You can’t cherry pick facts and know whole story

In response to a Sandra Gill’s letter (“Listening to what Rodney King said”, Sept 4, Reporter):

Ms. Gill, I am not sure what your purpose is when you write letters like this to be published in the newspaper. However, I do know that when you cherry pick facts and assume that you have expressed the whole story you are only fostering misunderstanding.

There are around 50 million black Americans in the United States, and we are not monolithic in our thinking or the way we live our lives, much like all Americans of all persuasions. Further, I’ll venture to say that 99 percent of the 50 million black folks in America have not shared space, nor have they had a conversation with Kanye West. So, the chance of him speaking for all of us is slim to none.

In your comments about Officer Wilson, you left out the fact that Ferguson was the second police department that he was fired from. You fail to consider that his employment history might be a contributing factor in his inability to be hired.

In the case of the outrageous murder of Deputy Darren Goforth, you must have missed the large procession of black and white citizens marching, singing gospel songs and carrying signs, saying “love thy neighbor.” Sounds like an evocation of sympathy to me. How many black people have you asked about how they feel about the murder?

It appears that you feel that the angst that black people feel in America is related solely to slavery. If that were the case, the whole issue of race in America could be wrapped in a nice little bow entitled “slavery ended a long time ago and you need to get over it.” That way, we can toss it to the side and stop talking about it.

Well, there is a giant hole in that analysis. It does not come to grips with: black codes, vagrancy laws, chain gangs working plantations, poll tax schemes, Jim Crow laws, night riders, housing covenants, redlining, James Crow Esquire and more.

Further, it does not come to grips with the fact that slavery was an economic strategy that gave birth to the brutal system of bondage know as the American version of slavery. And, that slave economic system was the engine that drove America to become the economic power that it is today.

You say you don’t see the tie to present day Americans. Well, I suggest you read books other than the sanitized history text books taught in our schools. The book, “Empire of Cotton: A Global History”, researched and written by Sven Beckert, a whiney white man (sarcasm), would be a good start to help see how history informs the present.

– Richard Johnson