By Austin La Salle
I am certain there are many things Ms. Carpenter and I would agree on in today’s age. I am confident we both did not vote for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. It is definite that we would agree there is no place for violence in the political sphere, and supremacy of any race — especially Caucasian — is utterly intolerable.
As I read her Aug. 30th opinion editorial, I couldn’t help but notice the half-truths, falsifications and double standards that were articulated in the op-ed.
Being a skilled journalist includes doing research on all sides of an issue to get facts. In any work of writing, your argument is strengthened by appealing to logic, emotions and facts. The article exceeded in emotions, but where was the appeal to facts and logic? Even opinion editorials should have facts and logic for support.
On the subject of a perceived “white silence,” apparently, she did not attend Fresno’s anti-hate rally on Aug. 12th. If she had attended, then surely she would have noticed that the vast majority of attendees were in fact white. This has even been the case in more conservative areas such as Missoula, Asheville, Phoenix, etc. All races, especially whites, have chastised white supremacy deafeningly.
A website was provided — grabyourwallet.org — that encourages people to boycott businesses for their remotest connection to Donald Trump. Bigotry by definition is the intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself. You wouldn’t be wrong by calling DJT a bigot. But boycotting a business just because you don’t agree with it is also a sign of bigotry.
“Instead we received a phoned-in press conference in which he attributed the fault to many sides,” she states.
Yes and no. He did blame many sides. It would be on the verge of ignorance to say otherwise. However, he held a live press conference where he condemned white supremacy two hours after the attack in Charlottesville.
What did former President Barack Obama do with Ferguson? It took him a whole day to address the violence. Are those circumstances comparable? Of course not! Obama is from the other side of the political spectrum!
“The country as we know it is crumbling,” saith she.
Nope. Racial issues are no less resolved than under Obama’s administration. If there are infringements on any social issues, the courts will resolve the issue. That is the system of checks and balances. Also, think to yourself, has there been any large change to your lifestyle since Jan. 20th?
Oh wait! The country is crumbling! It’s crumbling because people inhale information that is true, false and worst of all, misconceived. The country is falling apart because journalists are no longer interested with what is true, but with what is popular.
Rather than condemning an illusory “white silence,” we should be condemning all violence in the name of political ideology. For that’s what happened in 1860.