Actually, if you watch the earliest video and listen carefully, you will notice that the man who yells “white power” does so in response to someone shouting that he is a racist. For all I know, he meant his response as a joke, even though it wasn’t funny. I wasn’t there, but I wonder if the person yelling “racist” wasn’t also yelling it at a number of those in the gold-cart parade, perhaps in hope of eliciting just such a response. Unfortunately, the news media has chosen to emphasize only the guy who yells “white power” because it fits their agenda and is meant to harm one candidate. I wonder how the man who yelled “white power” feels now. He has seriously harmed the reputation of The Villages. He may have cost his candidate hundreds or even thousands of votes. For all I know, his words may have accidentally cost his candidate the election! His words turned a fun parade ugly, but as I’ve said, perhaps he was goaded, and it was the protestors who turned it ugly before that.
There are people who watch a lot of one-sided television and get the idea that areas with a lot of minority people are a lot more dangerous than they really are. You wouldn’t go to Ocala without a gun? Really? That’s an unnecessary amount of paranoia (some paranoia may be called for). It reminds me of those many people around the world who imagine that in America, everyone carries guns and shoots people. We know it’s not that way. Television news tends to be highly alarmist because that keeps people watching. Don’t imagine that it is always accurate or true. It’s not, no matter what station you prefer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoisR
By now, probably most, if not all The Villages has heard of or seen the video of the man yelling “White Power” at the recent golf cart ride. As inappropriate as that statement was, I started to think about why anyone would even use it. I then thought of several conversations I have had in the recent past with Villagers when we shared original homesteads and I mentioned I was from NY. On three separate times, I was asked, “What was it like living with “them?” “Where you ever attacked by “them?” “Weren’t you afraid to live with “them” so close? On two other times I mentioned we had to go into either Leesburg or Wildwood for an errand and we were asked what type of gun do we carry? The people asking the questions stated that they never go into “those areas” without a pistol.
That got me to wonder where, or how and why does one develop thoughts and fears like this? As humans, we are not born with a genetic predisposition to be a racist, bigot, or hater. As humans, like all other animals, our intelligence (the ability to incorporate and use information) is developed from combinations of our experiences with our environment, including family, our living experiences, including schools and religious associations, and interactions with other people and processes.
So, why would a person who has never met one of “them” be so fearful that they must carry a weapon because they assume they will be in danger? Why would a person who has never met with one of “them” believe they are different than we are? What was so devoid in a person’s development and life experiences that they must yell “White Power?” The questions are easy to formulate, the answers are not. I invite your thoughts.
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