July 23, 1967: The Day Detroit Died

July 23, 1965: The Day Detroit Died A riot broke out, a riot lasting 48 hours, resulting in 43 deaths, 1,189 injuries, and over 2,000 buildings destroyed. The riots were under control by July 26. Detroit died that day. Let that be a warning to Minneapolis, Portland, and Seattle. Gordon Lightfoot’s Black Days in July, depicting the Detroit Riots, was denied airplay on 30 stations. Detroit’s population peaked at 1,849,568 in 1950, the fourth largest in America. The city was one of the wealthiest in the country. The population dropped to 1,670,144 in 1960. Detroit, for all its wealth, is a one-trick pony, the auto industry, the other “Detroit.” Three of America’s largest companies, GM, Ford and Chrysler, were Detroit companies. Several manufacturers, Packard, Studebaker, and Hudson, dropped out of the industry, as did several smaller companies. GM in 1970 was by far the largest and most profitable company, not just in the United States, but globally. Detroit’s police on July 23, 1967 raided an unlicensed, after-hours bar. That was the spark that ignited rioting by the black community living in one of the most racist, discriminatory northern cities, with crime, poor schools, and a heavy police boot. An intense 48 hours of rioting ensued. The President pursuant to the Insurrection Act of 1807 dispatched elements of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions to join the Michigan National Guard, Michigan State Police and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office in fighting the riot. The result of the race riots was White Flight to the suburbs and the death of downtown Detroit. Black flight also occurred for those who could. Say hello to McComb, Oakland, and St. Claire counties, and the rest of Wayne County. I was in downtown Detroit in early 1972. Much of downtown was desolate. The J.L. Hudson Department Store, which once vied with Macy’s Herald Square as the country’s largest, was open, but the inventory was sparse. The store subsequently closed. The building remained for several more years, until demolished, leaving a symbolic hole in the ground. I entered the last record store in downtown Detroit. An armed guard was at the door and the records behind the counters. You had to ask the clerk to pull out the albums you wanted to see. I assume the store closed soon after. Detroit’s population dropped to 1,514,063 in 1970, and then to 1,203,368 in 1980. The population continued to drop to 667,272 in 2020. Almost 80% of the population is African American. 36.43%, over 1/3, live below the poverty rate. Then came the collapse of Detroit, the industry, in the mid-1970’s. The two Arab Oil Embargoes of the 1970’s changed American car purchasing habits. Gas mileage and quality became primary factors; neither of which was Detroit’s forte. Detroit, the industry, collapsed. GM with 60% of the market in 1970 now hovers between over 17-18%. Factories were closed and mammoth layoffs ensued. I see flight out of the cities that were wracked by riots. Minneapolis and Seattle are not one-trick cities. The toleration of lawlessness by the city leaders sent a message to the economic Community, especially to the looted and torched merchants. Strips of empty and burnt out stores will remain. Businesses will move outside the cities, perhaps even to other states. Drip, drip, drip, one by one, businesses will leave. Drip by drip, the middle class will move to the suburbs. It’s no longer retirees leaving New York for Florida. Seattle has Amazon, Nordstrom’s, Starbucks and the University. Only the UW cannot pick up and leave. Nordstrom’s downtown Seattle store was looted. The Macy’s across the street closed before Covid-19 and the riots. Downtown, overwhelmed by homeless, and Capitol Hill are losing their allure. Boeing, for inexplicable reasons, moved to Chicago in 2001. Distance work occasioned by Covid-19 has shown employers not every employee needs to work in a cubicle in a high rise downtown office building. Amazon’s rapid growth revitalized the South Union area. Defund the police, tolerate looting, watch the exodus. May 25: Minneapolis May 30: Seattle The days Minneapolis and Seattle lost control.

Defund the Police! Why Not? Because!

94% of 1500 Democrats surveyed who are college students said Defund the Police. Yes, Defund the campus police at USC and every university in poor neighborhoods. Defund the campus police who investigate sexual assaults on campus. Defund the campus police who have to handle violent, drunk, and drug induced violent students. Defund the campus police who would be the first responders on campus shooters. Defund the campus police. See how long that lasts! Where do these clueless students get their wisdom? From faculty, the internet, and social media. Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote “States are the laboratories of democracy.” Today it might be a few progressive cities, led by Minneapolis., Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago and New York. Defund the police? The killing of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin hit America in the gut. Cries for reform and justice justifiably rang out throughout the country A few simple reforms would reduce excessive force. Ban chokeholds and other pressures on the neck and back, Require officers to take action to prevent illegal conduct by fellow officers, transparency on the use of force, and disclosures of misconduct investigations. Require bodycams to be ON. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office still does not have bodycams for the deputies. Turning off the body cam in an incident should create a presumption of excessive force. Another reform, receiving little attention today, is restricting the use of the baton/nightstick/billyclub. Videos showed officers wildly swinging their nightsticks at protestors or rioters. A close friend, a San Francisco Police Officer, told me decades ago that officers should keep both hands on the nightstick. Officers swinging their nightsticks with one hand project an image of being wildly out of control. That certainly seemed the case during the riots. A more difficult problem is removing bad cops from the force because of provisions in the employment contract between the communities and police unions. Removing an officer absent a felony is difficult; so too with similar union contracts protecting teachers. Yet, bad cops, such as Derek Chauvin with 18 incidents in 19 years, should not carry a badge and gun. Defund the Police! Let’s start with eliminating the police protection of governors and mayors: Governor Newsom of California and Governor Cuomo of New York, and Mayors Eric Garcetti, of LA, New York City’s Mayor Bill De Blasio, Philadelphia’s Jimmy Kenney, San Francisco’s London Breed, Oakland’s Libby Schaaf, and Boston’s Marty Walsh. Why not Speaker Pelosi as well? Does Joe Biden really need Secret Service protection in his basement? Do we defund the Sheriff’s Department, School Police, Housing Police, and Transit Police? They all have badges and guns. Defunding the transit police is not going to improve security on the New York City subway system. Defunding the police is a counter-intuitive solution to rising crime rates, but that’s what you expect from a dolt like Mayor De Blasio of New York City. That also speaks poorly of the mayors and council members who are blinded by politics. The New York City crime rates have soared under Mayor De Blasio. His solution is to cut $1 billion from the police budget. Police shootings in New York City have substantially declined from 810 in 1971 to 72 in 2016. Deaths dropped from 93 to 23. Even one wrongful killing, be it by a shooting or chokehold, is one too many. Black Lives Matter arose in the outcome of police killings. All black lives matter, including the lives that will be lost, sexually assaulted or mugged without police to enforce the law. We know without police crime will explode in the inner cities. Chicago from May 29-31 witnessed 23 homicides out of 84 shooting incidents. New York City, DE Blasio’s pride and joy, had 55 shootings with 74 wounded from June 15-21, compared to 18 shootings last year. Not one was by police! The numbers are rising from a mere 100 in May, the first time in five years. Baltimore has seen 159 homicides to date, ahead of last year’s pace. Detroit is up 30% so far this year to 129 killings. Defunding, dismantling, demonizing. decimating the police will not solve the inner city problems of crime, dropouts, drugs, failing schools, joblessness, payday loans, and single parents. The only argument for defunding the police is the recognition the police have been defanged, handcuffed, neutered, and paralyzed by politicians and judges. Officers stood by and watched looting in Minneapolis, Santa Monica, Long Beach, and elsewhere. A judge in Denver said no tear gas, no rubber bullets. Seattle’s mayor said no tear gas, pepper spray or flash bombs. The Minneapolis and Seattle mayors let the mobs seize police stations. When they arrest looters, they’re back on the streets in 3 hours in NYC while the social justice DA’s of St. Louis County and Philadelphia refuse to prosecute. The Defund Police advocates have no clear, viable alternatives. Mayors, such as New York’s De Blasio, ran on an anti-police platform. Let us recognize that the mayors, city councils, and governors of these states believe police are the problem, always the problem. Anything to deflect attention away from their incompetence. If the police are not permitted to do their job, why do we have them? If police are not allowed to use non-violent force, then the only alternative is violent force. That is not a legal or realistic use of force in many situations. The police were simply not going to mow down the rioters. Yes, let’s get rid of the police, until we need them! Andrea Mitchell and D.C. Representative Eleanor Holmes Jordan were talking in the new D.C. Black Lives Matter street a week ago, when a crazed woman came running at them. One of the two, the witnesses differ, screamed out “Where are the Police when you need them?” They will not be anywhere in some of these cities. Minneapolis council members have received death threats, an unfortunate phenomenon in today’s wired world for celebrities, public figures, and public officials. Most of them are probably specious, but the threatened should take them seriously. The City of Minneapolis has now hired private security three council members at a daily cost of $4,500 for the taxpayers. The City explained the Minneapolis Police were needed elsewhere in the city. Where? Doing what? The rhetoric is leading indirectly to defunding the police. An increasing number of officers are resigning or retiring, up 49% in New York City. Police take an oath to serve and protect, but that gets frustrating, and even impossible, when the ones you serve and protect, are trying to defund you My suggestion is to defeat the mayors and council members in the cities that defang the police. Put it up to a vote by the people. If they vote to defund the police, they can live with the consequences.

The New Minneapolis 911

Minneapolis 911 911: Welcome to Minneapolis 911 Holistic Response Center: How can we be of service? If you know your extension, you can dial it directly now Listen carefully to our menu, which is changing as we move to a police free city. If you are calling about a domestic violence dispute, dial 1 for our counseling center. If you are calling about child endangerment, dial 2 for social services. If the dispute is between neighbors, contact your local mediator. If a homeless encampment has sprung up in your neighborhood, please hang up. We have been unable to resolve the homeless problem for a decade. If it is a non-violent property crime, hang up and hire private security If it is a stolen vehicle, hang up; we do not respond to non-violent crime.. If it is a medical emergency, go to the nearest emergency hospital. If it is about drugs, drugs are legal now. You will have to go to nearest emergency hospital. If it involves problems at a school, hang up, dial the school directly and ask for the principal. We no longer have school resource officers. If it is a fire, please contact the fire marshal. If you are white and being mugged, than you are a victim of white privilege to which we cannot respond. If it is gang related, we do not get involved with their freedom of expression. If it involves a homicide, it’s too late. For bank robberies, contact the FBI. For kidnappings, contact the FBI. If the case involves excessive force by a police officer, I will put you through now to Internal Affairs. If you are unsure, please dial O or remain on the line. The expected wait time is 45 minutes. If you cannot wait, call Ghostbusters. Thank you for calling Minneapolis 911; Have a good day.

The Woke, Social Justice Generation Is Attacking America

The videos of the recent destruction of our nation’s monuments show mostly young whites engaged in the demolitions. President Trump’s biggest hurdle in reelection is demographics. The Millennials and Generation Z’ers are 37% of the electorate. They are woke, nihilistic, democratic socialists. A survey showed the 18-24 age group prefer socialism to capitalism. This generation is different from the Baby Boomers. The post-World War II generation knew they could work hard and achieve the American Dream. The Civil Rights Era during this time achieved legal equality with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Teachings of the Millennials and Z’ers The past decade has seen escalating Wokeness, White Privilege, Microaggressions and Safe Spaces coupled with intolerance. The youth question the existence of America as we know it. They have been educated, indoctrinated that America is an oppressive country, built on slavery, oppression, and exploitation. You are either an oppressor or oppressed. The instruments of oppression are the military, police, and capitalism. Capitalism is oppressive because of failures, and thus losers under capitalism. It is contra to equality. Western Civilization, which is White Western Civilization, is equally oppressive. The world’s problems are caused by white (Christian) males, and sometimes females. The oppressed are Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Americans, LGBTQ, and often women. We are witnessing the deconstruction of American History, excising American Heritage, and trashing traditional American values. E Plubus Unum: Out of many, one. Not now! Now out of many, many. The New York Times 1619 Project encapsulates the learning of the younger generation. America was built on slavery when England brought slaves to the American colonies in 1619. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are fundamentally flawed because they were penned by slave owners. The Constitution recognized slavery and the slave trade. Hence symbols of America’s past are flawed. America’s original sin was slavery followed by the genocide of First Nations. The nation’s founders were slavers and racists who committed genocide. They believe therefore that the must destroy the past, and its monuments, to create A BRAVE NEW WORLD, whatever that may be, maybe Chaz. 1619 has become a rallying cry for many. One young African American woman was yelling “1619” as she was rioting. The thesis is America’s “greatness” is built on oppression, suppression, and exploitation of others. America was never great; therefore is not great today. Governor Andrew Cuomo said “America was never that great.” No wonder New York is declining. America from 1619 was an oppressive country. The oppressors were white males. If you are a white today then you have succeeded because of White Privilege. The young whites are befuddled with guilt over white privilege. I remember the past iterations of middle class guilt and ancestral guilt. Now it’s White Privilege. If you’re White, you succeeded because of the built-in advantages of whiteness. Whiteness, not hard work, created your success. You should feel guilty if you’re white. The Woke do not understand that the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Hard work leads to success. Every country over centuries has sins in its past. Slavery was an abomination. So was Jim Crow. The treatment of the Native Americans was reprehensible, throwing them in reservations “out of sight, out of mind.” The internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps in World War II is equally reprehensible. That America no longer exists, except in history books. An African American served as President for eight years. An African American is a Republican Senator from South Carolina, That is not a nation of systemic racism. The KKK doesn’t lurk hidden in every police officer, waiting for the chance to murder an African American. The Declaration of Independence is aspirational and inspirational: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…..All men are created equal” was factually untrue in 1776. Slaves were unequal as were women. The vote was limited to roughly 5% of the population, property owning white males. 41 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence owned slaves. It is thereby flawed as an instrument to cover oppression. 25 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were also slaveowners; so it too must be flawed as an instrument of perpetuating slavery. Such is the thought process of the American Levelers. The ignorance of these Levelers is astonishing. Many have degrees from prestigious universities. Therein lies the underlying problem. Colleges were cathedrals of learning, opening up students’ minds to critical analysis and critical reasoning. The traditional humanities were designed to fulfill the individual and provide a well-rounded education. Too many of today’s courses and programs close minds by indoctrinating students. They’ve learnt to blame the problems of the world on colonialism and white males, who have oppressed women and all other races in history. Their education emphasizes what’s wrong with America. They’re ignorant of history, except on Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central. The Greatness of the Revolutionary Declaration of Independence and Constitution The Woke Generation is woefully ignorant of the founders and founding documents of the United States and civics. The woke are so sure of themselves and ignorant of history that they cannot see the greatness and bravery of the founding documents of the United States of America. Let us remember Joe Biden’s classic “We choose truth over facts.” The White founders of the United States created the framework that led to the affluence and freedom of speech of the woke generation. Capitalism brings them the products and services they enjoy and take for granted. The Declaration of Independence was a revolutionary statement in the history of man. Equally revolutionary, the Constitution laid out the rights of the people. These revolutionary documents liberated the people from the divine rights of kings and queens. The Declaration of Independence for the first time in history set out the rights of the people in seeking freedom. Individuals, the people, have rights! The signers would have been hung by the British if the Revolution failed. The Constitution protects the rights of the people against the government by limiting the powers of the federal government to enumerated powers. The most critical provision in the Constitution is Article V which provides a mechanism for amending the Constitution. The first ten amendments are the Bill of Rights, again a revolutionary concept in the history of civilization. The First Amendment provides for Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, the right of assembly, and to petition government for a redress of grievancee; The fourth Amendment protects against unlawful searches and seizures, including the requirements for warrants, requiring probable cause; The Fifth Amendment provides for Due Process of Law and protects against Double jeopardy and Self-Incrimination; The Sixth Amendment mandates a speedy and public trial and the right to counsel; The Eighth Amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment; The 13th Amendment banned slavery; The 15th Amendment granted the freed slaves the right to vote; The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote; The 24th Amendment eliminated the Poll Tax. On Slavery and the Slave Trade I will not in any way defend slavery or the Middle Passage. It was an abomination embedded in millennia of history. Slavery was not an institution unique to America. The global practice predates the Old Testament (Torah) which tells us the Jews were enslaved by Pharaoh. The Spartans had helots. The Spanish actually preceded England in bringing slaves to America in 1565 to St. Augustine. England (1807) and the United States (1808) led the world in ending the slave trade and then slavery itself. England ended slavery in 1833 by compensating the Caribbean slaveowners. The United States ended slavery through the Civil War. Every northern state had abolished slavery before the Civil War. An estimated 110,100 battlefield casualties for the Union occurred during the Civil War with another 224,500 dying from disease. The disproportionate disease to battle death toll was very common until last century. The vast majority of the casualties were white. In other words roughly 300,000 Whites died to free the slaves. That is the real White Privilege. They shed their red blood for the slaves. Both slavery and the human sex trade still exists in the world today. Both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union employed slave labor. The Intolerance of the Left They espouse tolerance, but are intolerant to those they disagree with. An example of their ignorance of American values is a 2017 Survey of College Students. 70% favor open campuses with all types of speech. 56% say protecting free speech Is extremely important for society. Sounds good, but both are way short of 100%. The survey results continued. They do not value free speech. 64% believe the Constitution should not protect hate speech. 73% support policies to limit offensive slurs, and 34%, 1/3, said it could be appropriate to shout down speakers. In short, these generation are characterized by intolerance. Hate speech seems to be anything that conflicts with their core beliefs. Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times writer who created the 1619 Project, received a Pulitzer for it. Free Speech is not her mantra. The New York Times published an Op-Ed, “Send in the Troops”, by Senator Tom Cotton. The Times’ staff rebelled. Nikole tweeted: “I’ll probably get in trouble for this, but to say nothing would be immoral. As a Black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this.” She also said: “So this adherence to even-handedness, both sideism, the view from nowhere doesn’t actually work in the political circumstances that we’re in. And what a lot of people said is that, you know, it is fine. We as a news organization must air the opinion of someone like Senator Tom Cotton, but in a news article where we can check the facts, where we can push back, that you just hand over your platform to someone that powerful making assertions that might have been unconstitutional and, most certainly, some of them were not accurate.” The truth is that Senator Cotton was constitutionally and factually correct. The same is not true about her 1619 Project. Free speech to the Woke, but not all. Socialism Capitalism is viewed as oppressive because it has winners and losers. Socialism is seductive; it promises equality to everyone, and succeeds with equality of poverty, except for the privileged few. The Bolsheviks seized the villas of the rich. The Commissars then lived in them. Our generation read Animal Farm. They should. The equality of communism and socialism is poverty. Check out Cuba and Venezuela as well as China and India before they discovered capitalism. Socialism sends out a Siren call to the Woke; Free, Free, Free! Free Tuition! Democratic socialism is an oxymoron. Socialism has to oppress the individual in the name of the masses. Socialism cannot succeed if it is democratic. It has to take from those who have. Democratic socialism seems the solution because they confuse “socialism” with social progress. Democratic socialism seems attractive because of their ignorance of Economics and history. AOC was an economics major. We must wonder what she was taught. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an example of a young entrepreneur who failed in her first effort. Rather than learning from her mistakes, she turned to Democratic socialism, not realizing it is an oxymoron. Social justice is not socialism. It cannot be; social justice favors some classes over others. The Woke are increasingly anti-Semitic. Miscellaneous Secular Humanism and affluence have taken their toll. The youth have lost faith in God. Yet an emptiness exists. Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are not God. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are not Angels. Wikipedia is not the Gospels. The internet is their universe, but it is not the Universe. Environmentalism and fighting climate change have become a religion to many. They watch Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and view it as Gospel, not realizing the famous hockey stick was factually flawed. Just coincidental, the looting occurred in Democratic cities where the looters knew the mayors would restrain the police. The governors removing statues are also Democrats. The Others You have the clueless dolts (is that an oxymoron?) such as Mayor Be Blasio of New York City and Representative Ilhan Omar. She can say “Some people did something.” The “something” was 9/11. The Obamas spent 20 years of imbuing the Liberation Theory of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright: “Not God Bless America, But God Damn America.” Thus Senator Warren and President Obama can say “You didn’t build it.” Mayor Frey of Minneapolis is an example of a Millennial who still has much to learn. Some, such as Seattle’s Mayor Durkan, are in denial. They cannot believe what they see with their own eyes. The Democratic mayors and governors are scared of upsetting the Black note. They will not turn on their constituency. Final Comments The past month proves the maxim that is easier to destroy than create. Two and a half centuries of American history, 2 1/2 centuries of creating modern America are being destroyer, eviserated and trashed. They Woke can erase history, but not expunge it. Erasing history makes us ignorant, or increases the ignorance of the Woke. Life is too short to be consumed by hate over the past. Hatred blinds the actor to reality, the facts and the truth. Hatred prevents moving ahead.

Occupy Capitol Hill

Civilization is a this veneer which barely contains the true nature of people. A similar phrase is “Civilization is just a thin veneer in the absence of law and order. In the absence of law and order, man quickly revert to savagery. Seattle is testing the veneer. I wasn’t sure whether to satirize or condemn the occupation of Capitol Hill. I lived on Capitol Hill at one time, but on the opposite side facing Lake Washington, the Arboretum and a slice of Mt. Rainier. Capitol Hill is an affluent community. Nothing farcical exists about the seizure of a part of an American city. Seattle’s East Precinct Police Station was under seize for 11 days, protected by barricades, police and the National Guard. Suddenly they abandoned the station, and the mob rushed in, quickly claiming a six block area, to be named The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (Chaz), and now renamed the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest area. One consistency is that it remains a No Cop Zone, with the foreseeable results. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin explained she “wanted to demilitarize the posture” and thus ordered the police to abandon their station. Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee had an interesting take when asked about the occupation of Capitol Hill. He claimed ignorance. He knew nothing about it. He was either duplicitous or incompetent, or both. No one’s admitting to ordering the police to abandon their precinct. Police Chief Carmen Best denied giving the order. Mayor Durkin soon called it a patriotic block party. I’ve never been to a block party with men toting AK47s acting like Toy Soldiers. She even added it could be a Summer of Love. I was in San Francisco in 1967, the Summer of Love. I never saw armed men playing toy soldiers, toting AK47’s. Stoned, Yes; Armed, No! Summer of Love? or Shooting Gallery? Law and Order or Lawless Anarchy. What is CHAZ? It seems to be an unorganized, unplanned commune of the Far Left that is acquiring a despotic organization. Anarchy rules. When will Mayor Durkin or Governor Inslee decide, if ever, enough id enough? One young male was shot to death Saturday evening and a second seriously wounded. A third was wounded Sunday. This 17 year old male claimed the Mafia Code of Omerta and refused to talk to the police. Seattle Police holding their revolvers attempted to enter the peaceful summer of love zone Saturday and were encountered by the mob. The Seattle Officers only had two choices: retreat or shoot. The mob knew the police would not shoot. They also knew Mayor Durkin had disarmed, defanged is a better the term. By barring them from using tear gas, pepper spray or smoke bombs to disperse protesters. Between the homeless occupying downtown Seattle and the CHOP mob, the thin veneer of civilization is severely frayed in Seattle.

The New Unpersons: Excising the Past and Removing Monuments in America

As you read this blog, please understand that I am pointing out the lunacy and contradictions in our Orwellian search for historical purity. I personally hold no brief for the Confederates except to the extent it is a critical part of American history. George Orwell must be rolling over in his grave. The murder of George Floyd has set off a tsunami of removing any symbols of a racist past: slave owners, slavers, slave merchants, racists against blacks, American Indians, Columbus, Conquistadores, sexists, and proponents of Eugenics. America is trying to catch up to its history of racism. People become Orwellian unpersons. Trotsky would say they’ve been condemned to the dustbin of history. Monuments are to be removed, destroyed or drowned; busts and names removed from schools and buildings; and history rewritten. Apparently omitted to date from the opprobrium list are anti-Semites. Humans are complex organisms. None of us are perfect. We are all flawed. Yet for most of us, the good outweighs the flawed. We make mistakes. However, today’s nihilists see only the flaws. No balancing is allowed. No matter how great a person was, taints of racism dooms him or her in today’s world. Eleven United States Presidents owned slaves: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Benjamin Harrison, John Tyler, James K Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant. To be fair to President Grant who abhorred slavery, he inherited a slave in 1857 and freed him in 1859. We definitely need to add the Virginia born President Woodrow Wilson to the list. He was as racist as any President. Berkeley already removed Washington and Jefferson from schools. Vandals on Monday in Portland toppled a statue of President Jefferson in front of the Thomas Jefferson High School. The pedestal had painted on it “SLAVE OWNER” and “GEORGE FLOYD 846.” Earlier today they set a statue of George Washington on fire. The same mentality and mindlessness painted “Committed GENOCIDE” on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. The Lincoln Memorial was similarly defaced by in the D.C. riots by mindless ignoramuses. 400 vandals last night in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park gleefully toppled President Grant, Francis Scott Key, and Fr. Junipero Serra. All President Lincoln and General Grant did was win the Civil War and free the slaves. Doesn’t mean a thing to the mobs. Even President Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator who loathed slavery, had degrading remarks about the slaves. He said during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates on September 18, 1868: “I will say then I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.” He opposed giving them voting rights. He later changed his mind on the voting issue. About 7,000 people have signed a petition to remove a 100 year old monument entitled Emancipation in Boston. Abraham Lincoln is standing over a freed slave who’s on his knees. Broken manacles are on his freed hands. The objection is the kneeling black. 41 signers of the Declaration of Independence owned slaves as well as 25 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Congress. Justice Hugo Black, the great civil libertarian on the Warren Court, was active in the KKK for several years. Patrick Henry (“Give me liberty, or give me death”) was a slave owner as was Benjamin Franklin. John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, owned slaves. The fabled Chief Justice John Marshall owned slaves. His successor Roger Tawney not only owned slaves before joining the Supreme Court, but has also been eternally damned for penning the despicable Dred Scott decision. The justice was the brother-in-law of Francis Scott Key. Francis Scott Key can be dammed on several counts. First, he was a slave owner. Second, he prosecuted abolitionists as United States Attorney in Washington, D.C. Third, his solution to the slave problem was to send free blacks to Liberia. Fourth, his contribution to America was penning the Star Spangled Banner, America’s National Anthem. We only sing the first stanza. The third stanza has controversial lines: “No refuge can save the hireling and slave from the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave ….” Two long-deceased university presidents have been removed from campus buildings. U.S.C. stripped the name Rufus Von KleinSmid off the building hosting his institute. Rufus was President of USC from 1921 to 1947 and built up USC’s academic reputation. He was also a strong backer of the eugenics movement, as was Clarence Cook Little at the University of Michigan, president from 1922-25. C.C. Little was undistinguished during his Michigan presidency. Unpersons! Eugenics is a despicable movement popular with “right thinking” people a century ago. The goal was to improve the genetic quality of the human race through selective breeding, which clearly involved racial discrimination. Sounds a lot like the Nazis. One aspect of Eugenics was the forced sterilization of men and women. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, writing for the Supreme Court in the 1927 case of Buck v. Bell, upheld the practice of involuntary sterilization for the mentally disabled, penning one of the most despicable lines in Supreme Court history: “Three generations of imbeciles are enough.” Then we come to law schools. The University of California Berkeley School of Law for most of its existence called itself Boalt Hall in honor of Judge Boalt. The judge is now almost a unperson, except for a funded endowment. Judge Boalt’s sin was being an outspoken backer of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Across the bay is the University of California Hastings College of Law. Serranus Clinton Hastings, the founder of Hastings Law School, financed Indian hunting expeditions, killing Indians like Buffalo, for sport. However, the University of California shows no inclination of removing Earl Warren’s name from the law School. Chief Justice Earl Warren in his earlier life as an ambitious attorney general was one of the two most responsible for interning Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II. He never apologized for his actions. Franklin Pierce Law School at the University of New Hampshire is facing renaming because President Franklin Pierce was not sufficiently anti-slavery. He signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed slavery into the western territory. Brown University, named for a slaver, has done everything short of renaming itself. Yale University got much of its start from the slave trade. Many of the Robber Barons of the Nineteenth and early 20th Century have colleges named for them. Money can but a lot. Pittsburgh’s Andrews Carnegie and Mellon have Carnegie Mellon University. J.D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, funded the startup of the University of Chicago, but his name lives on with Rockefeller University. James Buchanan Duke, the tobacco magnate monopolist, and purveyor of cancer sticks, established a trust. Trinity College changed its name to Duke University. Commodore Vanderbilt provided the funding for Vanderbilt University We clearly need to reconsider Stanford University. Leland Stanford, Sr. was a Robber Baron, but even worse as Governor of California he solicited volunteers during the Civil War for campaigns against the Indians. He further signed appropriation bills funding the expeditions. Stanford dropped its Indian Mascot in 1972. America bemoaned the heroic death of George S Custer at Custer’s Last Stand for about a century. We respect Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse today. Custer’s 7th Calvary seven years earlier on November 26, 1868 attacked the Cheyenne in their encampment. The massacre became known as the Battle of Washita. The Army commander in charge of the campaign against the Plains Indians was General Phil Sheridan, whose name is spread through the West. General Sheridan is reported to have uttered the phrase, which we know as “The only good Indian is a dead Indian. He denied it but the legend persists. The General supported the extermination of the buffalo, which forced the Plains Indians into reservations. He was however the prime mover in the creation of Yellowstone National Park. Sheridan’s name appears from New York City and D.C. through Chicago and the Great Plains across the Rockies into Oregon. Both Custer and Sheridan were heroes of the Civil War. That is probably irrelevant in this time of intellectual cleansing. John C. Calhoun, one of the most prominent public figures in the pre-Civil War Era and avid advocate of slavery, has suddenly become a nonperson, even in his South Carolina. He may still receive a footnote in history books. Confederates are rapidly falling into Trotsky’s dustbin of history. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee are biting the dust. Support is rising to redo Stone Mountain outside Atlanta. It has large carvings of Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, and Stonewall Jackson on their horses. That brings us to Mount Rushmore with the carvings of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Two were slave owners while President Lincoln mouthed racist statements against blacks. The fourth, President Roosevelt, was an unabashed imperialist. The days are numbered for the Cecil Rhodes statute at Oriel College at Oxford. What happens to the Rhodes Scholars? Christopher Columbus is finished because he unleashed the European colonization of the Americas. He was beheaded in Boston with statues removed in St. Louis and San Francisco City Hall. He still has a holiday, for now. The Spanish Conquistadores are no longer celebrated. The Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento removed its 8’ statue of John Sutter, but is keeping its name, at least for now. San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum warehoused the bust of Avery Brundage who donated the museum’s initial 8,000 art pieces. Avery Brundage made a fortune in construction in Chicago and collected Asian art pieces. He headed the International Olympics Committee from 1952-1972. He was also a Nazi sympathizer, racist and Anti-Semitic. Let us not forget Phelan Hall, the main dormitory, seemingly forever, at the University of San Francisco. James Phelan was a graduate of USF (St. Ignatius College at the time). He was an esteemed Mayor of San Francisco, a U.S. Senator from 1915-1921, and a civic leader. He was also a racist, a strong supporter of excluding Chinese and Japanese from the United States. He lost reelection in 1920 to the Senate. He railed against (TRIGGER WARNING) “The Yellow Peril.” A 1920 campaign poster said “Keep America White.” The dorm is now the Burl Toler Dorm, named for an esteemed alumnus who was the star of the fabled Undefeated, Untied, Uninvited 1951 USF football team. He was more significant as the first African American NFL official. The University of Texas is being pressured to drop “The Eyes of Texas” because of links to Robert E. Lee. Ten military bases are named for confederate military officers and officials, including Forts Benning and Bragg. President Trump refuses to rename them. Congress may do so anyway. The Obama Administration refused to rename the bases. Brigadier General Malcolm B. Frost issued a statement: “Every Army installation is named for a soldier who holds a place in our military history. Accordingly, these historic names represent individuals, not causes or ideologies. It should be noted the naming occurred in the spirit of reconciliation, not division.” Reconciliation! Not Division! If the bases go, then so did should the names of two aircraft carriers. John Stennis and Carl Vinson, who were rabid segregationists in Congress. Brand names suddenly lost value. Pepsico announced it was dropping the Aunt Jemima name and Mars said Uncle Ben is now history. Eskimo Pie needs a newname as these three brand names join the Land of Lakes Indian Maiden in the dustbin of history. The original, and last, Sambo’s in Santa Barbara decided to change its name. The argument for decades was that Sambo’s was a combination of the names of the two founders, Sam Battistone, Jr. and Newell Bohnett. That may be true, but I remember eating a couple of times at a Sambo’s in Tacoma, Washington. The restaurant was decorated with scenes from The Story of Little Black Sambo. They couldn’t have it both ways. France is standing tall. President Emmanuel Macron said France will not take down any statue; it will not erase its past. Belgium has tried to excise the memory of King Leopold II, who looted the Belgium Congo and caused the death of an estimated 10 million Africans when he owned the Congo outright a century ago. He was by far the most brutal of all the colonists. Edward Colston, a slave trader, built Bristol, England. His statue was tossed into the river last week. Attempts were then made in London to remove Churchill and Gandhi. The petition said Gandhi was a “fascist, racist and sexual predator.” The young Gandhi had strong disparaging remarks against Africans when he practiced law in South Africa. 4,000 signed a petition to remove Gandhi’s statue from Leicester, England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s response: “Statues teach us about our past, with all its faults. To tear them down would be to lie about our history, and impoverish the education of generations to come.” Memo to Gandhi’s wannabe destroyers: He believed in non-violence! What about you? He freed 390 million Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs! Who have you freed? HBO pulled Gone With The Wind to relabel it. We’ll getting close to book burning. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached and acted non-violence. Where is your non-violence. He said in his I Have A Dream Speech : “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the context of their character.” MLK demanded equality – not reparations. We are entering a dangerous period in American history when ignorance takes over and the mob rules. Justice for George Floyd, YES! But justice for George Floyd is not accomplished by obliterating the nation’s past. When will reason return?

The Protests, Demonstrations, Marches, Looting, Rioting, and Arsons Over George Floyd, et al Do Not Address the Underlying Problems of the Inner Cities

George Floyd was maliciously murdered by a bad cop. Ahmaud Arbery was murdered by 2-3 racist whites, perhaps linked to the local police in Glynn County, Georgia. Breonna Taylor was shot 8 times by Louisville Police bungling the execution of a no-knock warrant at the wrong address. Rayshard Brooks was killed in a split second decision by trigger happy Atlanta Police Officer Garret Rolfe. All these are tragic, unnecessary killings. The anger in the African American community by the video of Office Derek Chauvin brutally killing George Floyd is palpable. They were joined by Americans of all stripes, especially the young woke generation, in the protests. Enough is Enough! Unfortunately they were also joined by looters, rioters and arsonists taking advantage of the peaceful protestors. Police are evil. APAB! Cries to defund the police sprung out. Defanging is more likely. Monuments and place names are being excised in America and to a lesser extent globally. All brings joy to some. Unfortunately, the inner cities will be in even worse condition after the euphoria ends. Defunding, dismantling, demonizing, decimating the police will not solve the inner city problems of crime, dilapidated housing, dropouts, drugs, failing schools, inadequate medical care, joblessness, payday loans, and single parents. The communities need hope, opportunity, and especially jobs. The looters and arsonists destroyed scores of minority owned businesses, which provided employment to the local community. Not all will rebuild or reopen. Police will reduce policing. That sounds like a good idea to some, but cities such as Baltimore show us when the police back off from the inner cities, violent crime rises. DA’s in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York City, and Seattle refused to prosecute the arrested protesters and looters. Yet, individual officers have been singled out for excessive force. Police get the hint. Ignore the non-violent crimes, and only respond to the greater crimes when necessary. Homicide rates climb in Baltimore and New York City. Chicago has been a disaster for years. 18 were killed in Chicago on May 31. Not one was by a police officer. 238 so far this year, up from last year. Baltimore has 75 homicides to date this year, up from last year. Police killings of blacks are a small percent of black on black homicides. Black on black crime rises when the police back off. That is a tragedy for the inner city residents. Money will be diverted to the inner cities after the Floyd outrage. The only job creation will be public employees in new or increased agencies. Private capital will stay out. The trillions invested in the inner cities since LBJ’s War on Poverty and his Great Society have not changed the conditions in the inner cities. The South Bronx is still the South Bronx. South Central LA is still South Central. The failing schools will not turn around, but the Democratic leaders fight charter schools to appease the teachers unions. By all means remove bad cops, but understand the contractual provisions the police unions put in their contracts to protect officers are the same provisions in teacher union contracts that prevent the removal of bad teachers. The public should not be shocked when police use force to break up unlawful assemblies. Innocent parties should not be standing nearby when the police ask them to leave. The Los Angeles teachers union wants to defund the Los Angeles School Police Officers, and reallocate the $70 million to the schools, meaning the teachers. So much for union “solidarity forever.” 470 School Police/Resource Officers and civilians will be disbanded. The quality of education will not improve. Pillory the police; villify, denigrate and trash them. Police understand that when their mayors, councils, and even superiors no longer have their backs, but now trash them, they will back off policing, often going through the motions. That will not affect Beverly Hills, but will hurt South Central Los Angeles. NYPD Officers always knew Mayor de Blasio despised them, but are now shocked Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr., dropped charges for “low level offenses.” He even dismissed the charges against the three arrestees who defaced St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Graffiti will return to the Big Apple. Eliminate qualified immunity. Sounds good, until scores of police officers decide not to enforce the law or arrest fleeing felons, who will be free to commit more crimes. Refine police training. Teach them that what they learn on the street, street policing, but not in the academy is probably bad, and if it results in excessive force or death, could be a ticket to jail. The families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rashard Brooks will receive substantial settlements from the cities. Money cannot undo a wrongful death, but it’s the best civil liability can do. Derek Chauvin will spend the rest of his live in prison. Capital punishment awaits Ahmaud Arbery’s killers in Georgia. Justice awaits them, but maybe not for the Louisville and Atlanta officers.