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There’s a sinkhole in my chest

June 28, 2015
David Broadwater

David Broadwater

OPINION By DAVID BROADWATER,

Salty waves burn my cheeks – boiled by the seething rage in my gut.

I was 16 years old when four black girls were blown to bits in their Birmingham church. On the day I became a citizen at 21, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Today, at 68, I see nine more massacred in their Charleston church.

Although I’m horrified by such barbaric acts, I’m more dejected and enraged by the frantic scramble of white politicians, pundits and media blowhards trying to rationalize this latest massacre as anything other than a KKK-style racist terror attack.

But, what burns the deepest and hottest is my utter disdain for my white brothers and sisters who adamantly and ardently refuse to acknowledge and rectify the chronic, systemic and corrosive racism that permeates our society.

The day-to-day, year-in-year-out degradation and exclusion meted out upon non-whites in our country in the employment, scholastic, criminal-justice, housing and health-care spheres inflict a level of pain and suffering I, as a white man, have never had to endure.

I’d like us to stop doing this before I die. Let’s really live up to our creed of “liberty and justice for all.” Please.

David Broadwater is an activist who has lived in Atascadero for 43 years.


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Thank you David ! I don’t know you personally, but do know that you are a Human Being.

Remember this, Racism is a learned, and taught, toxic philosophy. Babies are not born this way, and very young children exhibit none of the hate and fear towards others that look differently than them. They’re indiscriminate. The cruel and greedy ones will be so to any, and the ‘victims’ of such tiny predators will be upset when their food or toys are stolen, or they’re hit …regardless of ‘race’ or skin color.


I also know this …you or I or anyone else cannot cure the racists ‘rot from within’. Only they can do that. We can and should point it out.


I’ll say this too: I never thought in my lifetime that the US would elect a non-white, person of color as president. So, that was an unexpected good thing.

What it did do, though, is to engage a reactionary blowback by the racists in our midst, and reveal them to Human Beings like yourself.

Now we know What they are, and can treat them as the mental lepers they are.


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Slow faster, even the black folks are disappointed in Obama, he may be black, but that doesn’t mean he is an effective leader.


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I commend Mr. Broadwater on his beard; it affected me much more than his prose.


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Tax money is not your money stop complaining about those very small expenditures, instead figure out how much the interest payments on military expansion take from all of us; quarterly.


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Mr. Broadwater,

Why do you think that most Government forms/college applications/loans ask you to identify yourself with your ethnicity. We have white people claiming to be Native American, even a woman recently claiming to be black …….ehrmmm wonder why some whites are wanting to identify as some other race.

You are obviously White European, came here at 16 with your parents, must of thought it was a decent place to live. At 21 you took citizenship, and at 68 you are still here.


I have lived here for 40 years, and not a day goes by that I do not thank the Gods I am able to live in a Country like America.


Mr. Broadwater, In your 52 years living in America what have you done to achieve Utopia.


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Here is one partial solution to help disadvantaged Blacks in ghetto areas that could be implemented almost immediately because the structure is in place.


The US is currently starting to bring in millions of “refugees” from Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for resettlement in the US (courtesy of the UN). Why not offer resettlement and all the refugee benefits (a furnished home, free healthcare, a job, counseling, education/job training) to our own disadvantaged citizens who live in blighted areas.


Why are we spending the money on people from other countries who are not being vetted for criminal activity, mental illness, or terrorist activities when we have our own needy citizens who need the help. Stop the refugees and help US citizens, starting with our Black people in cities.


Voluntary resettlement for internal citizen refugees could be a viable program, particularly for people trapped in areas where there are no jobs and high crime/drugs.


We can’t pay for everyone in the world, but we could pay for our own people, especially when we are just transferring some people from subsistence government programs to one proven to have more success. Our own people could be vetted for felony criminal activities and drug addition.


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I am sorry, but, are you claiming that the “disadvantaged” in the US do not already receive housing assistance, obtain government aid for food or health care? We should not be providing care for the “millions of refugees” without aid from other nations, but, we already provide too much assistance for those that will not move from Welfare to Work.


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You are deluded, I think. The root of the racism, hatred, is burning STRONG. Mostly it is directed towards Mexicans these days. It doesn’t matter if people CLAIM that it has to do with illegally crossing the border, because it’s clear when they simply refer to any Mexican as an “illegal.” Racism and racist behavior itself runs rampant among law enforcement. It is less pronounced among others, mostly limited to words, but with the kind of hatred I see, all that’s needed is the right conditions and it will become a serious problem.


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And your first hand knowledge of hatred among Law Enforcement is what? Show me some stats. How many incidents does LE respond to without forceful action? How many white people were killed from Law Enforcement last year? Are you suggesting that Law Enforcement patrols neighborhoods with no crime to insure racial equality in enforcement?


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It’s a good thing that nothing bad has ever happened to any white person ever, otherwise this guy wouldn’t be making any sense at all. Wait, what? Oh, never mind.


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Our default baby sitter and time filler TV/Movies has and is raising new generations with a lack of sensitivity to life and reality for at least the last 30 years. It continues to one up itself, only getting worse. As parents we are responsible for abdicating our responsibilities. Are we going to allow it to continue to become more degragating?

What about organized religion? Seems like they are compromising their ethics to permit their members acceptance of TV/Movies so their constituents don’t feel uncomfortable during services. Were’t they our moral leaders and not political hacks?

What about politicians? Sh–…..


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Mr broad water should move to Hawaii if he, as a white man, wants to experience racism, or to somewhere in the Middle East if he is a Christian.


Why is it that individuals like mr broad water think this is a unique American problem? The sad state of the world is that everyone hates everyone. America is at least the one place where we are making efforts and headway to accept all.


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Having been knifed in the gut at the Honolulu Zoo for being “Haole” (white) I concur.


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