BLACK MALE TEACHERS SHOULD NOT CARRY GUNS IN SCHOOL
Whatever the merits of the debate over teachers carrying guns in school, one thing is perfectly clear. Black male teachers should not carry guns in school. Can you imagine a Black male teacher wielding a weapon in school against an attacker of any color as the SWAT team pours in? The poor Black teacher wouldn’t have a chance. He would be dead from SWAT team bullets instantly before he had time to explain his role as a teacher in defense of his students. Let’s face it, an unarmed Black male teacher would have a better chance of surviving while confronting a crazed armed intruder than an armed one would have of surviving the police.

IT IS SCARY
“Fifty-two percent of white women and 62% of white men voted for Donald Trump, compared with 43% and 31% for Mrs. Clinton respectively, according to exit polls.” (The Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2014) How all those White people could vote for such a despicable and dangerous man is beyond rational explanation and scary as hell.

IS THERE A  REPUBLICAN PARTY?
In a Boston Herald opinion article (March 14, 2018), blogger Jennifer Rubin referred to retiring Senator Jeff Flake’s response to the question of whether he felt Donald Trump needs a Republican challenger during his re-election campaign and Flake said, “Yes, I do. I do. I mean it would be a tough go in a Republican primary. The Republican Party is the Trump party right now.” Rubin wrote of Flake’s answer, “And he’s right about it being Trump’s party. Take a look at the polls showing 80 percent or more approval for Trump among Republicans…” She later wrote of the crowds at Trump rallies, “They’ve not just normalized what is abnormal, they are wallowing in non-facts, incivility and unseriousness.” 80 percent of Republicans support Trump?! Still! What does that say for the health of the Republican Party? What it should say is that those lonely 20 percent of Republicans who still consider themselves rational beings should be heading for the exit and in search of a political party that matches their history and political sentiments. Of course, such a party no longer exists in our two party system. So, what must the lonely 20 percent do? Third party?

MYTHS DIE SLOWLY
“Workforce participation” refers to the number of Americans who are “actively working or looking for work.” The unemployment rate is calculated only from those who are “actively working or looking for work.” The myth that is slow to die in White America is that Black folks are not participating in the workforce because they are not actively working or looking for work. The statistics show otherwise. “The share of black Americans “actively working or looking for work” is 62.9% in February while the corresponding white rate sat at 63%….The gap (between Black and White Americans), which has all but closed, is the smallest gap in labor-force participation by race since 1972, when black participation was slightly ahead of white participation and the national average.” (The Wall Street Journal, March 12, 2018) So the myth that so many White folks hold to so dearly that Black folks are lazy and unwilling to work is not supported by statistics and has never been supported by statistics. But there is a statistical gap elsewhere. “In February the jobless (unemployment) rate for blacks hit 6.9%, its second-lowest level on record, while the white rate ticked up to 3.7%.” What the data makes clear is that Black unemployment is not a result of Black folks not “looking for work” but a result of them being – for a variety of reasons, including discrimination – unable to find work. None of this should be rocket science to honest people.

WHITE POLITICIANS CAN DO MANY THINGS WITH IMPUNITY THAT BLACK POLITICIANS SIMPLY CANNOT DO
If you ever wanted a clear view of what White people in power can get away with, just continue following the Donald Trump saga. He is reigning over the most corrupt government in modern history while being protected by his morally bankrupt and ethically challenged Republican Congress and he is the most prominent among the many thieves. If Trump was Barack Obama, he would already be on his way to jail. This came to mind when I read a Boston Globe article (March 12, 2018) on Black Congressional candidate Ayanna Pressley who is running against an established White liberal incumbent, Michael Capuano. The Globe ran a long article on how Pressley spent funds from her City Council campaign account on advisors who were paid for work on Pressley’s Congressional campaign. Under campaign finance laws such cross use of campaign money is improper but very commonly done, including by former Attorney General Martha Coakley who used $25,000 from her state campaign to finance staff and consultants for her U.S. Senate campaign. In spite of the lengths to which the Globe went to bring attention to Pressley’s use of funds (maybe in retaliation for her stepping “out of turn” and running against a fellow liberal who is also the incumbent), the article probably will not gain traction because it is such a common practice that Pressley would easily, by simply pointing them out, place too many White politicians in jeopardy for the same offense that has always been ignored by the state election commission. But my advice to Ayanna Presley is the same warning I have offered to other Black elected officials. As Barack Obama understood so well, you will always be held to a much higher standard than your White colleagues so be as careful as he was.

“AYANNA PRESSLEY SHOULDN’T HAVE TO WAIT”
I like the way The Boston Globe’s Yvonne Abraham defended Black Ayanna Pressley’s right to run for Congress against an establishment White incumbent. She wrote: “I don’t yet know whether Pressley would be a better rep than he (Michael Capuano) is. What I do know is that she’s not some traitorous upstart with no right to challenge him….The Democratic establishment – including some who are quietly and not so quietly unhappy with her – have been trotting Pressley out for years to help win black votes. She has been a surrogate for Senator Elizabeth Warren (who is so far neutral in this primary), and President Barack Obama, and she worked her heart out last year for Hillary Clinton, appearing in Southern states, at black churches, and in the spin room after debates….Pressley has remarkable presence, has long been viewed as an up and comer nationally…. (Barney) Frank and others apparently believe that as long as good incumbents exist, hopefuls like Pressley should keep their feet firmly on the ground. And that maybe, if she’s a polite patient wannabe, Capuano will deign to descend from his lofty post before she’s six feet under.….Can we be blunt? The argument that it’s not yet time for this now majority-minority district to be represented by a woman of color is offensive. And an all-white delegation in a state as progressive as this is an embarrassment.” (The Boston Globe, March 11, 2018) I can add a little bit more to this equation. Ayanna Pressley is sending a powerful message by challenging the status quo and she serves as a powerful example to people of color in places like Springfield who have been cowered into believing that their own should not challenge White incumbents like Mayor Domenic Sarno who seems to have problems directly addressing the needs of people of color. They should.

OF COURSE TRUMP IS A RACIST
Of course Donald Trump is a racist. “According to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 57 percent of Americans think Trump’s policies have been bad for Muslims, and 56 percent think they have been bad for Hispanics….Forty-seven percent of all adults, including more than 8 in 10 blacks, three-quarters of Hispanics, and nearly half of whites, said they think Trump is a racist….Eighty-five percent of Democrats consider Trump racist, but just 21 percent of Republicans agree (emphasis added).” (The Boston Globe, March 1, 2018) More evidence that the Republican Party has lost its moral compass and, for all intents and purposes, become the Party of Trump, which raises the question of where the few remaining real Republicans go from here.

AND HE IS NUTTY ENOUGH TO WANT TO POST SECRET SERVICE AGENTS AT THE NATIONS POLLS
Can you imagine! If Donald Trump has his way, a provision in the Homeland Security reauthorization bill will give him the authority to post Secret Service agents at federal election polls. Who does he think he is, Vladimir Putin?

WHITE PEOPLE ARE NOT THE ONLY SUPER HEROES
The movie Black Panther has passed the one billion dollar mark at the global box office. It has made more than 521 million domestically and has become the No. 2 superhero release of all time surpassing Dark Knight. (Boston Herald, March 11, 2018)

THE TIGER RETURNS
Can it be that Tiger Woods’ golf game is back to normal? Some think so after his second place finish in the Valspar Championship. The odds makers are placing their bets on Woods to win his next PGA outing at the Arnold Palmer Open. (He didn’t win the match but watch the Masters!) Why not? His top club head speed of 129 was not only the highest in the tournament but the highest by any player on the PGA Tour this season. His average is 122 which is higher than it was in 2013, when he won five tournaments. And his average drive distance is above 300. And the crowds were huge as were the television ratings, which drew more viewers than any regular PGA tournament in 2017 except the Masters. And nothing motivates Woods like a fawning big crowd. ■