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Monday, July 18, 2016

Media Blackout: Letter from a Black Man in Baton Rouge

I [Lee Stranahan] have been in Baton Rouge for a week now, watching the international media cover the aftermath of the Alton Sterling shooting with the predictably dismal set of left-wing talking points.

While the MSM wants to pitch Baton Rouge as an example of racist America, when I talk to the residents of Baton Rouge—some white but mostly black—I’ve gotten a different story; one that’s more complex than the simple paint-by-numbers Democrat narrative that the media is shoving down America’s throat.

After my recent arrest, I got some mentions in the local press which led to my getting this email:

"Hey, just discovered your twitter feed and that you’re in Baton Rouge. Just read your weekend in parish prison piece. I’m seeing all the media reports and I’m so mad that the people aren’t being asked the right things. Are you open to hearing from who’s black and from Baton Rouge area?"

Of course, I was interested, and I responded right away. Just as the callers on the Breitbart News Daily radio show on SiriusXM Satellite Radio provide better analysis than the inside-the-beltway pundits, I wanted to share this man’s personal insights into what’s going on in Baton Rouge:

"Wow, thanks for responding! I’m a lifelong resident of Zachary, a Baton Rouge suburb, and a black man.

"I don’t believe Alton Sterling was killed because of racism. Baton Rouge is poor. They use police and arrest as a means of filling budget shortfalls. Everyone knows cops have a directive from the mayor that when a call comes in, make an arrest no matter what, because an arrest equals money for the city. Those cops were going to arrest him no matter what. Dispatch informing them a gun was used let them know how much force was necessary. Alton, a convicted felon illegally possessing a gun wasn’t going to comply no matter what, as he knew he was about to go to jail for a long time. Those forces created a tornado, simple as that.

"The problem nobody is talking about: Baton Rouge is dealing with black working middle class flight.

"Twenty years ago black neighborhoods were filled with black nuclear traditional families, headed by a working father and in most cases a working mother. These neighborhoods had dangerous elements—which unfortunately stereotyped the whole based on the few—but socially, economically, and as taxpayers, it created stability. Neighborhoods filled with working fathers kept it together. The black dollar supported jobs and businesses and that taxpayer based allowed for local services to be provided by the government.

"All of that is gone."

Read the rest here

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

sounds like where salisbury is heading