THE WE FACTOR And Exclusivity
Way back In Massachusetts in the early 70s my mother wanted to go see Ted Kennedy talk some place downtown Springfield. Steve and I took her.
The one thing I recall him saying was that he never says I. It’s WE. By saying WE he includes everybody. ‘I’ seems too self centered. It’s about we the people.
So early in his career that’s a strategy he used when communicating to others in his speeches.
Blacks use that WE strategy too. It’s a political tool to gather the troops, to rouse the crowd so to speak. Unfortunately, they most often use it to separate us from them, black from white. Ted Kennedy’s approach would not have excluded anyone. WE is who we all are in this political fight for fairness under the law.
Politicians can’t legislate opinions or people’s likes and dislikes. They can’t or shouldn’t show preferential treatment under the law. They can’t or shouldn’t base laws on specific peoples’ propensity to break laws and to get caught in the process, thereby exempting them for their lack of skill and competence.
Getting rid of all laws because certain groups can’t or won’t discipline themselves sufficiently to keep them out of trouble with the law is lazy legislation that will unleash even more chaos.
To even suggest that people can’t control their urges to assault, vandalize, steal, rape, murder places the onus on the victim instead of the victimizer where it should be placed. Stay away from black people is what it says.
Further, it plays into the stereotypical savagery and barbarism long associated with groups who can’t control their impulses, thus becoming a danger to themselves, others and a civilized society.
When I hear black people on television saying the WE word I know intuitively that they’re talking for an entire race – most of whom they know nothing about, much less their views. So the WE word is becoming exploited for the political purposes of one color one race one people to the exclusion of everybody else.
These aren’t democrats. Not real democrats. Real democrats are inclusive not exclusive. We the black people is exclusive.
SHARON ON THE NEWS™ 