Beachcombing

Washington and Jefferson were both slave owners. Eight sitting presidents owned slaves. The very first slave owner in the United States was black. Should any previous slave owner have their name, statue, school, park, streets, cities or any reference to them be removed from history? Washington DC? Jefferson County? Washington State? Madison River?

Should our Mount Rushmore national treasure be destroyed to satisfy some demented sense of entitlement? What about all the railroad moguls that used/abused Chinese labor? Huntington Library?

Should Hearst Castle then be torn down? Publisher William R. Hearst was extremely racist. He was partially responsible for the horrendous “War on Drugs” that has been extremely bigoted toward people of color.

How about all the Catholic churches? What about the missions built with Indian slave labor? What about all their Saints? BLM leader Shaun King is now promoting taking down any statue of Jesus that is white and destroying all the churches. Next will it be all crosses?

The New York 9/11 Memorial was defaced recently. A memorial to the Jewish Holocaust was toppled.

A Union General Ulysses Grant Memorial was destroyed in San Francisco. Are the museums next? Art galleries? Precious works of art? Businesses? People’s homes?

What about adulterers? Kennedy, Clinton, Martin Luther King, Eisenhower, Franklin D Roosevelt, etc. Isn’t adultery just as offensive? Should their names be erased?

Then consider holidays--Presidents Day, Christmas, Easter, July 4th, Thanksgiving, etc. Shouldn’t they all be cancelled?

And what of mob mentality?

BLM (Black Lives Matter) protesters outside the Wisconsin Capitol tore down statues commemorating an abolitionist and women’s rights.

A “white” Houston man was savagely attacked this week outside of a gas station by five men claiming to be from BLM.

A group of men chanting “Black Lives Matter” viciously beat up seven “white” victims in Ohio.

Several Jewish institutions were targeted during protests in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, which included vandalism to Jewish businesses and synagogues.

A couple and a CNN crew were brutally attacked by mobs near an Atlanta Wendy’s.

Many others all over the nation have suffered racial attacks simply because they are not “black.”

Riots are happening all over the nation accompanied by vandalism and looting.

BLM Leader Hawk Newsome says, “If this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.”

Locally, 170+ businesses in Long Beach were looted, vandalized and/or destroyed during BLM demonstrations on May 31. A Signal Hill medical facility was broken into and looted.

It’s interesting that no one is talking about the cost of all this violence and demands. Are you willing to have your property or other taxes raised for it? Most people are already paying much more than they can afford. And we should not be rewarding bad behavior.

In most cases, no person’s name should be attached to a building, street, or whatever. It has become way too political. Statues should be used as teaching opportunities. Any objectionable statues can have a plaque attached that describes their deeds, good and bad. Buildings and other sites can post the same.

Changes do need to be made. However, they need to be made responsibly and lawfully. Most law enforcement are upstanding members of the community and join because they truly care. But their methodology does need review and reform. Trust and communication must be restored. Community-based policing is an imperative.

If someone wants to burn or fly a flag, as long as it’s theirs, that’s free speech. If they want to take a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance or Star-Spangled Banner, that’s their right. But no one should condone the violence, rioting, looting, burning/destruction of other people’s property, graffiti, vandalism and illegal desecration of statues, memorials and churches. This is the work of mobs, thugs and terrorists – only serving to alienate rather than bringing people together.

No one should be ashamed of the color of their skin, including those who are considered “white.” Calling someone white is as racist as it gets. No one is white; they may be various shades of pink or tan, flesh-colored and freckled. Most of us are American, not Euro-American or African-American or Mexican-American. All of these labels are racist and do nothing more than divide even further.

Violence begets violence; more violence begets more violence. Gandhi and Martin Luther King accomplished miracles with their peaceful approach, and that is what we must support. All lives do matter.

The author’s name was withheld by request. The submission does an excellent job of expressing our views on this topic.

publisher@beachcomber.news