A Washington Post headline says it all; "Why aren’t we calling the Oregon occupiers ‘terrorists’?"
The FBI definition of terrorism certainly applies to this Oregon group, however, I doubt if they are charged under the terrorism statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 2332b. We have a double standard in this country that is not only obvious but sickening!
The Washington Post article raised many of the same questions I had about this group of armed men who took over a federal building at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon. Instead of 'terrorist', this group was called "occupiers", "armed activists", "militia men" and "even protesters".
I heard harsher terms hurled at the Ferguson Protesters than the media seems to be using for the Oregon Terrorist. These terrorist weren't demonstrating the loss of life or civil rights, they were making a claim to land owned by the government.
I can't imagine any situation where a group of armed black men taking over anything for any reason wouldn't be called terrorist.
Even with these type of examples, many would argue 'white privilege' does not exist.
Ammon Bundy, the terrorist's leader, and another 15 defendants pleaded not guilty Wednesday, February 24, 2016, to federal conspiracy charges related to the 41-day occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge. Several of the accused, however, expressed doubt that they enjoy the presumption of innocence.
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These terrorists seemingly had support from others in their community, so if they request jury trials, which they most likely will, and just one person on that jury votes not guilty, they walk.
The world knows these guys broke the law, they've made statements admitting their actions, however, this is one of those instances where jury nullification may overrule the law.
Unfortunately, black folks don't often get the benefit of jury nullification. Far too many bargain away their freedom through plea agreements. Many people are unaware of jury nullification. Others fail to exercise their right to participate on juries and get out of jury duty. When black people don't serve on juries, we allow the biases of others to decide the fate of black defendants. Black jury participation may have had some impact on mass incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders.
Slave Mentality
I'm not a very religious person, but my father told me about a recent Joel Osteen sermon about the mental attitudes of Israelites while they were slaves in Egypt.
From JoelOsteen.com
When the Israelites were in slavery, they were forced to make bricks all day long. They were given quotas that were almost impossible to meet. And at one point, Pharaoh got upset and had the supervisors take away all the straw they needed for bricks. They had the same quota, but they had to go find their own straw.
No doubt they prayed, “God, please give us straw. God, You know these supervisors are going to get upset. We’re not going to make our quotas.”
They had been pushed down for so long. They had such a limited vision when they were praying for more straw. In effect, they were praying to become a better slave. God said, “That’s too small. I don’t want to make you a better slave. I want to take you totally out of that bondage. I created you as the head and not the tail, the victor and not the victim.”
Today, don’t just pray for improvement in your difficult situation, pray for deliverance from it! See beyond your circumstances and let Him lead you out into the place of victory and abundance!
Joel Osteen starts speaking about abundance at 1:25 and mentions the Israelites near the 2:30 time mark.
Break Free of Mental Slavery
Black folks in America had a similar mental conditioning. After 350 years of slavery and 90 years of Jim Crow and another 50 plus years of institutionalized racism, as a group, many of us still suffer from post traumatic slave syndrome.
All our rights and privileges are defined within the law. You owe it to yourself to learn how to exercise your rights and the rights of your children. Use this site to educate yourself more about the principles of the law, participate in the jury system and political process and fight back against oppression for yourself and your children.
Stop accepting double standards! Until we fight back against double standards that criminalize certain behaviors to mass incarcerate and hold us back economically, we are doomed.
