Obama's Golden Opportunity

Seldom do favorable civil rights conditions present themselves.  America has its first black President.  It has its first black Attorney General.  The race riots in Henderson, Missouri occurred in a state with a Democrat governor and an activist Democrat federal senator.  Congress is sleep-walking and President Obama governs by the spurt of the pen.  National incidents where white policemen arrest Blacks with unpleasant or tragic results are almost a monthly occurrence.  The Media’s coverage moves from town to town like a Barnum and Bailey circus encouraging the mob.  What more fortuitous conditions have presented themselves for Lame Duck President Obama and Attorney General Holder and his Justice Department? 

Is Henderson a watershed moment for the Left?  A pattern and crusade has presented itself.  Finally, with every arrest there is executive comment or intervention.  President Obama’s advisors are probably asking themselves, “Why let a tragedy go to waste?”  Is Henderson the start of a national dialogue so longed for by Socialists?  That dialogue could begin innocently enough.   Its manifestation could be The President’s Report on Civil Disorders.  It would be printed in book form by the New York Times with a special introduction by Al Sharpton.  Of course, it would become a mandatory read in all public colleges and universities.  But first, careful preparation is needed.

To give the report credibility President Obama would have had to appoint a committee of experts to support its contents and conclusions.  The makeup of the President’s Commission on Civil Disorders would also dispel any notion of bias.  President Obama could appoint learned men and women of the Media like Chris Matthews and Melissa-Harris Perry with an ample sprinkling of PhDs and practitioners of the Social Gospel like Reverend Wright and Louis Farrakhan.  The advisory staff should include members of the ACLU, NAACP, and the New Black Panthers.  Jesse Jackson could be the commission’s chairman.

The report’s conclusion would confront racism in post-racial America by naming the culprits and suggesting ways of alleviating the conditions of ignorance and discrimination.  Of course, the biggest culprits are whites in general who created slavery.  Police brutality is a major concern and proportional hiring (Affirmative Action) in Henderson’s police department should be implemented.  Arrests of Blacks in Henderson and elsewhere in America can be done by black policemen only.  Call it “Peer Arrest.”  Sensitivity Training (education) should be undertaken at once in all government facilities and by all government contractors.  A second War on Poverty should be declared by massive funding of government programs.  The possibilities are endless.  Will America’s first black administration seize the opportunity?

Tales from Kansas City's 12th Street Viaduct

With its 180 degree panorama, the old 12^th Street Viaduct includes vistas of what Kansas City used to look like in the 1800s.  Dirty crest lines from the 1951 flood can still be seen on the west end where it meets the ground.  Brick warehouses survive with their faded stockyard signage and you can still make out “Stowe Hardware” and “Kansas City Bolt, Nut, and Screw.”  I remember seeing the latter’s name in Prime Cut starring Lee Marvin.  As it came into view, there was a ripple of laughter from the audience, but, at least, the silly reaction was checked by the cheers rewarding Hollywood for including a local scene in a major production.

I was a frequent visitor to Kansas City’s West Bottoms making my supply runs and filling up Big Bird, the state truck, at the quickie mart, so I knew the viaduct well.  It’s similar to a two-tiered Roman aqueduct only, instead of water, the first tier was for motor traffic and the second, for horses and wagons.  When I left Kansas City for retirement the decision to preserve the landmark had been made and city maintenance crews were busily resurfacing the top road and patching the potted supporting columns. 

I wonder if they replaced or repaired the concrete railing on the top end where the viaduct ends and the bluff begins.  There’s a scraped corner similar to what a glacier does to the valley rock it moves though - only on a much smaller scale.  This time the scraping was done by a tractor trailer cutting the corner too close and pinching in half a pedestrian who could not dart forward or backwards and who could not jump over the rail because he was on a cliff.  I remember that tragic tale because there were TV reports about it and I saw the bloody scrape marks.

Those who worked in the area also told me of the “Legend of the Naked Models.”  It seemed like the fantasies blue collars concoct during their lunch hours or inmates doing hard time, but they claimed it was true and furthermore, I believed them.  Some avant-garde photographer and his gullible and clueless model are always doing things like that in America and Kansas City has its Art Institute.  What little skepticism I initially had occurred when I thought about the logistics of it all.  Does an individual need a permit for being naked in downtown Kansas City?  When would they shoot the pictures – at rush hour or on the weekends at night when criminals, the homeless, and illegal aliens prowl the area?

Tales of the viaduct are not complete without its comic relief.  Concerned citizens reported suspicious activity on the bluff under the viaduct.  Soon Kansas City police officials launched an investigation with onsite officers, television reporters, and police K-9 units that had detected a foul odor emanating from a suspicious stack of wooden pallets placed above a rectangular depression. 

Kansas City waited with baited breath the inevitable headlines of “Mass Grave Found.”  I was not one of them because I knew the area and suddenly, there was not one word from the police or the Media as to what happened.  Turns out, they had inadvertently discovered a latrine from a homeless camp site.  The foul odor - well, never mind.