Racism vs. Discrimination

 

Is the United States a racist society?

In 2020, the topic of "racism" has come front and center stemming from a police-related killing of a black suspect in Minneapolis, MN.  While everyone has condemned this event, it spurred protests nation-wide against police forces in larger cities under the accusation of "systemic racism." Riots, vandalism, and violence erupted in several cities to fight back against brutality by police forces against minority communities.

Does this really happen in this day & age? Haven't we progressed beyond racism? The death at the hands of the police is a terrible thing, of course, but why does it happen? Is there a bigger problem behind this event? What is it? 

Many an article could be written about "why" ... but first, what is the accusation brought by protesters, rioters, and their larger movement? Is it valid or is it magnified or exaggerated? 

What is systemic racism? Are people (white people, specifically) intrinsically racist? Is the legal and judicial system in the United States based on race, with the intention to oppress minority groups (black people, specifically)?

Or is the system discriminatory? Are laws written against a specific group of people? Do people of authority (police, politicians, bureaucrats) actively deny people of color the things they give to others?

What's the difference?

Equality vs. Equity

The conversation is changing in 2020 ...

In a search on this topic, this image is almost universal.

When this topic started to peak my interest, I thought it a simple difference in definitions. But it isn't. It's a huge topic, one more prevalent in today's society than I even began to imagine. For a long time, there was a difference in what people were actually referring to when they spoke about equality, discrimination, and racism in this country.  The difference could be due to context of a conversation, or just simply interpretation of the laws of the country as we currently know them.

Is our society striving for equality? Do our laws provide for equity? It depends on who you talk to, right? Why?

Pilgrims vs. Conquerors

Were the first people to settle in the New World of America conquerors? Did they come to overrun the people they found there? Or did they come for a more personal reason? 

Did the indigenous people of this new land become the only reason America survived as we know it today? Was there nothing that the settlers could do on their own?

Rights vs. Liberties (Civil)

Many a heated conversation has occurred talking about civil rights in the USA. But are we talking about rights or freedoms/liberties? What is the difference? Why do people think they have a right to any one thing? Do rights change? Inalienable rights? Is our perception of reality so bad that we have to change it as time goes on? Are we really seeing something new - something that no society has ever seen before, dealt with before?

How does liberty - in the form of liberties - fit into or with the rights that we have? What are the similarities that cause us to hear one over the other so often? What are the differences; why are they being overshadowed?

Love vs, Money

This post is primarily about policy, and USA policy in particular.  While the title is Love vs. Money, it isn't written to talk about the merits of one versus the other, but rather to pose the question of "Why?"

Why do people who can't get married want to get married?

Cloud vs. SaaS

Is Cloud software SaaS?

Does SaaS mean Cloud software?

Does anyone really know?

Why are there 2 different terms?

Climate ... something

Well, isn't this fun?  For anyone who's been around for any length of time, we know that topic of our environmental status has been debated, changed, manipulated, and lied about for decades.

First in my lifetime was a looming ice age. (More on that later.) Then, a mere 20 or so years later, it was Global Warming.  When a 7-year trend of cooling occurred, though, the narrative had to be changed.  So, the never-wrong phrase of "Climate Change" became the mantra.

What does that mean? And why is it a bad thing?