January 6, 2020 a reality check on American Democracy

Choose The Truth

Boxing is not a sport for people with weak stomachs.

I awoke this morning feeling like I was punched in the stomach without prior notice. Ever had that experience? In my lifetime, I’ve been punched in the gut several times, literally and figuratively. What I learned from each experience, is that no trauma is exactly like the previous one.

As a former boxer, I received several gut punches in a single round. Each punch was different. Some I overcame quickly, others I had to work through. Jan 6, 2021 was by far one of my hardest gut punches. This morning, as I reflected on the implications of what success of the insurrectionists might have meant to our democracy and our future way of life, I’m feeling a stomach pain similar to when I lost my daughter due to a tragic car accident.

I don’t intend to be melodramatic, but as a black man living in America with a clear understanding of the underlying rationale for the insurrection, it not only makes my stomach ache, it makes my entire being feel as though I went 15 rounds with Mike Tyson.

I am not sure how we as a society would have been governed when I considered that every level of government, law enforcement, the Congress, and 77+ million citizens thought that overthrowing democracy in America was a great and rational idea. I will not complete my thoughts in this post; however, I would ask that you critically think about what our future state would have been, if the insurrectionists had accomplished their objective.

I would not have entered a boxing ring with Mike unless I felt I was equally strong and equally prepared. How does a disenfranchised citizen prepare to go 15 rounds with a backward facing government?

Opinion: Stan Brooks, PhD

How do we differentiate between the US and Confederate Flags?

Lately, there have been some very heated debates about the appropriateness of displaying the Confederate flag and the preservation of confederate statues. 

Here is the central question. Is there any distinction between the US flag and the Confederate flag?

If it is appropriate to fly both the US flag and the Confederate flag together, for example, NASCAR or State properties, then does that suggest that there is no daylight between what they each represent?

If on the other hand critics contend that the Confederate flag is a symbol of treason and hate and should not be publicly displayed, then should not the statues be retired too?

Is it possible to be patriotic to two flags that represent opposing ideologies at the same time? How does a person split their allegiance between a traitorous flag and simultaneously a righteous flag, unless both flags represent the same ideology?

Is there any daylight in meaning then, between the US flag and the Confederate flag? How can they both occupy the same space at the same time?

Is it possible that those who so easily raise both of these flags on the same flagpole, see America as an unevolved slave state?  How about the persons who silently rationalize flying both flags, but claim not to accept the underlying implications?

How wide or how narrow is the gap between the US and Confederate flags?

Stan Brooks, PhD