Kalyn Chapman James
After posting this video to Facebook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfODkPmD23o
Kalyn Chapman James was suspended
from her anchor job on Miami's WPBT2 TV.
First, as much as I disagree with those sentiments,
they are protected (from government sanction, or criminalization) by the 1st Amendment. Of course, the 1st
Amendment DOES NOT protect people
from actions by private employers who wish to distance themselves from such
sentiments.
Personally, I think it's important that such
sentiments be heard.
There IS
a lot of misunderstanding over this issue, on all sides.
Blacks and whites DO often seem to tend to view the SAME incidents through different
prisms.
Often our immediate reactions are later altered or
tempered by additional facts.
I DON'T
like the idea of punishing people for unpopular, or even poorly articulated
views. Such things SHOULD BE
"teachable moments," chances for people to question and come to a
better understanding of each other and each other's views.
We see this tendency for impulsive bloviating in
this election cycle, as Donald Trump often "fires off the cuff" and
later amends his earlier remarks as more information is made available. THAT is
extremely NON-political, but it's also proven very appealing to many people
sick of the sappy, saccharin and often hollow platitudes of professional
politicians.
In the wake of the aftermath of that video, Ms.
James posted this clarification:
While I'm troubled about Ms James being punished for
some heart-felt, albeit poorly framed ideas, I am much more concerned that
there are apparently decent, law abiding people who see guys like Michael
Brown, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile as "good guys," ignoring
their illicit aggression toward police.
That's a problem...a very DEEP moral problem. I believe that that moral chasm must be
breached before any other problems related to it can be addressed.
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