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It’s not all about race – The Killing of James Taylor and the Statement of Trent Lott

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.      As we mentioned last week, there was a very unfortunate incident in Louisville in which James Taylor, a mentally ill man, who reportedly was high on cocaine and alcohol, and who had been handcuffed by the police, lunged at a policeman with a knife and was shot and killed.  Since then, we have had daily protests, claiming that the shooting was racially motivated.  Dick Gregory, Martin Luther King III, and, of course the Reverend Coleman have all been complaining about the racism of Louisville’s police.  But what makes them think the shooting was racially motivated?  Is there any evidence at all to support their claims?  And does crying “racism” at every turn help improve the situation for anyone?

It is entirely possible, if not most likely, that the policeman simply panicked when a man, who was behaving irrationally, began lunging at him with a knife.  Whether or not the policeman acted properly, there is no evidence to suggest that the policeman acted as he did because the man was black. 

The issue should be whether the policeman handled himself correctly under the circumstances, regardless of the race of the man who was killed or the race of the policemen.  As a community, we should not want people of any race to be mistreated.  Trying to turn this into a racial issue is not based on any evidence, and it diverts attention from the important issue of training and equipping the police to deal with people who are behaving irrationally, whether due to mental illness or drugs or both.  If people really want our community to be united and truly want to have a police force that respects everyone, then they have to stop trying to divide us by race, by income level, by sexual orientation, and so forth.  Instead, they should demand that the police always meet very high standards of conduct.  Period.    

2.      Senator Trent Lott has been in the news lately for a statement he made at the 100^th birthday celebration for Senator Strom Thurmond, referring to Thurmond’s 1948 run for President and saying "If the rest of the country had followed (Mississippi's) lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years.”  Many people have jumped on Lott’s statement as being very offensive and as indicating bigotry on the part of Senator Lott.  Lott has responded by apologizing and by denouncing bigotry and segregation.  While that is certainly welcome, it would also be interesting to hear Lott’s version of what he really meant by his statement. 

          I can certainly imagine an interpretation of Lott’s statement that has nothing to do with bigotry or racism.  An issue that was important back in 1948 and that continues to be important today is the issue of states’ rights.  For people who react emotionally, “states’ rights” is a code phrase for bigotry, and when they hear it they go into emotional overdrive and stop listening or thinking.  However, for anyone seriously concerned about the need for government to respect individuals of any race or religion, states’ rights continues to be a very important issue today.  The question is whether the power and control should be centralized in Washington, with the federal government continuing to take on powers that were not granted to it under the Constitution, or whether the power and control should be decentralized, with most power residing with the states or the people.    

          Over the years, more and more power has shifted to Washington, with the federal government taking control over a large part of our lives, including how we educate our children, what health care we can obtain, the protection of air and water quality, our working conditions, and so forth.  From the point of view of many people who are not racists, this is not a good development for humans of any racial background.  As power is centralized, individual freedom is lost.  The ability of states to try various solutions to problems also is lost as “solutions” are dictated by the central government, and the constitutional protections for individuals are eroded.  If more people who supported states’ rights had been elected in the past, we very well might have avoided many of our problems.  That is not necessarily the view of a bigot; it is the view of a person who believes that individual liberty is best preserved by keeping the power as close as possible to the people. 

Granted, those of us who understand that centralized power has done tremendous harm to people throughout history (from supporting genocide and wars to causing tremendous poverty and strife) could use a much better spokesperson than Trent Lott, and it may well be that Lott’s statement has been very harmful to Republicans, who are trying to reach out to blacks.  However, it would be nice if people could speak out in favor of a decentralized government that respects the Constitution and the people without being branded as racists.  Unfortunately, as long as so many people continue to allow their emotions to be manipulated and act from emotion rather than from rational thought, it will be nearly impossible to analyze the source of our problems or to make any progress toward solving them.

Click below to see what Thomas Sowell thinks of Lott’s statement:  http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20021212.shtml

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