I was in my twenties and I lived in Washington, DC. I worked for a Democratic Congressman on Capitol Hill, and took classes at American University.\u00a0\u00a0One of my favorite parts of living there was reading the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0In DC, people talk about politics like folks talk about Ohio State Football here in the Columbus area.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s their \u201cinside baseball\u201d, and as a political \u201cmind\u201d, I loved it.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Post<\/em>\u00a0was the ultimate index to what was happening inside the government machine.\u00a0\u00a0It had the daily \u201cscoop”. On the bus and Metro everyone was reading, and talking about, what was in the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, I can\u2019t get delivery of the Post here in Pataskala, Ohio, but I pay for their \u201cApp\u201d on my electronics. I can read the daily Post <\/em>\u201ccover-to-cover\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eugene Robinson is an associate editor of the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>, and writes a column for the paper several times a week.\u00a0He measures his words, and his long experience often lends insight into our political world that others don\u2019t see.\u00a0\u00a0He is a Pulitzer Prize winner, a South Carolina native, and a graduate of the University of Michigan.\u00a0\u00a0Robinson is also a frequent guest commentator on\u00a0MSNBC\u00a0<\/em>programs. I often get to start my early mornings listening to his insights on\u00a0Morning Joe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he is a black man in America today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our current age of racial unrest, Robinson lends personal insight into the political problem of race in America.\u00a0\u00a0He and his wife raised two sons in Arlington, Virginia, a mixed suburb of Washington.\u00a0\u00a0His boys went to integrated schools, and had both black and white friends. Robinson was both professionally and economically successful: at the top of his field. But despite all that, he had two black sons growing up in America.\u00a0\u00a0He had to have \u201cthe talk\u201d with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Talk\u201d, as Robinson describes it, wasn\u2019t easy.\u00a0\u00a0He told his sons that regardless of what their parents did, or what they themselves achieved in school, sports, or life, there were going to be situations where they were going to be treated differently because they were black.\u00a0\u00a0When it came to the police, the assumptions their white friends could make, that the police would assume \u201cthe good\u201d about their actions, wouldn\u2019t apply to them.\u00a0\u00a0The color of their skin could determine how they would be treated, and that they should act accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Talk\u201d defined discrimination.\u00a0\u00a0In a nation where the 13th<\/sup>\u00a0Amendment ended slavery one hundred and fifty-five years ago, and the Civil Rights Act was passed fifty-six years ago, young black men still have to hear, \u201cThe Talk\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a bitter pill to swallow, and a humiliating warning for a father to give his sons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tim Scott is the Senator from South Carolina. He served as a Charleston County Council man, a South Carolina State Representative, and a member of the US House of Representatives. He was elected to the US Senate in 2013. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott tells the story of trying to enter the Senate building, wearing the appropriate identification pin on his lapel. He was stopped by a security guard, and despite having the proper identification, was prevented from going into the chamber. Meanwhile other Senators went on by, showing their pins for entry. What was different? He is a black man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here in Pataskala I coached Track and Field for forty years. Early on, I heard the stories from my athletes about the differences between how the white and black athletes were treated. \u201cDWB\u201d \u2013 driving while black \u2013 was a frequent expression among my black runners, when (not if) they were pulled over here in town, just to be questioned. And there were several schools where we competed, when running a warm-up or warm-down had to be on the competition track. The white athletes might head out on the neighborhood roads, but the black athletes would be \u201cRWB\u201d. Better that they stayed close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two nights ago a man had too much to drink. He fell asleep in his car, waiting in the drive-thru line at Wendy\u2019s. Reasonably, the Wendy\u2019s night-shift employees called the police. The officers woke the man up, got him out of the car, and used a \u201cbreathalyzer\u201d to determine his level of intoxication. His name was Rayshard Brooks, he was twenty-seven, and he was a black man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The police and the Brooks had a reasonable conversation.\u00a0\u00a0He asked to call his sister, and when she refused to come and pick him up, offered to leave his car and walk home.\u00a0\u00a0After over thirty minutes of discussion, the policemen determined he should be arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a routine police matter. In Atlanta (and in Ohio as well) if you are drunk at the wheel of a car with the keys in the ignition, you are considered a \u201cdrunk driver\u201d. The enforcement of the law has changed over the years, and what would have been a \u201cget home safe\u201d fifteen years ago, now is a drunk driving charge. So the police officers tried to take Brooks into custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He fought the policemen, and was able to grab one of the officer\u2019s Tasers. Brooks then sprinted away from the officers. When he turned towards his pursuers with the Taser, he was shot twice in the back, and died later that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not a \u201cclear-cut\u201d case of abuse of force like George Floyd. Brooks was drunk, he refused arrest, he assaulted police officers, he was fleeing the scene, and he tried to \u201cTase\u201d an officer. But none of these should have required a \u201cdeath sentence\u201d in the parking lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The police knew him. They knew where he lived, and likely where he was going. Without their pursuit, he wasn\u2019t a danger to himself, or to the community. Let him go, pick him up later; that would have been a reasonable thing for the police to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the underlying question is this:\u00a0\u00a0if he had been a white man, would the entire chain of events occurred?\u00a0\u00a0If his name was Raymond instead of a Rayshard would he have been given a \u201cpass\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0Would the police have continued a pursuit?\u00a0\u00a0Would they have used deadly force?\u00a0\u00a0Until we can unequivocally answer that question no, then America has a problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n And black parents of black children will need to continue to have \u201cthe Talk\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Father to Son<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Endemic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Atlanta<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Routine <\/h3>\n\n\n\n