Individual Rights Mean More To Americans
The City of Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday, fired Det. Myles Cosgrove, the police officer who shot and killed Breonna Taylor, and Det. Joshua Jaynes, the cop who sought the warrant that led to the fatal and flawed March 13, 2020 raid of Taylor's home.
Officer Brett Hankison was fired in June and a grand jury indicted him in September on charges of endangering Taylor's neighbors by shooting through a nearby apartment's windows.
It's really ironic that the people who have denied Black people, Native people, and other minorities basic human rights, have a hissy fit because they can't get their hair done or go to the bar! They cry foul because someone like a governor or mayor has told them they can't go to a certain place.
It doesn't matter if the reason is valid to curb the spread of COVID - 19, someone told them no!
So, what do they do? They try to go where they want to go anyway! Public safety be damned! Why? Because they have rights! If their reckless behavior only affected them, I say let them have at it, but what they do or don't do, affects you and me, too!
America was founded on the rights of the individual to be free to make his or her own decisions regarding their life. And it's this mindset that makes it difficult for many whites (white land - owning males anyway), mainly conservative Republicans, to accept government mandates on business shutdowns or the banning of patronage.
The freedoms in this country are what separates America from the rest of the world. They are also what makes us more vulnerable than the rest of the world when there is a crisis like the Coronavirus. What do I mean? Other countries, who don't have the broad scope of freedoms that we have, know how to pull together in times of peril. The whole is more important than the individual parts, the whole being the country and the parts being the people.
In America, because we place such an emphasis on individualism, the concept of sacrificing individual liberties for the betterment of the country is not a strong selling point, primarily to white people. The reason being, they are not used to being told they can't do something!
The benefits of White Privilege.
For example, the population of the United States is 4% of the world's population.
America makes up 25% of the world's Covid - 19 cases.
Granted, the main reason for this disparity is America's lack of national leadership under the Trump administration.
Another contributing factor is the noncompliance of American citizens to do the things they need to do to stay safe, even from our government leaders.
Tom Mountain, Massachusetts GOP leader, attended a White House Hanukkah party and did not wear a mask. Three days later he tested positive for COVID - 19. He said he doesn't know exactly where he contracted the virus, but he believes it was at the White House. (You Think?) The party was attended by about 100 people with few of them wearing masks.
Stupid choices don't just belong to GOP leaders, Democrats made some too. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California back in November, attended a birthday party that included families from several different households. It was the type of gathering the Governor had been telling Californians to avoid. These are only two examples, there are many more!
Under Agent Orange, we have no national plan to deal with the virus, so instead of one central plan, we have 50.
One state does this, while another state does that. There's no consistency in dealing with this crisis. As a result, you get 20 million Coronavirus cases and more than 350,000 dead Americans!
Many Americans don't want to wear masks because someone told them they have too.
Many Americans won't follow travel guidelines and stay home because someone told them they should. These people are selfish and uncaring individuals because they care more about what they want than what's best for their loved ones and the country.
Now that the vaccine is here that doesn't mean it's time to relax our safety measures that are in place. Keep wearing your masks, practice social distancing and washing your hands frequently. This isn't a political thing, so don't make it be one. This is a life or death thing. Don't be fooled by the wolf in orange clothing! It's not too late to do the right thing to keep yourself and your family safe. If you're not masking up and avoiding large groups and travel, start now! I understand you have rights; those rights do you no good on a ventilator or in a casket.
Am I my brother's keeper? Yes, you are, like it or not we are all in this together and together is the only way to combat this virus.
Healthcare workers are doing their best to keep us safe, but their pleas for us to act responsibly are falling on deaf ears. They need us to help them help us by acting responsible in our actions. So why doesn't a large section of the population act like this is a serious matter?
Why? Because Americans are selfish and feel privileged just because they are Americans who, as they are so quick to tell the rest of us, they have rights!
James Smith, is author of several books. The most recent, "My View is Different, a Black man's view of America" is available at Amazon.com.
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