There are places in our country where the laws cease to function as expected and become oriented toward clan, identity, and Good Old Boy networks. While its easy for many judges and politicians to wink and nod hate it isn't the same for the majority of society that has seen this special treatment occur in many places and at different times. As a nation in development we must move to a higher platform that recognizes the value of all Americans beyond those "just like us".
"Just like us" can really apply to any group of any particular racial or religious background and our current trend may show the folly. However, in this case a highly dysfunctional-aggressive sports group has been able to circumvented our laws and downed at least two (possible three) institutions without a level of necessary correction (It doesn't mean anyone has to be in trouble but without dealing with it they will likely feel embolden to act that way again when/if similar circumstances present themselves.).
While they may not be currently engaged in active ethnic cleansing now the subtle forms of micro aggressions, ostracization, and rumor spreading continue (A smaller minority were engaged in active ethnic cleansing but their irrational and unsubstantiated hate was acceptable to their group indicating a level of poor values have been "normalized". Healthy group members would have challenged these aggressive behaviors that were not in line with our American values.).
What shocks me most was the intentional effort to target a family that I'm not sure anyone can say has done anything to them. Further their close association as a Good Old Boy network has been able to take down 2 different institutions (1 department out of 4. We have also seen this at our capital where some law enforcement members engaged in hate based activities and don't feel there is anything wrong with that. This is an example of what could happen when laws don't apply to some because they are "just like us"). As a nation we can't blindly give people who started such issues a free pass and I suspect that is based on similar identity and perceived similarity.
This is where state and federal law should step in to enforce the Constitution of the U.S. No one necessarily needs to be in trouble but there should be an attempt to ensure we are protecting Institution 1.) checks and balances between social/hate groups and law enforcement; and, Institution 2.) ensure local colleges don't reject candidates based on ethnic, social and religious affiliation (Its very third world!).
However, this is just a walk the talk value system and in today's environment we don't often enforce our general legal rules thereby creating cultural splits that develop two functionally different societies of different expectations (Expectations are the most dangerous part when people believe deeply based on repeatability and experience that the rules only apply to some and not to others. This is where the damage really happens and where large groups will split for their own protection and safety. Its deeply rooted in self protection and need to feel safe and we can't change that with flowery words or quick sound bite politics. It takes genuine commitment to the health of the entire nation.). Half of Americans are not sure the institutions will uphold our cherished values and the other half (some of them) are emboldened that the laws do not apply to them through their perceive ethnocentric entitlement. We need to universalize the entire system.
Before you get excited I'm not a bleeding heart liberal. I'm a conservative that believes in our essential values of freedom as a nation and that there must be integrity in our systems. When local systems default it is necessary for state and federal systems to come in and enforce our national values. Without doing that we may have problems where local entities can carve out their own small nation states as indicated by the varying rules, laws, economic opportunities, and values (Not always defined by actually being local but by being connected to the Old Boy network) and non-local (Often defined by people who this group dislikes and people that are what we would historically be considered minority. One can be a local or non local depending on who this group is targeting and the institutions that blindly support that network.)
Of course we don't have to stand for our American values and could opt to stand for some other nations values. 🤷 We can allow illegal, immoral, and intentionally harmful behaviors to continue even if we discover them occurring in our hometowns. I suspect we could diminish the value of generations of people who strove to ensure we have rights in a way that makes the U.S. unique (I personally don't feel that is wise but some think its ok.). That should make some people super excited! No laws! No Constitution! No generation to generation striving! No Values! All in support of people "just like us"!
(If true we might have a situation where different laws, rules and application would mean that there are classes of people with some being "untouchables". Its not what we profess and is against our historic development but it would be indicative of a different sort of system forming within our current system. There is no free pass for hate. It just goes into the collective conscious and becomes juice for something else. We are a connected species and we are designed to share and empathize our experiences in a way that eventually creates group understandings, perspectives and beliefs. Are we one nation or two? That will determine how we handle such situations and how we approach a future national reckoning. My suggest has always been to have integrity, solve problems at their lowest common denominator, solve them early, look over the horizon for emerging problems, put down politics, and become a universalized learning nation. Others seem to feel being destructive and dishonest is the way forward. )
Before you (some of our leaders) get too excited about someone with a Muslim name calling out bad behavior consider I might be trying to avoid the future consequences that are not so yet obvious to those who are self involved and self focused (Time always answers these questions so if you disagree with a fair system then just wait and see if we overcome or not. No reason to be upset. Take a sociological perspective on universal laws applied subjectively based on ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds and see where that has led other nations from a historical perspective. We should learn from history and review our demographics and ensure people feel connected to and trust our institutions.). We won't effectively compete with two halves of society where the laws, rules, economy, and human values are dissimilar. It takes away the incentives for human development and replaces it with an undercurrent that will need to be corrected in the future. The problem is the longer we wait, the bigger the problem. (i.e. the fall and collapse of the Soviet Union was based on lost human capital and lack of incentives for personal development. We have an opportunity to not follow suit in our own way but that will require a level of national human capital development that can't lock out what is now the simple majority of society.)
So who is the American/"American"? Those who pervert the laws and moral conscious or those who stand for our American values even when its not popular with the masses. If you think the answer has something to do with similarities to your race, religion, party, background and other false symbols you are on the wrong path and have become part of the problem. That problem is only beginning to surface in an era of digital media and I encourage our leadership to be a little more enlightened to the development of human capital in our nation (Success should be based on personality, character and skill but not on superficial differences.)
Me, even after being targeted, I'm happy it was me versus someone else. I'm also happy I have a chance to contribute to our national development of moral conscious and national strength. I'm saddened by a mob of people and their supporters that are too frail and immature and shortsighted to stand up for their American values. I'm also saddened that we have accepted these different rules and don't seem to understand why we need a universal system. I know we will change because we likely will increasingly become aware of the difficulties associated with the awesome power and some challenges of managing a diverse nation (Its only a problem if the wrong people with the wrong values try and managed people they don't understand, respect, or can't effectively lead. If you only support one group and act in such a way you have to accept you can't lead the others who won't trust you. )
(As a side note. I see our current political situation and I see how we blindly hate the other side and vote for people that are better at selling sound bites than actually solving important problems. Its both Democrats and Republicans that must come to share the human capital national development vision and recognize the the necessity of removing roadblocks in a universal manner. If we continue to vote for short sales slogans vs logical arguments, connected insiders vs. the most qualified, and attractive faces vs. quality of character {Some of us don't have to worry about artificially inflated hallow effects as we have to earn every vote! 😅}we are going to struggle immensely when complex problems need real solutions.
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