ClydeStyle

Tag: bias

  • ICE-Capades are not new; What have we learned?

    Since the Trump Administration took control of the government, there has been a crackdown on immigration. As of this post, the Trump Administration has deported just over 280 immigrants, and there is a lot of innocent folks mixed in there.

    He is trying to surpass former President Barack Obama in deportations. His administration exited more than 400 immigrants, and we hardly heard about it. He also did it with half of the resources Trump is using.

    You could make a comparison of the two, but there is no comparison because Obama was trying to get rid of migrants who came here and didn’t follow the rules. Trump is just trying to get rid of Brown people.

    Why? Because of White fear. There will come a time when white people will lose their numerical majority, and this country will change. Most whites are in fear of being mistreated when the tables turn. This fear is conjecture because they have no idea what will take place.

    Will there be some people of color who will seek revenge? Sure. Will there be people who want to rid America of White people because of their past behavior? Absolutely. But will it happen? Doubtful.

    The reason is simple: If Black and Brown people were that savage, they would have fought to take the country long before this. If they were that savage, they would have fought themselves into extinction by now.

    In Europe’s “Dark Age” when the Roman Empire fell, one of the main causes was greed by the government, which led to underdeveloped communities — basically, the people were too stupid to know what was happening.

    The lack of literacy and learning is a major problem in America despite the advancements we have. Greed has overcome everything — divided we will fall.

    America has always been controlled by certain folks — in fact, they have always been in control of Europe, and yet that region would have nothing if it weren’t for the help of the Egyptians. And when they destroyed themselves during the Dark Ages, the Moors came and greatly contributed to their existence today.

    America is not far from the fall. It can not all be blamed on Donald Trump as this country is 249 years old. Who’s fault do you think it is? Maybe it’s the fault of those who stay silent.

  • How do you feel now?

    This post makes the first of 5 posts that will be written this year covering American history to see how you feel about the incident today. I will briefly discuss the feelings of the day, and then you, dear reader, can comment on how you would feel if it happened today.

    So, on June 20, 1967, Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army and was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, and fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years.

    Ali had a religious conviction. It should have been the same religious conviction that everyone in a Christian society should take. But America has always had a duality with good and evil depending on the circumstance and who is likely to benefit.

    Ali said: “My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. … Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.”

    These statements cut deep to some in America who thought Ali was being un-American for making those statements. At face value, he was expressing the great divide that has always been in America between people of color and white people.

    The issues Ali brought out were not things America wanted to deal with or discuss, and definitely not publicly. It was the type of truth that had no rebuttal, only shame, denial, and blame.

    As a result, the powers that be wanted to punish Ali, so in the prime of his boxing career, they wouldn’t let him earn a living boxing. A few years later, the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.

    So, what are your thoughts on Ali. Should he have gone to Vietnam and fought in the war? Should he have gone to jail? Should he have been reprimanded for the things he said about America? To some people, the answer is “yes” to all three questions. What say ye?

  • America struggles with its plurality of morals

    We are halfway through 2025, and as we slide into summer, there will be more daylight and  more opportunities to interact with others.

    This used to be considered a good thing because it would strengthen our community ties and further develop our societal  norms. As a country, we need this more now than any other time because we are completely divided in our morals and values.

    There are several factors in developing our morality. How you were raised by your parents, peer interaction, role models, and the media help to sync our morality.

    Years ago, parents disciplined their children. Spare the rod, spoil the child was the biblical saying that made discipline important. The standard in America was to work hard for what you want. We saw our parents do it and we took our turn as we became adults.

    I was fortunate to have 4 siblings at home, and I had an older brother who went to college, and I followed his steps. I may not have gone to college if he didn’t go.

    I grew up with role models or heroes that I tried to imitate. There was a clear difference between good and evil, and the majority of the kids wanted to be the good guys!

    Then, of course, there is the media and social media where you can see and hear literally anything. The media has helped to desensitize us and blur the lines between good and evil. When Luigi Magione was arrested for allegedly shooting an insurance agency CEO in the back on a New York City Street, he was praised by many and seen as a hero. Forty years ago, there would have been gun protests, ridicule of his family, and no one in the 80s would have celebrated this shooter.

    So here is the point, in years past, people were just as selfish, greedy, corrupt, and immoral as they are today. But inside of us was a governor that would make us ashamed to be associated with such filth. Today, we can openly present opposing views to our societal norms, and it’s just OK.

    There is now a new definition of what it means to be free in America. We are now free to act a damn fool without shame, be racist, a pedophile, a junkie, or a drunk and my favorite — we can be as ignorant as we want to and that’s just fine.

    At this rate, the destruction of America is not an “if”, it’s “when.”

  • The blessing and curse of belonging

    God created all humans with a desire to belong. Humans desire to fit into a group to satisfy this fundamental need for connection.

    When America began, we understood that our ancestors relied on group cooperation for survival, protection, resources, and social support.

    We have a psychological need for grouping, which fosters a sense of security, reduces feelings of isolation, and contributes to positive self-esteem. For its conception, belonging is a good thing intended to unify and benefit each other.

    Well, somewhere along the way, we learned bias. We started dividing ourselves by our differences. Then, without empirical data, someone said one race was better than another. Hate began to infiltrate our ranks. You see, part of being a member of a group and reaping the benefits thereof, we begin to feel obligated to the group, and this leads to conformity — this is a part of the belonging curse.

    Conformity means that if my group goes left, I don’t want to leave the group because of the benefits, so I will just stay silent.

    Imagine benefitting as an active part of the group, and then the leaders of the group decide the want to start discrimination practices. Conformity makes you not leave the group, but you now have a choice. You could stay silent and do nothing, but you would be just as guilty as the perpetrators. Or, you could speak out — truth to power — and let the leaders know how wrong they are.

    We have many silent partners in groups today. They have benefitted from a certain privilege and feel guilty over their horrendous past. There are some that have the audacity to say it wasn’t me. No, it wasn’t, but it was the group you benefit from.

    Our president recently signed an executive order to allow businesses to discriminate. Belonging still gives us a choice. What are you doing with yours?