The view from my soapbox

It seems there is a bad case of thuggery going on in Charlotte. Too bad, I like the Queen City. I used to go there about once a month in my former occupation. It seems to me that you lose all legitimacy of a protest when it turns almost immediately into full blown looting and a riot. Too bad the President remains silent on this, as usual. For those of you protesting, you lose all credibility when the chant is "Hands up, don't shoot", a false rallying cry if ever there was one. Even the Eric Holder justice department could find nary a scrap of evidence that ever happened.

I'm not black. I have no idea how those particular Nikes fit.  I do know that life is not fair. I do know that your odds of doing a crime, of failing in school, of ending up fighting uphill against the winds of life increase when you come from a single patent home; no matter what color you skin. Not always, but facts are facts, you can look it up yourself.

The bottom line is that protesting a song or a flag will do nothing to change the culture. How about this dialogue: get an education, take responsibility for your kids, make sure they have a better life than you. There are opportunities out there, take advantage. Do not have kids if you cannot afford them. Stay off drugs. Look at welfare as a temporary helping hand, not a way of life. Learn to speak and write proper English. Get a job, no matter how menial. Work hard and use that experience to leverage a better job.  Write it on you hand in indelible marker -- society owes you nothing, you are only a victim if you let yourself be one.

Note that none of this advice is skin pigment specific.

Here is more, if a cop tells you to do something, do it. There are lots of lawyers out there who will gladly make it right after the fact. Lots and lots of cops are dickheads and bullies. The profession attracts those kind of power hungry fools. Lots more are good people who become jaded from spending their working hours almost exclusively dealing with the worst of society. Some truly want to protect and serve. In every case things get ugly when you argue with a cop or refuse an order. Again, skin color does not matter.

There are racist bigots in this world. Some are white, some are black. Jerks come in every color and ethnicity. Do not let those simple-minded creatures define you.

Kneel, protest, riot, and loot. It will get you nothing but a burned out neighborhood. Real change is up to you. Millionaire athletes and entertainers ought to put their money and effort into that message. Anything else is a hollow symbol and a self-serving waste of time.