I'm just a white man. I'm just a black man.

 I'm just a white man; I'm just a black man. 

By Reed Johnson

On a whim, I wrote down some lyrics I was singing to myself on a cross-state bike ride. When I can only hear the engine roar and the wind in your helmet, I tend to just start singing. That night, while settling into another hotel in Roanoke, VA,  I wrote to Oliver Anthony (Chris) a song/poem and posted it to his Facebook page. Now, the following is not direct or exactly what I wrote, and the truth is I did not write it down. I wrote to him my thoughts for a song in a matter of minutes.  What I put down on paper here will not be exactly the same, but close. It's the catchline that is the most important. Like "Rich man north of Richmond," mine is as follows. I told him he could have the song if it inspired him; it is free to use. 

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world.

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

Oh, why do you take from me my history and bury it in the ground?

Oh, why can't a man, a black, educated man, find a job oh, where can one be found?

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world. 

Oh, why do you kill in your urban cities for a thrill? 

Have you no regard for life?

Oh, why do I live in poverty? 

Why do my schools fail me? 

Why do leaders turn to apathy and stab my soul with a knife?

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world.

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

Oh, black man, Sunday comes along, and where are you?

I sit here in church praying for you?

Oh, white man, Sunday comes along, and where are you?

I sit here in church praying for you.

We are just men living in the rich man's world.

We allow our politicians to live high on the hog.

While we country folk live in a bog

Our lives are but tiny swirls and whirls.

We go round and round, knocking the rural man down.

The urban politicians care nothing for our small town.

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world.

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

Ross Perot was right.

When he said, they would take in the night.

Our jobs and factories.

Does the rich man know no boundaries?

Unions are no better.

Just dues for the rich few.

A socialist kind of debtor.

Drowning my sorrows in a mug of brew.

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world.

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

Oliver Anthony is right.

We have to take care of ourselves on the left and the right. 

We find our sister and brotherhood in our churches at night.

Together we can have might.

We can rule our lives.

Without greed and apathy.

Without covetness and agony.

Without hate and knives.

Stabbing each other in the back

As we allow the politician man to attack. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world.

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

Envy is the world's original sin.

We can no longer let in.

We can no longer allow envy to be used

To separate us, we must be fused.

Together we win; divided, we fall

To the rich politicians who give it their all.

To divide us a black man from a white man. 

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world. 

I'm just a black man living in a white man's world.

I'm just a white man living in a black man's world. 

America's core values and creeds are under cancel culture attack

If you ever get to read Joseph Filco, a regular commentary writer with the Williamsburg Gazette. In that case, I challenge you to find his sensible opinion based on years of human experience and education worthy of a chance to read. Joseph's recent opinion was entitled "Culture change takes time" Williamsburg Gazette 8-5-2023. When I read Josph's commentary, I thought about "Environmental change takes time." A subject near and dear to my heart. Using Joseph's advice and analogies for the same progress would be easy. Today, I am exploring why the American divide to progress. Following is my discourse and letter to Joseph for his consideration.  

"America's core values and creeds are under cancel culture attack."

If I may call you Joseph, I read your opinion today and couldn't agree more. A fine piece of critical thinking and explanation, at least from one point of view, and that is your own. I expect you will be attacked in the coming weeks, but then, like the Rhinouras, your skin is four inches deep. Welcome to the herd. Ad Hominem would be a good topic for consideration. To write about (an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they maintain. For many today, like our politicians, and the media, personal attacks seem the norm. So would it be any wonder this behavior trickles down to the average citizen hiding behind a social media post?  

Alas, I think of apathy. Why do people use personal attacks? Why does the media use personal attacks? Why do politicians today use personal attacks? Why would the editors of the Daily Press not expect personal attacks? What makes them immune to citizens? 

I suggest apathy. For example, the editors of the Daily Press, Williamsburg Gazette (any media), politicians, and academia should respond better to criticism. They use cancel culture to stifle those they disagree with. The only method left to attempt conversation is personal attacks of which the average citizen learns the behavior from the media, academia, and politics., It is because of the lack of communication with readers, community citizens with different opinions, and taxpayers the average citizen lashes out at school board meetings or board of supervisor meetings. 

In other words, why is it okay for the editors of the Daily Press to attack our governor's opinion or action, yet these same editors lack the fortitude to take criticism themselves? Example: I can write to the president of William and Mary with a different view, asking questions and expecting answers. The response is typical, "We just have to agree to disagree." It's a pretty lame way to treat a fellow citizen. The same can be said for media who do not respond or, for whatever reason, decide to cancel a human being because they disagree with an opinion without reason. 

You can't tell me today that the media is not biased or even bigoted (unwilling to change), spearheading liberal culture change in our society with cancel culture in mind if you do not fall in line. Your opinion bodes well for those who print your opinion; it is like, duh, look in the mirror, editor. Your article/view was well written; maybe those who need to listen to your call are the ones in charge, not citizens. The citizen follows in the footsteps of leaders who lead by example. When leaders, as mentioned, want a culture change, they use personal attacks to whip up the frenzy of cancel culture; that is just propaganda, not conversation. Liberals, the media, and academia use cancel culture to push culture change— Don't you think diversity, a range of different things, only applies to the left if you agree with them? If you disagree, you are canceled. Don't you think inclusion flies out the door every day that we disagree with the media leftist who use propaganda to push culture change and use personal attacks against our politicians? Don't you think equity is sunk like the Titanic in the Atlantic when cancel culture is used to push a narrative? Don't you think it is a sad day for America's creed and core values when leaders in our community use their power to squash communication or a difference of opinion? 

Virginia Governor Youngkin, Protecting America.

Dated 7-9-2023: The Daily Press editors go on the offensive against our Virginia governor. The editors seem to have an issue with border security between Mexico and our Nation. The attacks stem from Youngkin's assistance in sending 100 national guardsmen to Texas to assist in securing our border. My discourse follows as to why we need to help and in the same tone as the editors reminding all Americans of our distrust in the current federal administration and its puppets. 

As if right on queue, the Daily Press editors attack the Virginia Republican Governor again with hate for American security and conservatives throughout our Nation. In another attack dated 7-9-2023, the opinion page cast a remarkably weak stance on border security. Our Border security should be the responsibility of the Federal Government. A federal government that is led by a senile puppet president Joe Biden. A president so vile he and the first lady do not even acknowledge a grandchild. I have often said, do not judge me by me; judge me by how I raised my children. In essence, how you raise your children reflects your moral values and ethics. The old saying goes, a bad apple does not fall far from the tree. This senile puppet leader, and let's be clear, this leader has no clue who we are fighting in Ukraine, as he called Russia - Iraq in a statement earlier this month. A president who continues to show us how confused he is, "God save the Queen," and has to be led around on a leash to not get lost. 

What the Daily Press does not consider in their opinion and will never opine as they are handled by the same handlers of Biden; yes, the Daily Press editors are nothing more than puppets of the Wizard of Oz. Federal law is being broken by the Democrats when they allow foreign adversaries and other illegal aliens to cross into America without following the letter of the law. That is what all of this comes down to. State governors are stepping up and trying to do something to help protect our country, and the editors of the daily press attack mercilessly as if they are told what to do. I guarantee this same message will be played across Virginia in lockstep as if the media is used to persuade public opinion. The Daily Press plants seeds in their opinion with no proof; that is poor editorial comments. Our Governor does not need to listen to the Texas Troops to know that if one Virignian National Guardsman can stop one crossing of illegal fentanyl, millions of Americans might live. Suppose one Virginia National Guardsman can stop one Chinese national or other possible sleeper cell infiltration unit into our country from adversarial enemies; then, job well done. Even the Daily Press admits, although I think they do not realize it, sending troops, the Daily Press reports, to Texas has moved smuggling operations to other states. That means what we are doing in Texas is working and not a failure. 

It is time for other border states to step up and do the same. At a time when our doddering, decrepit President ignores our safety, I, for one, am glad Governor Youngkin has stepped up and done what he can to help our country. At a time when our President associates himself with breast-baring, mentally deranged white house visiting people and in front of two-year-olds no less; when cocaine is found in the white house; when the press secretary lies as to who was in the white house at 6:38 pm on a Friday long after Daddy had left; when you have a president whose moral decision is to ignore a granddaughter; when a president wants to take from you your gas stove and heating appliances, and when the Daily Press seems to think criminal trespassing and whatever they believe are minor offenses are not important then we as Americans have a profound mistrust of the media and our federal puppet leader. 

"The Follower" chapter three. "You first"

"You first" 

 A lazy summer afternoon somewhere in the late 1970s. We had finished milking cows. Ralph Lee Harris (RL) and I had ten dollars between us, and as was the ordinary afternoon growing up in Appomattox, VA, near the James River, we were off to fish. In our day, wade fishing with purple worms on a Texas rig was all you needed to harvest smallmouths of good size. The river where we fished was about a 20-minute drive through our community's farm roads and countryside west of Stonewall off Rt. 623. A local farmer, whom we helped bail hay, allowed us to fish on his farm. Stopping at the country store along the way, we pop in for a cold beer at two dollars an eight-pack. Standing in the middle of the river, our eight packs resting comfortably on the closest rock, we would knock back those Old Milwaukee ponies, fishing.

Wading the river is for something other than barefoot. We wore shorts, tees, and old tennis shoes. One had to carefully make his way into the river and up to the rapids, where casting your line above the rapids and allowing that 6-inch wiggle worm to float into the pools below was our standard fishing technique—a little secret to the big ones. Along the shore of the James, you will find creek-like waterways that are a part of the river but separated from the river by small patches of sand bar covered with trees and other vegetation. Not more than 4-6 feet wide, but deep was ideal. Here the big ones lurk in the lazy noncurrent push of the river waiting for dinner to arrive. I was always happy to oblige them with my offering. One had to be careful; the river could be 1 foot deep or 20 feet deep with every step. Although above the Richmond fall line, I remember a rise and fall to the river. Not sure if the paper plant was to blame at the time; we knew no better, but most of the time, the tall tell sign of an approaching storm. 

On this day, as we carefully approach the rapids in front of us, we are approaching from downriver, looking upriver. We get out of the river, working the banks to the top side of the rapids, and back in we go. You are better off in the river walking than on the shoreline as mother nature's poisonous creature's sunbath and nature's perfectly made ich scratching plants thrived. RL and I noticed the river's rise, black clouds in the distance, and always from the north towards the south by southeast or down the river; the storms would always come. The old farmers knew the summer thunderstorms would follow the river for miles. RL and I are in the middle of the river, looking at each nonchalantly, casting our lines, catching fish, yet the storm is getting closer. We smile; the game is on. The game is called "you first." Now, before any of you reading this want to comment on how silly a game we played, nonetheless. The game was, who is getting out of the middle of the river first with a thunderstorm barreling down the river? 

Like most afternoons, we could see the storm coming from miles away; about 20 minutes later, we could hear the thunder; about 5 minutes later, we could see the lightning. The wind is blowing briskly like the fan on a farm porch blowing the playing cards off the table on a Sunday morning. Living in the rural parts of Appomattox, the routine was all too common, and on Sundays, we visited RL's cousin, father, and Grandfather. After milking, we played "set back," a card game on Sunday mornings.

Rain is starting to pelt us like a farmer's saltpeter blast of a shotgun against our backsides running with sweet corn; I look at RL; he looks at me, still fishing, smiling; who will blink first? Bellowing thunder is now on top of us. I look again and can barely make out RL's silhouette in the driving rain. The fish is on; I have put my mind to catching fish with every throw of my lure, reeling in another one. Lightning strikes the river about 300 yards down the river before the bend, another fish on, can't go now, got to catch fish. 

When fishing the rapids, we throw into the current or what we call up the river, and then we turn with our lure to the down river, and a gentle pull of the bait indicates fish on. Now for smallmouth, you must be patient. You let the fish take the worm; you can follow the line in the water as the fish races out of the current to the nearest still water hole behind a rock where he intends to munch his lunch. It is then that you set the hook—a big one. I break my line on a sharp rock, and here I stand in the middle of the river, rain beating down, thunder and lightning all around now, wind hallowing without a lure on my line. I pull my farmer's hat off my head, unhooking a floating creek chub, and tie it on. I turn, and RL is nowhere in sight. Did he leave? Did he move downriver; did he take shelter? Did he get hit? No, I thought he was ok just worked his way down to the island in the middle of the river. We had fished together for so long that we knew each other's fishing patterns. 

 The first cast of the floating creek chub, right to the tip of the upriver portion of the island, produces a fish jumping high into the air. I will never forget in all my life that one fish in the late 1970s, the tender age of 19, and today at 62, one fish on the line is etched into my mind forever. Suddenly as I was reeling this 3-pound smallmouth, lightning hits not 30 feet away from me; I looked at the spot where the lightning struck, knowing the light I saw was after the bolt had hit the water; the crack of the lightning was as loud as an F16 breaking the sound barrier, the light blinding, I can't see, the thunder comes on top of me in seconds, rain as thick as heavy fog. I looked at my line, and I looked back for RL; I looked forward. I don't remember being afraid for some reason; fish on, I thought, so fish on… I am fishing in the rain through a mighty horrific thunderstorm, lightning everywhere, standing in the middle of the river without care. I will be damn if RL beats me today. 

The thunderstorm came and went in about thirty minutes; looking behind me, watching the storm roll up the river, I smiled at God's wondrous beauty. In these thirty minutes, with the barometric pressure falling rapidly, I had reeled in 15 smallmouth bass; I mean to say every cast was a fish in those thirty minutes. I had challenged God to keep me safe. I had stuck my middle finger in mother nature's eye, failing to yield to her power. The sun comes out behind the clouds now as if nothing had happened. I would be dry from the waist up again in about forty-five minutes. Helios is starting to sink and giving way to Selene's visit in the sky. I am looking around; RL comes out from under the trees of the main shoreline, walking out of an old, abandoned barn next to the river. RL wades into the river, he smiles, and I smile back; "you last," he says, throwing his purple six-inch wiggly Texas rigged lure up against the island's bank. 

 Reed Johnson Author: A horse named Ray Ray

Slavery as told through Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.

Williamsburg Gazette, June 3rd, 2023. A last-word writer, for whatever reason, decided to take the stance that the Irish should not be counted as in need of reparations since they were never slaves but indentured servants. I thought it was time to research and write about Irish servitude and slavery. America needs to tell this story better. 

Slavery as told through Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity

Irish Indentured Servants and Slaves, a story not told well. A conversation around Indentured servants has found its way into the Williamsburg Gazette. In the last word, this historical past is attacked by people who should understand. Ignorance is all I can call it; as Joesph Filco wrote, in an opinion, "Education wars continue." "People who tend to take extreme views bring out the worse in themselves."  Yet extreme views are still a part of our society, and who is to judge what is extreme? After all, George Washington was an extremist. The Sons of Liberty was an extremist group, and Abraham Lincoln was an extremist, each killing and murdering thousands for change. Extreme is limited groupthink, as people are, by nature, tribal. In other words, we tend to group ourselves based on like-kind thought and employ our will. 

If we promote diversity, defined as a range of things, which is the definition, we exclude an excellent idea of seeking truth. When we exclude the extreme according to our dictates, we fail to achieve diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI). While DEI is meant to include, DEI is accomplishing exclusion; we see exclusion daily in our society through cancel culture and when mainstream media ignores prominent newsworthy events. In doing so, DEI is never really obtained; thus, the child's education must still be completed. The adult teachers' ideals are limited to groupthink for fear of exclusion. We see this in colleges, high schools, and grade schools; groupthink controls what our children learn.   

Americans have not been dedicated to learning about world slavery. If they have, they don't seem to care to understand that slavery in the thirteen colonies was a tiny portion of slavery in the world during the 1600s. Historian James Horn, a past director of the Jamestown Settlement, wrote in his book 1619 that there is considerable debate as to whether the first Africans arriving in Virginia were indentured servants or enslaved people. We don't know the truth, according to Horn. We know many Africans were able to obtain their freedom, with some moving to the eastern shore. The truth is not enough was written down historically concerning the 20 and something. Here, diversity of thought is censored by historians, the mainstream media, internet search engines, or groups of people who want to push a narrative in our schools. This is the educational war Joseph Filco describes. 

Irish indentured servants were a significant portion of the population throughout the period when white servants were used for plantation labor in Barbados, and a "steady stream" of Irish servants entered Barbados throughout the seventeenth century. Irish servants in Barbados were often treated poorly, and Barbadian planters gained a reputation for cruelty. The decreased appeal of an indentured servant in Barbados, combined with the enormous demand for labor caused by sugar cultivation, led to involuntary transportation to Barbados as a punishment for crimes, political prisoners, and the kidnapping of laborers who were sent to Barbados involuntarily. 

Author Robert West, in "England's Irish Slaves," writes, "The earliest written reference to the Irish is the establishment of an Irish colony on the Amazon river in 1612. Long before Africans arrived in America in 1619, another writer (Smith) reports in "Colonist in Bondage," "a proclamation of the year 1625 urged the banishing overseas of Irish political prisoners and the kidnapping of the Irish was common." 

West goes on to write; If there is one thing historians can agree on, as to the 17th-century American colonies, most historians agree that the treatment of white servants or white enslaved people in English colonies was cruel to the extreme, worse than that of enslaved Black people; that inhuman treatment was the norm, that torture (and branding of fugitive traitors, upon the forehead was the punishment for attempted escape. West cites another historical writer (Dunn): "Servants were punished by being strung up by the hands and matched lighted between their fingers, beaten over the head until blood ran,"--all this for the slightest provocation." Another writer of the time period Ligon reports as an eyewitness in Barbados from 1647-1650; he said, "Truly, I have seen cruelty there be these servants as I did not think one Christian could have done to another. 

Unfortunately, this story is not told well. Diversity of thought is squashed in our schools, social search engines, historians, and the mainstream media contribute to history masking. Even today, we see history being erased with the removal of Confederate historical art. We see slave history being retold, yet not all truthful. The history of the enslaved Irish person and servant has been changed to serve another outcome. Books being banned by both sides of the debate bring out the worse in humanity. Of course, one only has to dig deep into the dungeons of your free library. Where books by time period authors concerning the diversity of thought of the enslaved Irish person and servant exists, Joseph Fillco is correct; the education wars continue, the whitewashing of our world's history manipulated by the unforeseen Wizard of OZ who dwells behind the curtain, locked doors, and tall walls; they hide from most of us, but not me; I may not know who you are, but I know you exist. Interestingly, DEI is the same as DIE. 

Reference: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/englands-irish-slaves-10927

Book Banning, "A light in the Darkness"

I want to thank the Daily Press editors for giving me another valuable topic to write about. 

A light in the darkness

 

Daily Press Opinion dated 5-7-2023.

 

 

The Daily Press offers an opinion. "Book bans dimmish the scope of experiences available to young readers." As one might guess, the Daily Press editors consider book banning to be a "crusade" to narrow the scope of experience available to young readers, and though it will not satiate their curiosity, The Daily Press believes book banning coddles readers instead of challenging them." The Daily Press provides a list of books that may be banned, such as classics like "To Kill a Mockingbird," the "Diary of Ann Frank," or perhaps "1984" by George Orwell. Where some believe these books are identified as sexually explicit. There are other books banned for sexual reasons that The Daily Press refuses to consider. Books like the "Harry Potter" series.

 

 

The Daily Press leaves out other banned books for consideration. An entirely different topic as to race where book banning is still in place today. Such classics as "Tom Sawyer," "Huckleberry Finn," "Gone with the Wind," "The Catcher in the Rye," and "Of Mice and Men." We all know the authors as these well-known classics. According to CNN, Books that touch on race are the most banned books in America today.

 

Another topic of banning the Daily Press refuses to consider; The Daily Press and other news outlets ban topics from their opinion page and cartoon section of the newspaper. These bans are based on race, conservatism, and traditional American values.

 

Another topic The Daily Press editors refuse to consider is cancel culture. Whereby a minority of the population bans and attempts to cancel culture for an opinion concerning race, sex, or politics. A small minority of zealots take upon themselves the idea of revenge by posting poor reviews of restaurants, business shaming, doxing a writer's home address, and in some cases calling a fellow American Citizens' place of work to get them fired from their job and what for, an opinion?

 

Another topic the Daily Press refuses to consider is banning religious books like the Bible or Quran in schools. Jonathan Friedman, the director of the Free Expression and Education program for PEN America, a free speech organization that tracks book challenges, wrote, "To our knowledge, objections to the Bible in the last year have occurred as a reaction to efforts to ban so many books," Friedman said. "In each case where it was banned, it seems to have been inadvertent, and the decision was, to our knowledge, reversed." But in one Missouri district, the Bible was removed temporarily to check its compliance with state law, amid more than 200 other books. That is not common, Caldwell-Stone said but isn't surprising given the new trend in mass book bans across the country. "When you choose censorship as your tool for controlling access to information and controlling individuals' ability to learn more about various ideas," she said, "inevitably it's going to sweep up ideas and materials that you actually agree with." According to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom director, the Bible has faced sporadic book challenges for years. "If students want to read the Bible, it should be available in school libraries, Caldwell-Stone said. And so should books about atheism or pieces critiquing the Bible, among other religion-related texts." Caldwell-Stone writes, "Part of education is critical thinking skills, understanding all the arguments from all points of view and sorting through them and deciding for oneself what one believes or wants to think about a particular topic," she said. "And so, I think that should be available to readers despite what one group or an individual thinks of those books."

According to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom director, the Bible has faced sporadic book challenges for years. "If students want to read the Bible, it should be available in school libraries, Caldwell-Stone said. And so should books about atheism or pieces critiquing the Bible, among other religion-related texts." Caldwell-Stone writes, "Part of education is critical thinking skills, understanding all the arguments from all points of view and sorting through them and deciding for oneself what one believes or wants to think about a particular topic," she said. "And so, I think that should be available to readers despite what one group or an individual thinks of those books."

The Daily Press goes on to opine, "Put differently, one is American — adhering to our national commitment to free expression and free speech — and the other is not. Book banning may go by different names but is antithetical to our intrinsic national values." This statement by The Daily Press is hypocritical when the same newspaper bans free expression and free speech from its opinion page. Opinions the paper does not agree with.

The Daily Press concludes its opinion with the following. "Some books are mirrors in which we see ourselves, others are windows to other experiences, but each holds a light in the darkness that book bans aspire to extinguish. We must protect that light at all costs, knowing that keeping a wide variety of books available to young readers will illuminate the path to a better, brighter future."

I would submit that diversity, defined as "a range of things," is lost on the Daily Press. Only The Daily Press (the media in general) can answer for what appears to be the banning of opinion, supports cancel culture, and what may appear to be some but not all books should be banned based on race, sex, religion, and conservative American values. Here, The Daily Press "limits critical thinking skills, understanding all arguments from all points of view."

I want to ask The Daily Press whether banning books (all books or some books the media may disagree with based on sex, religion, race, etc.) is the same as banning opinions and supporting cancel culture. As you are quoted as believing, "banning may go by different names but is antithetical to our intrinsic national values." Cancel culture and opinion writing are the same types of censorship. 

 

Reference: Education Week, Author of "Why the Bible is getting pulled off school bookshelves." Eesha Pendhanker

What are diversity, equality and inclusion?

I wrote this after an article in the Daily Press by NY Times, Stephenie Sauls. 

What are diversity, equality, and inclusion?

Here is an idea to consider, a vision to unite people, and a view to stopping the hate in Virginia and America. Many articles are written today in the New York Times and other media outlets about diversity, inclusion, and equality without genuinely understanding the definitions thereof. I would submit the media writes for a citizenry they believe is ignorant of the facts. To find common ground, we must first manage our biases and define our goals honestly and without preconceptions. We need mass media that writes honestly and adhere to the definitions of adjectives and nouns used to inform. Would this not be a university professor standard?  

The definition of diversity: "A range of things." "A more recent definition would be the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds." 

A Dissident is "a person who opposes the official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state."

Equality is derived from the word equal means:  fairness; we as a collective society should ensure that individuals or groups of individuals are not treated less favorably because of their beliefs. Especially protected beliefs. When I think about equality, I think about the equality of opportunity as a worthy goal of any civil society. 

Equal is defined as a person or thing equal to another, as in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability.

Inclusion is defined as an environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued. We all have them; We learn to manage our biases. An inclusive environment can only be created once we are more aware of our unconscious biases.

If we can agree to these definitions, then we can communicate honestly with each other. We can write, managing our biases honestly. If you disagree, I can't help you, but my attempt to help you is lost to your own biases you have yet to manage. Each can decide if they will get up and walk out of the cave and into the light. 

An article written by New York Times  Stephenie Saul, published in the Daily Press and other media outlets, seems to be full of bias not yet managed. Let me explain, and I quote Ms. Sauls: " a university of Virginia alumnus and trustee is part of a forceful movement fighting campus programs that promote diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI)." I want each of you to examine the adjectives used to describe; forceful - fighting and, of course, DEI. 

The school's diversity plan. After the death of George Flyod, a convict who, between 1997 and 2005, he was convicted of eight crimes. He served four years in prison after accepting a plea bargain for a 2007 aggravated robbery in a home invasion. His death was attributed to fentanyl and meth use as George was a well-known drug addict, jobless again. Police approached him for trying to pass counterfeit money in a convenience store. It is reported that the police officer and George knew each other as they had worked at the same bar as bouncers. If we are to accept diversity in its most accurate form, we would think about the premise that George Floyd put himself in harm's way by continuing to break the law and almost all of his adult life. We all accept that George did not deserve to die; however, if one is to continue to put themselves in harm's way, sooner than later, harm finds them. This is a diversity of thought in its proper form. When a dissident group like the NY Times and some within UVA decide to ignore the truth, biases ignite, and diversity is lost. Diversity is "a range of different opinions." These opinions should not be used to attack others, yet we see this daily on college campuses. 

Another example is media reports of the white supremacist groups' march in Charlottesville. As vile as the thought of supremacy over others based on skin color disgust me, I am reminding you counter-protestors were bussed in, and some on-campus students attended and committed violent protest that resulted in the death of a woman and contributed to two state police officers' deaths. Had this vile white supremacist group been allowed to protest under constitutional free speech protected rights, who had a legal permit to march, who should have been rescued from counter-protestors, lives would have been saved. Even foul, horrid, hateful white supremacists are part of a "range of different things." They are a group that comes from "socially different backgrounds."  I am amazed that the UVA board of visitors, the city, and professors do not take responsibility, at least in part, for the events that faithful day. I am amazed academia today does not or refuse to acknowledge true diversity.

Diversity "A range of different things." President Ryan worries "about academia freedom and ideology conformity." Yet, most UVA professors identify themselves as very liberal - slightly liberal, and 60.8% are politically left-leaning progressives; moderates, on the other hand, comprise 18.9%, and conservatives account for 20.2%. UVA  seems to promote the atrocities against academic freedom and conformity they pretend to fight. James A. Beacon writes, "The Jefferson Council, an organization on whose board I serve, has compiled abundant testimony, some public and some off the record, that many conservatives at UVa are afraid to openly speak their minds — and are especially fearful of transgressing the official doctrine on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion or its leftist, social-justice underpinnings."  If diversity is the true objective, would the university want more conservative professors to balance the poison fed to our children by left-wing progressives?

In comparison, My analogy of Mr. Ellis is John Adams's representation of British soldiers in the aftermath of the Boston massacre. The Boston citizenry hated Adams for defending British soldiers. The professors of UVa and the media hate Mr. Ellis for defending Jefferson. Defending the British soldiers was noble in action. Limited freedom conjured up by left-wing progressives who attack when they disagree and attack with malice is not real DEI; it is an illusion. We see what appears to be a violent attitude coming from the NY Times article and left-wing counter-protest like what we saw in Charlottesville. We see student counter-protestor violence play out across our college campuses and defended by left-wing progressives. I am not saying Mr. Ellis would support white supremacists or bad policing. I am saying Mr. Ellis would support freedom of speech, true diversity, inclusion, and equality. 

According to Inside Higher Ed, academic freedom is not achieved when 1/3rd of all students do not trust professors and do not give their honest opinions. This is especially true in the relationships between liberal professors and conservatively raised students. After graduating from Hampden Sydney, I remember my son's remarks, "Dad, it is better just to tell the professor what he wants to hear." My white son is now a 24-year-old professional working for Boeing living in Charleston, Sc—a self-sufficient young man who was not good enough for UVA. Yet some attend UVA based on skin color and lower academic achievements. Where opportunities are competitive, like college acceptance, there are those who prefer equal outcomes or to have the opportunity at the expense of others. How do we judge who is accepted and who is not when there is an unequal numerical achievement outcome. We judge based on skin color, and that is not equity. 

My daughter is a speech-language pathologist, a graduate of Longwood, and a graduate student with a full scholarship attending the University of West Virginia. Still, she was not good enough for UVA. Now working for Fairfax County schools in speech, a self-sufficient professional who would call me at night to ask how to respond to left-wing liberal professors' ideology, an ideology my family disagreed with. Counseling my daughter when no one else would on campus, due in part to a lack of professors she trusted to confide in, I advised conservative, traditional values reminding her of Dr. Walter Williams (George Mason) and studying his work to defend her positions. So I ask again, where is the diversity? Where is the inclusion? Our Universities and Colleges fail to deploy true diversity for all, which is what Mr. Ellis is fighting forcibly. 

Equality: Equality tries to obtain opportunities for each individual or group by giving them the same resources and opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. Equal outcomes do not exist and will never exist in a social construct. When we try to obtain social "equal," we are governed by Marxist - communist - perhaps tyrannical government. Yet we are never equal; even then, there are hierarchies. The closest we can come to equality is a capitalist republic. Equal will never exist due to the abstract of human reality. Equal will only exist in math where 1=1. I submit that equality will never be obtained if cultural diversity hinders opportunities or outcomes. That means that each society's culture must have the exact wants. In other words, If I may explain, humans are still tribal and will always be tribal by nature. I have to wonder if I really have to explain this to anyone? Each tribe must want the same things within "the range of things" allowed. This range of things is based on society's moral and ethical expectations. For this to be true, then some freedom is lost; some tribes will lose more freedom than others based on democracy or even Marxism; hence equality can never be equal. 

Example: We raise our families to produce the same outcome. Are our core family units built around the same culture? Do we all go to church? Do we all not go to church? Are all 1-12 grade schools the same, and if not, why? Who is to blame for the inequality of 1-12 grade schools, and can they ever be equal? Are marriage and traditional family objectives the best way to raise a child, and if so, why do some fight this? Please explain how a single mother is better at raising a child than a mother and father. Do we all follow the six simple rules that can lead to a good life lived"? Is one culture better than the other, and if not, why the different outcomes? Dr. Walter Willams would have asked the same questions and did being called a racist by the media and others whose minds are skewed by the progressive left-wing ideology. America was more in tune with each other in the 1950s despite the racial inequality than today, and children were much more likely to succeed then than now—reference: "Race and economics" by Dr. Walter Williams. 

In conclusion:

Would George Floyd still be alive today if he had followed six simple rules of a life lived well? 

Would America be better off if we just followed these simple rules? The answer is yes. 

1. Honor thy mother and father. 

2. don't kill

3. don't steal

4. don't lie

5. don't bear false witness

6. don't covet

You see, 99.3% of our society follows these simple rules while .7% do not. Yet we allow the .7% to dictate to the 99.3%, which is what Mr. Ellis is fighting forcibly.