This is a rant.

Wisconsin State Representative David Bowen regarding Rittenhouse and Arbery trials said, “In both cases, you have white individuals who feel they have to make it their duty to go out of their way to reprimand or correct black people and do so in a lethal and aggressive way.” Rittenhouse was a white man with a gun (not even in his home state) portrayed as enforcing the law. Rittenhouse victims were liberals standing up for democracy and the rights of everyone. Arbery was an unarmed black man portrayed as a criminal because he was seen exploring a house under construction. Video shows multiple individuals exploring said house; nothing was vandalized or stolen. Arbery’s armed attackers chased him in pickup trucks yet they are also portrayed as enforcing the law and acting in self-defense. In 2013 George Zimmerman followed Trayvon Martin, killed him and was acquitted also based on a claim of self-defense. I could go on with many more examples. By definition a racist is an individual afraid of a black man; and because of this impetuous, unsubstantiated fear a racist can come across as truthful and sincere in a court of law and be exonerated. When will we hold racists responsible for their actions leading up to the heat of the moment? Rittenhouse did not have to go to Wisconsin. Arbery’s attackers did not have to chase Arbery in their pickup trucks. Zimmerman did not have to follow Trayvon Martin. Our police do not have to find reasons for proportionately inordinate traffic stops of black men. We are a racist nation; there is no excuse. We can be better and we have been better and other nations and cultures are better. I have said before “The insanity of the either/or choice we are given forces us to choose between a delusion of control and ineffectual rhetoric; neither of which will lead us to progress or even survival.” Our justice system perfectly illustrates this political dichotomy by acting on the side of a delusion of control while at the same time spouting ineffectual rhetoric. Our laws have been made and molded by white men for white men and until we understand the meaning of democracy and justice and act accordingly, we will continue to fail.

If I get behind the wheel of a car and I am drunk, and I kill somebody, I am guilty. If I get behind the trigger of a gun and I am racist, and I kill somebody, I am a hero. When I am drunk my judgement is impaired and I am responsible. When I am racist my judgement is impaired and I am not responsible, I am legitimately acting in self-defense. There is a disconnect. Poor judgement is poor judgement. And just because we don’t have a breathalyzer for racism should not excuse the stupidity of someone who makes the conscious decision to insert their self into a racially-charged volatile circumstance. I have known many racists who have not taken their AR-15 across state lines in search of notorious infamy, but as long as we continue to glorify such behavior, some of these racists who might otherwise use better judgement will more likely be moved to become that shining example. Perhaps this is the racism breathalyzer: if you agree that drunk drivers who kill should be punished and you are happy about the Rittenhouse verdict, then you are blowing between 0.15 and 0.25, which according to a duke.edu blood-alcohol-content chart may create mood swings, mania, anger and aggression; (many of the “Changes in Feelings and Personality” caused by alcohol in various ranges up and down this chart interestingly are as applicable to changes caused by racist thought). I believe Rittenhouse and Arbery’s killers would blow 0.21 to 0.30 on a racism breathalyzer and I believe they secretly aspire to a 0.41 and beyond.

Today (Wednesday) Arbery’s killers were convicted of murder. Sadly this does not change the fact that as a nation we are still deeply divided about this ongoing exercise in justice, both when it succeeds and when it fails. We are divided because we are racist.

• If you are unhappy about the Arbery verdict, yet the thought of three armed black men chasing down and killing an unarmed white man angers you, you are a racist.
• If you believe the disproportionate police traffic stops on black men are justified, you are racist.
• If you believe the disproportionate black population in our overcrowded prisons is justified, you are racist.
• If you don’t want to hear facts regarding policing bias or overpopulated prisons or the war on drugs or zoning restrictions, redlining and restrictive covenants or disproportionate rates of eviction or disproportionate opportunities for jobs, education, homeownership… …if you don’t want to hear these facts, you are racist.
• And again, if you agree that drunk drivers who kill should be punished and you are happy about the Rittenhouse verdict, you are racist. And you are the problem…