A red-white-and-blue problem

Recently I saw a video of  Hillary Clinton speaking on Ferguson. Regardless of my / your opinion on Hillary, her words are powerful.

I decided to transcribe some of it here:

“I applaud President Obama for sending the Attorney General to Ferguson and demanding a thorough and speedy investigation. That’s both appropriate and necessary to find out what happened, to see that justice is done, to help this community begin healing itself. We cannot ignore the inequities that persist in our justice system. Inequities that undermine our most deeply held values of fairness and equality. Watching the recent funeral for Michal Brown, as a mother, as a human being, my heart just broke for his family – because losing a child is every parent’s greatest fear and an unimaginable loss. But I also grieve for that community and for many like it across our country. Behind the dramatic, terrible pictures on television are deep challenges that will be with them and with us, long after the cameras move on.  This is what happens when the bonds of trust and respect that hold any community together fray. Nobody wants to see our streets look like a warzone. Not in America, we are better than that.”

I think this is interesting. Especially the last sentences – “Nobody wants to see our streets look like a warzone – America is better than that.” But are we? Michael Brown, Eric Gardner, there’s a growing list. Maybe America is good at sweeping racial tensions and prejudices under the rug until it gets to these big cases.

Like how she mentions – “Inequities that undermine our most deeply held values of fairness and equality” – can we really say this about America? Do we truly value fairness and equality? I think the history of racism and white supremacy in our country and its continuation to today would say otherwise. 

She had this to say also in another interview:

(I tried to highlight and transcribe most of the most important things she said.)

I like how she addresses more here the actual problem and the reality of our society/nation.

"Now more broadly, each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and justice in America. Because despite all the progress we've made together, African Americans, most particularly African-American men, are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms," Clinton said Thursday at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston.

"And when one stops and realizes a third of all black men face the prospect of prison during their lifetimes, what devastating consequences that has for their families and their communities and all of us."

"The United States has less than 5% of the world's population, yet we have almost 25% of the world's total prison population. Now, that is not because Americans are more violent or criminal than others around the world; in fact that is far from the facts," Clinton said. "But it is because we have allowed criminal justice system to get out of balance. And I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to come together as a nation to find our balance again."

The former secretary of state also said she supports President Obama's proposed task force on policing, but that the issue runs deeper than elected officials. 

"These tragedies did not happen in some faraway place. They didn't happen to some other people," she said. "These are our streets, our children, our fellow Americans, and our grief”

I LOVE everything she says here. She speaks to the real problem- what is underneath the drama and the media.

I agree with Hillary especially when she says that these tragedies provide opportunity for us to come together and fix ourselves. To check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

But most of all, I love her last statement – “these are our streets, our children, our fellow Americans, and our grief.” No one should be indifferent or unaffected. This is not just their problem, this is OUR problem. There is not a “black problem” there is a Red-White-and-Blue Problem.