If you have been reading for a while you will be aware that my family and I were targets of a "Get the Muslims" campaign launched by a few individuals and supported by at least one corrupted officer (Inadvertently exposing up to 3-5 other officers engaged in potential corruption. I can only say potential because an investigation would reveal more or less.) . That turned into targeting of children, trying to block community engagement, creating unsafe situations (dangerous situations) and attempts to damage and ruin reputations. Some of those problems linger on today in subtle forms because once false beliefs of "those people" are embedded into certain social networks and are hard to change and continue to heighten problems.
(You know the subtle rudeness, second guess words, rejection from qualified positions, reactive body language every time someone things Muslim = terrorist, etc... An intentional social network attempt to damage and ostracize through false information. This wasn't and still isn't an inadvertent act....it is designed to maintain societal divisions.)
The laws are interesting. They are designed to protect people but many times they are also circumvented/distorted in ways that harm people. When we find out we are wrong and that such initiatives were launched by extremist views who goes back and fixes it? Hopefully someone does because if not the targets must continue to deal with residual (what appears to be intentionally promoted) distorted beliefs that put my family continuously in danger (The people who caused that problem don't care and continue to create issues through false information spreading. Using legitimate authority to do illegitimate things. Indicating a two system breakdown of law and a schism with our Constitutional values.) The primary threat is removed but the secondary long-term threat of criminal residue persists.
As a country will will have to make some serious decisions about who we are going to be and our ability to overcome extremism problems like this (whether its among social supporters or a few key law enforcement officials.). On a national level know we need everyone to compete at their best in order to ensure democracy and our way of life is a strong alternative to rising of communism (I'm thinking more from a philosophical standpoint.), dictatorship, and other forms of governance. That won't happen if we support behavior designed to thwart some and raise others because certain people can't see us as part of the same team.
That isn't going to happen if we have different laws (applied laws) for different people (Two different applied laws indicate two different societies with different rules for each.). Where illegal/immoral behaviors are given wink and nods and pro-American values intentionally circumvented we have issues to deal with (Inability to tackle theses issues will become a bigger issue. We have already had our capital sacked and Congress put at risk but there are still people everyday dealing with these issues in the grey areas of the law.). At what point do we become serious and say, "This isn't who we are?" and "These artificial divisions and lack of governance maturity (When we know we are supporting bad but don't have the maturity to stand up for universal American beliefs) aren't going to do help us in achieving our national goals?"
Its a choice! We can get competitive with our intellectual/human capital assets or we can get squashed by new emerging powers and threats on a geopolitical level. While we think they aren't related they are symptoms of something we must fix to maximize our national performance. That can be pretty difficult to do if we are white knuckling distorted and dysfunctional "Protect our Own" beliefs (not everyone is doing this) about the value of people, the purpose of law, the power of diverse human capital, and our responsibilities to the next generation.
As of date it goes on and on and on! Not in the overt way it did in the beginning when people felt they can engage in any violent or aggressive behaviors with local official support (A few key officials supporting their social networks that don't represent the majority but do represent a problem.) but in the subtle ways when people know they were wrong but are still pushing for a certain outcome through microaggressions. You know when you are resented for what you represent (as difference) and are not judged on your values, attributes, capacities or even multiple realized artifacts of loyalties to your nation. It becomes a fundamental issue of right vs wrong, moral conscious vs no moral conscious, light vs dark kind of arguments....
We continue to struggle and people are trying to figure out what is right and what is wrong. While we might have corrected in one area we are still far off on the social level and that is realized in specific under the table practices that are still likely illegal and signs of two society system at play. We have to get our politicians, judges, and leaders to think about how to create a single universal system that applies to all of us in a way that leads to the best outcomes. It can be hard to do....it requires a broader awareness of life, our values, and historical context. More developed people should take the more important positions of society (vs those connected).
Me, I'm going to continue to push for a win-win outcomes. Trust me, when your on the receiving end of poor behaviors and false rumors that could have gotten someone seriously hurt (it has done damage to people) when you see these behaviors linger in different forms you can only hope that the powers in heaven (more from a spiritual sense) will pick up where we have failed. The outcome is a feedback loop in a more real sense than the rhetoric we watch politicians discuss as they seek reelections. You would think those officials (and those lay people who started the problem) that intentionally spread misleading information would be forced to retract their statements and cease and desist from further aggressive acts (Maybe not? 🤷. I haven't asked for compensation I have asked that they learn from the situation...because I think that is a win-win that benefits them and the rest of society. I have been called a fool for being an idealist and believing in the inherent good of things beyond money. That doesn't seem to stop some. Yes yes I know I'm a "dirty Muslim" and purely evil...and anti American. Its all so simple! I have studied this general problem for decades, which was supposed to be my original dissertation, but shifted it for practicality reasons to graduate. However, what I have learned over that time indicates we have a big big problem to get a handle on and if we don't it will be lose-lose for everyone. I don't know how patriotism is defined from an official and unofficial level but I do know that certain essential freedoms will be what makes us competitive and strong as a people rallied around key core principles that tie us together. Demographics in this country are changing and we must think about application of universal values to settle in the next generation what we failed/refused to settle in the previous two generations. Its almost there....we just have to reach out a little for a better tomorrow. )
These were people who followed the needs of their social networks and intentionally spread false information without fact. They judged me and my family with no accountability (We are more American and I have stood up in a substantiated way for our American patriotism more than most of these people will ever do....regardless of how they view themselves, skin color, religion, official position or background.) Because they didn't take the opportunity to learn and train (One department did the right thing and another one didn't self-correct) I believe the later department may need to go under Federal oversight (I would love a different option).
We should have bigger values than "Protect our Own" against "Those people". The problem is that "Protect our Own" no long reflects American values but the false wedges in society that such people exploit for personal, social, and professional gain. It is up to us as a country to decide whether we support or thwart extremism in our hometowns. So far it appears we do so on an official level but such groups quickly adjust their tactics to work in the grey area of laws (Through embedded networks and spreading propaganda to ensure no one gets too close to "The Muslims" and that such people are never allowed to be fully engaged in all of the aspects of American/local life; officially or unofficially.). I had hoped it would end by now when more accurate information came to light but instead persistence of hate seems to expose even bigger problems of potential corruption and likely lots of other victims (p.s. I'm a local. My perceived religion or my kids skin color doesn't change that at all. I should mention that most of the people in the community have rejected the false information and are making attempts to reconnect and reconcile. There is still a core group of official and unofficial people who appear to be actively working to stop that.).
Are we in a struggle for America's soul and America's future? It is these behaviors and the ability for people to stand for something greater than their social networks and distorted beliefs that will make the difference. Universal rights or subjective rights (I'm 100% for police and 100% against illegal/corrupt behaviors designed to harm others. Help our police adapt to become more effective for higher measurable outcomes and remove bad apples when behaviors are intentional. I know! I know! Darn crazy "Muslims" and their "crazy" ideas! You would think they would be more focused on fighting the growing problem of Meth than racial-religious-political driven enforcement of beliefs. Sometimes we fail to see what is in front of us from socialized classical conditioning; none of us are immune from it...including me.).
