Join us for an open and honest discussion, hosted by SOTRU’s Al Letson, that brings issues of race and justice to the forefront with hopes of understanding and change.
Join us tonight at 6:45 p.m. in our live behind-the-scenes video stream.
Watch Live!
The shooting deaths of young black men including Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis have raised difficult questions about race and justice in the United States. In late 2014, grand jury decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases again brought to light painful rifts in the United States and focused attention on law enforcement, community relationships, and racial bias.
In the aftermath of these events, WJCT State of the RE:Union host Al Letson posted two personal commentaries on his Facebook page about his life experiences as an African American male in the Jacksonville area. Letson and WJCT will facilitate a dialogue on these sensitive issues during Race in the River City, a town hall event held at the WJCT Studios Jan. 27. The conversation will include community members, law enforcement officers and experts on race and society. The goal is to have an open and honest discussion that brings issues of race and justice to the forefront, allowing First Coast residents to hear perspectives of others in their community and serve as a starting point for understanding and change.
The television premiere airs Thursday, February 12th at 8PM only on WJCT-TV.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Comments
I’m shaking my head and absolutely not understanding, why a community program, such as JaxPAL, is not in this conversation or represented. Everything that I’m listening to, is exactly what our programs and services are all about. This is Kimberly Waterhouse, 1st VP on the JaxPal board of directors.
I watched the show tonight and was shocked at the misinformation in the crowd. What I watched was to many people telling stories of what they’ve been told by mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle and NOT true history or reallity.
The first two problems I had was that the host of the show and the female attorney told stories about their children and I will elaborate from there.
The Attorney stated that she always told her children to call home if they were pulled over INSTEAD of telling her children to respect people and especially Police officers, that you DO NOT fight the law on the side of the street but in the courtroom. She stated that her kids get mouthy and they more or less have that right instead of just showing respect. NO ONE has the right to get mouthy, PERIOD, especially a kid and not smart to a cop on the side of the road.
I was honestly shocked at her answer on this topic, but I am not done with her.
The Host-Al Letson told a story of his son at the mall or somewhere playing music and an officer asking him to move. However, Mr Letson reinterated that the cop keep agging his son on and his son Got MAD. Mr Letson, IF you are worried about your son making it home alive, you honestly need to tell him to growup, keep his mouth shut and especially NOT to get mad with Police officers. Plain and simple. If you cannot understand that sir, I dont know what else to tell you.
The female attorney- Her speech on desegregation and HER fact of Black Teachers being taken out of Black schools to teach those poor stupid White Kids and that is more or less what she was saying was misinformation told to her.
I would say to her to go to Civilrights.org and research desegregation and busing and then I would say for her to PLEASE use Common Sense.
Today AA’s make up approxiamtely 13% of america, which I would guess the numbers were much lower in 1968-1978, meaning that how many AA teachers do you really think there were that could have been moved to teach white students AND had Masters degree’s? In your mind, desegregation happened to help White kids when in reallity it was just the opposite.
Just like today, schools receive tax money per the tax income in their district. AA’s continued to fail schooling and used funding as the problem. Therefore, to help Black students get an equal education, Blacks and Whites were bused for sometimes up to 50 miles away from home, even though they lived right next door to a school.
I am NOT writing this as a negative to anyone. I am writing this to correct the Misinformation with in ALL communities b/c NONE of this happened when the majority of the audience tonight was alive. However, EVERYTHING I’ve written can be researched and most is on civilrights.org.
Until Black america AND White America get over the misinfirmation that mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle and ALL other relatives STOPS and is debunked, we cannot move forward to a peaceful nation.
In what I watched, ONLY one person even came close to telling the truth OR should I say given true facts and that was the Police officer as it happens. People gave stories as they’ve benen told.
The Pastor brought up good points, but stopped short of saying what should have been said or he honestly didnt know.
Yes, the problems are within the Black Community and that is not newly known. Its just that everyone rejects that argument.
The problem is NOT with ALL Blacks, the problem is with poor Blacks,poor whites etc and i would bet that IF you checked, in most cases the poverty/drug use/who knows has continued from generation to generation.
We had great grandma, great grandad, grandma, grandad, mom, dad either not there or not willing to work or whatever the problem was. it may have been caused by white america and jobs at the time for great grandma, great grandad and they told the stories of being held back and then their kids didnt go anywhere and left their kids and they didnt go anywhere in life and so on and so forth and when people DO NOT go anywhere in life, what do they do, They Blame others. No one takes responsibility for failures. This happens in EVERY Culture, not just Black america.
Now, I have worked closely with every race, I have lived with every race, I have depended on EVERY race to watch my back ti LIVE and I have watched theirs and I will even use the most famous words in being called a racist. some of best friends and people I respected were Black. No Problem.
One other point I want to make. Blacks continue to believe that White people are the racist. However, I would suggest for anyone of you try two things and I guarantee you that IF no one tells the others, I know the results of Who are or will be the true racist.
Take a Black man and send him into the most backwoods bar you can find and I guarantee you, he will be fine.
Now, Have a White man go into a Black only bar and I guarantee you that it will NOT take 5 minuites before he’s attacked. I’ve had it happen many times. If it doesnt happen, they were told, plain and simple and you know it. I’ve seen it happen to many times.
I could tell you about REAL america since 1968 ( As I see it and many facts that went along with it from the feds), but refuse b/c there is no doubt that I would be attacked and I would have to defend myself.
All that I can say is that everytning I’ve written about, is on Google or should be and can be researched..