of race relations and sexual harassment and women's rights. So because of my experiences and upbringing I was not a fish out of water. Some were and it was tough for some, black and white. But I learned a lot from my black brothers. I had guys sit me down and teach me stuff about the American dream for them. It is not a level playing field. One has to understand all the conditions, the environmental factors, parental guidance, poverty, educational barriers, the prejudice/racism from whites, valid fear & distrust of the law, that surrounds most peoples of color, but especially black people. How things from norms to testing in schools and for jobs, and all in between in our society is designed for white people, written mostly by white people and cultural lines. Suffice to say, it is an uphill climb and most whites don't understand or are indifferent to the plight of black people. I don't profess to understand it all, there's a lot there I have still to learn, but I have learned enough to know it's not right and I prefer to try and make things better and keep the door open to learn more.
So from all that, I suppose I would be tabbed a liberal. So be it, but a moderate, a conservative, a liberal imo should all recognize and try to change. But that's not possible in Trump's sphere of influence. I too believe that among a lot of other things, he is a racist POS as you do: And he leads a base that is filled with racists. I would call anyone here a racist. Only they would know, but I can see first hand most people that I run across in this state (AL) who support him, are racists.
As far as Joe Biden goes, I think the same that Trump is trying to sway the Ukrainians to change an already "nothing to see there" decision by their prosecutors (there have been 3 or 4. We'll have to wait and see what shakes out from that. I don't have a problem if an honest DOJ entity looks into it and the China accusations. Biden should welcome another look to finally close the book on it. My biggest concern for Biden, who I consider a moderate liberal, moderate democrat, is his mind. He's old and I can tell it's catching up with him mentally. One only has to have watched the debates, and I did, to see that his speech is becoming slightly slurred at times (maybe when he's tired), but he seems to get tripped up more often these days. I wish this weren't so, but I see it and we're still a year away from the election. I doubt his mental faculties are suddenly going to reach some sort of epiphany. I'm watching him carefully though. I can't support mandatory medicare for all. I want health care for all, but I want choices for all. I'm also hesitant to support free college for all. There should continue to be programs in place, and more, to help poor kids go to college. But that said, we need huge changes in our education system that puts more emphasis on education kids when they're in K-12. The education problems affect the black and brown community more because of many of the factors I listed above, but bottom line we should strive to have smart kids once they graduate from HS. Currently we don't and a lot of that I attribute to kids not getting in the books from the time they first start school. It should be our primary focus and repeat itself year after school year so that these kids are never in the risk of being left behind.
I'll stop now
