WHEN YOU’RE WHITE YOU’RE RIGHT

By Ruth A. Sheets

Raise your hand if you thought Kyle Rittenhouse would be found guilty of any of the five charges brought against him for the killing of two men and the disabling of a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin!  No hands?  How am I not surprised!  Could it be that his trial was “rigged” from the day Mr. Rittenhouse was arrested, not at the BLM protest where he committed the, let’s call them “acts,” but sometime later.

Mr. Rittenhouse was 17 when he “decided” to go across state lines to save property or some other such nonsense at a Black Lives Matter event protesting the murder of a Black man by police, shot several times in the back.  There was a suggestion by Mr. Rittenhouse that he could bring some kind of medical assistance, although it isn’t clear what that could have been while carrying a gun, an illegal one at that.

Media gave Mr. Rittenhouse all sorts of coverage so he became a kind of hero to the “White Right.”  For whom Black Lives only Matter when they are working to make them rich or comfortable. And, a kid who shoots down white supporters of BLM is not only a hero, but a kind of saint.  They were and are ready to wine and dine him to honor his “courage.”

The trial, what an embarrassment that was for all of us who believe the justice system should actually be just, from the selection of the jury (all white but for one Black man,) yep, a jury of one’s peers, to the verdict.  By the way, at the time the jury was sent to deliberate, Rittenhouse got to pick out the names of those who would be dismissed.  Wow!  If that wasn’t a bad look!

Because of his celebrity, Rittenhouse got the “finest” lawyers money could buy, and buy them his White Right supporters did.  They coached the defendant on every means to make the jury see him as their own little boy, wrongly accused of a horrific, but understandable  act, that, of course, those “rioters” deserved. 

They taught him the “Kavanaugh Defense.”  That’s where a man cries to demonstrate how he is being treated so badly, poor innocent him.  It can’t be a quiet flowing of tears or someone might think he really did what he is accused of and was sorry for it.  There must be a lot of noise, a lot of sniffling, sobbing, moments when he just “can’t go on!  The people listening have already been primed to be susceptible” to the weeping rage.  Republicans on the Judiciary Committee interviewing Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court were primed as well as Rittenhouse’s jury was.  As a blind listener to both outbursts, I wanted to gag.  Both were some of the worst acting I have seen, or rather heard.  Maybe if the jury (or the Judiciary Committee) had closed their eyes for a moment, they would have heard that too.

The judge, Bruce Schroeder, where can one start?  The man was elected by people who either didn’t care what he was since he ran unopposed or were delighted that a racist would serve them in the city’s courtrooms. 

The prosecution might have chosen other charges to try Rittenhouse on, but they chose the truth.  It was clear from the start, however, judge Schroeder was out to sabotage their case.  He told the prosecutor that using the word “victim” for those killed and injured by Mr. Rittenhouse was “inflammatory,” but it was perfectly OK for the defense to call those same men “rioters and looters,” when there was no evidence of their rioting or looting.  They were clearly victims, however.

The berating of the prosecution for various things the judge didn’t like probably impacted the presentation of their case.  The judge’s performance, broadcast across the world was also meant to reach and inspire the White Right, which it certainly did.  I find it amusing that the judge took a moment to whine about having the trial televised.  What a hypocrite!

So what can we who expected but are appalled by this verdict do now?  Well, we need to challenge our state legislatures, like Pennsylvania’s  who are trying to make it legal to carry concealed weapons.  I guess their next step is to OK kids like Kyle Rittenhouse to carry loaded automatic rifles in the streets.  Oh wait!  There might be a problem.  How can they make those laws work so only White Right folks can have that privilege?  I am sure the Rittenhouse White Right lawyers are already on that.  It will probably have to do with letting police (and young white guys) kill with impunity anyone  who is of color or “supporting” people of color.  Oh wait again!  Don’t we already have that in place?

We who care about our democracy must be willing to stand up in whatever way works for us to call the White Right out for their bad behavior and their anti-American positions, even if it messes with a few Thanksgiving dinners.  It turns out that people calling out (in as kind a way as possible) family and friends for their hateful, racist, misogynistic words and actions is one of the most powerful ways of changing those behaviors, when they can be changed at all.

Then, Repeat and act in every way possible that “Black Lives Matter.”  Work hard against electing people who can’t say out loud “Black Lives Matter,” without the follow-up phrase “Well,, really, all lives matter” or “Well, you know, blue lives matter too,” or some similar phrase.  That follow-up is a sure sign that Black Lives really don’t Matter to them. 

Cowardice on the Right is huge right now.  The jury for this trial participated in that.  I suspect there was a lot of, “what will people think if I cause a young white boy to serve life in prison?  He really is a good boy who just got caught up, you know.  How can we destroy his life like that?”  I wonder if they thought much about the lives Rittenhouse destroyed, and that they were good men standing up for the rights of others.

I know this is a bit mean, but I honestly hope Kyle Rittenhouse is haunted by his killing of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and his disabling of Gaige Grosskreutz.   He has not been held accountable and may actually believe the BS that he was justified. While he is serving a pathetic Republican congressmember as an intern, I hope he feels the pain of getting a position he didn’t deserve, didn’t work for, but managed to kill for.

Maybe after a little haunting, Rittenhouse can grow into a person with an understanding of what he has done so he can come to know forgiveness.  We’ll see.

WHEN HYPOCRISY, GASLIGHTING, LIES BECOME THE NORM

by Ruth A. Sheets 

Today on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” I heard a report on the US Catholic Bishops’ meeting coming up about abortion.  One of the interviewed women claimed that the Church’s position on abortion had been in place for thousands of years “why should it change.”  The interviewer didn’t challenge the statement when a 10 second internet search would have informed her and the interviewee that the Church did not outlaw abortion until 1869.  I had known this since high school in the late 1960’s when abortion became a serious topic of discussion, particularly for women.

This is a symptom of something occurring more and more frequently.  Make or allow statements on air that could be refuted, but somehow just aren’t.  It has been going on for a long time, at least since Donald Trump announced his candidacy  for the presidency.  Mr. Trump made blatantly false statements from that day to the present and only recently has been regularly challenged on those statements, and only rarely are those lies called lies.  I get it that people have opinions, but if those opinions are expressed in public, there is an obligation to make corrections when the statements are factually wrong. 

That led me to think about the hypocrisy related to American Roman Catholic bishops.  For example, Catholic Bishops and others in positions of authority in the Church knowingly moved abusive priests from one place to another for decades with little or no regard to the victims.  Where was their outcry against these actions?  So, women must carry to term but too bad that their children might be victims of the Church that forced them to give birth.  Oh yes, and if an unmarried girl or woman became pregnant, no matter how violently, she was a sinner beyond redemption, spoiled goods only worthy of marrying their rapist or the teen boy involved with the pregnancy.  Yes, that is so Christian, but it happened an uncountable number of times.  Preach love and practice violence and indifference as the Bishops did when they stood by while their beloved Donald Trump tore children from their families and caged them like animals.  Where are the Bishops when factories spew deadly pollution into the air and water consumed by their Catholic members who suffer horrific health problems?  Where are the Bishops when people who are mentally ill or probably innocent are being put to death by our governments?  Where were the Bishops in the past when Native American children were ripped from their homes and used and abused in “Indian” schools where thousands died?  It seems to me that the Bishops have a lot of penance to do before they can deny Holy Communion to anyone.  By then, they might be a bit more humane, more Christlike (maybe) and won’t be making such anti-woman pronouncements at all.

On January 6, 2021, as all Americans know, a mob of insurgents attacked the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, the location of the Senate and House of Representatives.  Five people died and many Capitol Police officers were injured.  In the days, weeks, and months that followed, despite having extensive video records of what happened, Republican Senators and Representatives, as well as some who were involved in the insurrection claimed the event was just like a tourist visit on a Wednesday afternoon.  What!  Of course they were gaslighting, lying!  They know they and their leader were hoping they could stop Joe Biden from becoming president despite a 7 million vote Biden win in a fraud-free, secure election in November.  They were planning to declare Martial Law after the mob-caused deaths of some members of Congress and even the Vice President, so Donald Trump could remain president.  It took a lot of quick thinking and action that kept that from happening as the plotters had hoped.  The insurgents are now holding the House of Representatives in contempt as they ignore subpoenas to learn just what led to and happened that Wednesday afternoon. 

The gaslighting, claiming something everyone had seen was not what they actually saw has been part of American politics for years, but Republicans have been honing it to a fine sharp weapon they can wield with skill through news outlets and permissive social media that value money and views more than truth.  Besides the lie is the point, particularly if they can get enough scared, resentful, angry white people to believe it.  To date, they have managed to lure millions of them.

Book banning is the revived insanity that rears its head every now and then when conservatives are scared that the world is changing and literature is reflecting that change.  As always, books by Black authors with Black main characters are the primary target.  LGBT characters and strong women are bull's-eyed too.  The reason the banners say, the books are pornography or they make white kids feel guilty or just bad. 

Who are the banners?  They are predominantly white men who see themselves as guardians of the children (or rather, their children).  Women have been recruited too.  No experience necessary!  You don’t even have to have read the books you want banned, in fact, it’s best if you haven’t because then you can spout other people’s opinions with a straight face as though what you are saying is true.  It’s racism but, of course, you are not a racist.  It’s misogyny, but of course, you don’t hate women.  It is homophobic, but some of your best friends are gay.  Hypocrisy, yep, and with a touch of gaslighting too!   

Some Republicans had no trouble back in March cheering for the rescue bill passed by Democrats to help families who had been seriously hurt by COVID.  Republicans opposed it at every level but jumped right in to make it look like they were in favor all the time, after it had passed and people in their districts/states were beginning to benefit.  Local media covered these hypocrites  as though they were heroes.  Oops, hypocrisy, but few seemed to be able to call it that.    

So what do we do?  We need to keep pushing media to do better in their reporting.  Fair does not mean that both sides are of equal value.  Since climate change (really global warming) is happening, anti-climate change people are not worth the time of any reporter to cover, so don’t do it.  Voter restriction bills and laws around the country are racist and fraud is almost non-existent, so listening to people who keep spouting nonsense about voter fraud need to be given next to no time on air, in print, or on social media except for reporting the irresponsible behavior of state and local governments as irresponsible. 

Abortion is medically safe, far safer than pregnancy, so anyone who serves up lies about needing clinics to be surgical centers should be ignored.  They are lying.  Men and a few women who claim the Church has ruled against abortion for “thousands of years” are lying and a correction should be part of the report if that kind of lie is even broadcast at all.  COVID vaccines are safe and very effective.  They do not connect people with outer space or allow tracking, or do anything else but save people from a deadly disease.  Anything that says otherwise is a lie and needs to be stopped and called a lie. 

We can curb the hypocrisy, gaslighting, OK, let’s call it what it is, lying if we step up and constantly call people on their lies.  We don’t have to be mean about it, but we shouldn’t be too gentle either.  People need to see that there is urgency in refuting the public lies put out there by our leaders and other public figures.

Lies may seem small and unimportant because they are being tossed out so frequently these days.  Well, that is a bad way to look at it.  Each lie is a blow to our family, neighbors, friends and others living in this country.  They are tossed out there to misdirect, to undermine, to cover up more serious crimes, to control other people, to keep white men and the women who support them in charge of everything that matters in America.  If we know this, we can all stand up and say “no more!”  We need full participation of the diversity of this nation:  all races, genders, ethnicities, ages, political persuasions, education, backgrounds, jobs, and more.  It is the diversity that will make a healthy positive future for this country and the world possible.  Let’s choose that instead of a society where hypocrisy and gaslighting, lies for the benefit of a few, are the norm.