MY DAY: STATE OF A DIVIDED UNION

So, what did you think of the President’s message? Are you still sitting on the fence with your comments? Are your thoughts broad based, narrowly viewed or non-committing? As I asked people did they watch the message on television, I was not surprised that so many did not.

The President of the United States delivered his official 6th State of the Union on last evening.

It was profound, thoughtful and direct to the point. My favorite part was many, but more specific was the fact that “America is not standing still, and neither will I”. It is not surprising that so many Americans desire for things to remain the same, not do anything as long as there is a black man in the Oval Office; and/or sit and watch the traffic reports.

For all Americans, this country is ever changing. This dynamic will continue. You are missing an opportunity of a lifetime if you do not participate or chose to remain in neutral. If it does not affect you now, be assured it will directly affect your life. Essentially, there have been three paradigm shift in our country that cannot be ignored. The number one was the railroad over a hundred years ago, with the invention of the automobile as ‘shotgun’. The second was women that entered the work force after World War!!, and the third is the one we are living in now.

Our country is divided for several reasons. Paramount is we never adequately addressed racism in our midst. We seriously play the “blame game” when it come to racism. Racism has many shades of grey. It is as common in the African American race as elsewhere. African American men that ignore the abilities of American women. Immigration is another.

It was ok to send jobs overseas over decades ago, but lengthy discussions/ decisions have to be made to keep jobs here and pay a decent cost for those Americans. The issue is not jobs. The issue is cheap labor.

I cannot run out of time without mentioning our cross-eyed crisis making education system, which is not only my hot button, it is “my red-hot boiling” button. It is the “state” of our children that will continue the divide. So many others share my religion about the lack of education that is a serious threat. Think about this. Eight year ago, only 12 percent of our kids (black children) in the eighth grade could read at grade level. We went from 12 percent to 14 percent in the last eight years. That’s ONLY TWO PERCENTAGE POINTS. America is not standing still.