We Need To Talk: Seeking out facts and creating tangible change

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Friends, 

There are things we need to talk about. Things you and I need to do differently so that we become better people, raise better people, support in government offices better people. It's not about sides; it's about facts. Finding them, knowing them, putting them to use for the good of humankind.

Let's get started.

Seek Out the Truth

It's 2020 and we have cars that can drive themselves, yet our media outlets run unchecked. Stop watching Fox News. Stop watching CNN. These are entertainment shows. They are not accredited news outlets because they can't be; there is no regulatory body within the U.S. government that monitors what they say, not even the FCC. The Federal Communications Commission has said themselves they don't police the content of these stations. 

Research the data you are being given by fact checked, neutral, fair and balanced networks. 

That information exists thanks to MediaMatters as well as AllSides, which has outlined a handy-dandy media bias chart. USE IT. Stop watching and reading resources from any of the outlets that fall on the far Left or Right, which are designed to feed you data that support only those agendas. Stay in the middle when you're seeking the truth. 

I will say this, however, if you want to better understand people who differ in opinions, read/watch the complete opposite of what you normally would: if you watch Fox, watch CNN, and vice versa. It'll help you understand, even more so, why accurate, neutral reporting is what we all need.

Peoples lives and livelihoods are literally depending on you doing your research and not relying on mainstream media - including social media - to trick you. Don't even get me started on the nonsense Facebook lets run wild (AKA Plandemic). Hold yourself accountable to fact checked, reliable sources like BBC, a globally recognized source for fair and accurate news reporting.

Become a Better Voter 

I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat. I do care that you don't get washed away in the lies each groups extremists put out for your consumption. I do care that you pay attention to the actual facts. 

Before we get to the 2020 election, test your knowledge. Challenge yourself. Understand how the voting system actually works (i.e. plurality votes). Understand that our two party system is archaic and goes against what our founding fathers had in mind. Learn about ranked-choice voting and why that's a far better option.

Then, fact check everything you think you know. For some of you, this will be an uncomfortable awakening. That's OK. Once you know better, do better. It's that simple. It's that simple because separating fact from fiction is what makes you a good American. Again, it is not about parties. You'll come to understand that in time.

PolitiFact checks all the things politics related. Click on Donald Trump and you'll find a myriad of lies. He's telling the truth ~14% of the time. He's telling you fake information or flat out lying ~50% of the time. Everything in between that is a half truth. In comparison with his 2016 presidential competition, Hillary Clinton is telling you false information ~13% of the time.

Click on Joe Biden and you'll find he's sharing mostly true to entirely true info ~35% of the time. Bernie Sanders is the most honest of the bunch with literally 0% of incidences where he fits the "pants on fire" category. (Note: These stats are as of when I first wrote this and are subject to change based on updated fact checking.)

Another resource I highly recommend is FactCheck. You will be shocked and upset and sometimes happy, but you'll have the facts. 

For everyone who is currently a Trump supporter: if you want to talk about his accomplishments while in office, also know which ones rolled over from the Obama Administration (this happens all the time with every presidency - learn about it), which ones are truly his, and what he's failed at. This article from Business Insider will help. It's from December 2019, before COVID and the racial inequality protests began. It is from a neutral based media outlet (as shown on AllSides). It is not far Left or Right; it is exactly the type of material all of us should be seeking. 

Even if you land where you did originally after all of your fact checking in wanting to vote for him and/or supporting him, you'll have done the legwork to better understand others viewpoints.

On that note: don't delete your friends who have opposing political views. It's good to have a diverse friend group. Talk to them about their various opinions. Understand why they feel the way they feel. This is how we come together. This is how we bridge the divide.

Make Choices for Humankind Collectively

Here, I want to talk about something very specific and relevant to today: the issues surrounding inequality as they pertain to the Black community. This, again, is not about parties. This is about facts and taking care of one another. 

To my friends who are white and who are, in particular, struggling with this concept: I get how uncomfortable you are and how confusing white privilege is when you aren't wealthy, when you've wondered how to pay your bills, when taxes eat away at your paycheck. White privilege is older than any of us alive today. It goes back so far we don't even know how to contemplate it correctly in this day and age because it's been around that long.

All you have to do is simple: acknowledge that it exists. Then, do better as a human going forward.

The facts are these if you're white: You've never been pulled over by the police because of your skin color. You've never gone to the grocery store and found anything less than a gazillion hair care options.

That's it. Do you see? It's the simple, small, everyday ways we walk around in this world that Black people and people of color collectively do not have the privilege of doing carelessly like we do.

Also, for the gazillionth time: Black Lives Matter does not mean only Black lives matter. It doesn't mean the lives of any other person, including police officers, matter less. That is never what it meant. It never will. The entire purpose is to raise awareness around the unjust ways Black Americans are dealt with at the hands of the police (read: Princeton University's policing and incarceration statistics and data). You can also do your own research and hit up the FBI.gov website. The Hate Crimes section has helpful info pertaining to how much it really sucks to live in America if you're not white, such as:

Offenses by bias motivation within incidents (Based on Table 1.)

Of the 8,327 single-bias hate crime offenses reported in the above incidents:

• 59.5 percent stemmed from a race/ethnicity/ancestry bias.

Race/ethnicity/ancestry bias (Based on Table 1.)

In 2018, law enforcement agencies reported that 4,954 single-bias hate crime offenses were motivated by race/ethnicity/ancestry. Of these offenses:

• 46.9 percent were motivated by anti-Black or African American bias.

Supporting BLM doesn't make you anti-police. It simply means you are now awake to the fact that there are bad cops and they are, indeed, murdering Black Americans at alarming rates and getting away with it. It's also an awakening to the way police officers are trained and how they're protected by their unions. 

This is why defunding the police is a topic. If you don't get it, research your own city and how much money goes to the police department vs. how much goes to after school programs, social health and wellness programs, etc. Defunding the police means re-funding social services and taking items off of cops plates that they never should have had to deal with in the first place, like mental health situations. 

Also, being "not a racist" is entirely different than being anti-racist. Being anti-racist is the change our country needs. There are a myriad of excellent books, articles, documentaries, etc. on this topic by both Black and white leaders. The best thing you can do is support the Black leaders/voices/community, but I know for many of you that may not be where you are actually able to start your journey. Instead, start with the white leaders if you need to, like Jane Elliott. Then, go to Rachel Cargle or Austin Channing Brown (the list is long with excellent leaders and I encourage you to do your homework).

Last, but never least, check yourself. Harvard's Project Implicit bias tests help you understand your unconscious biases. We all have them, friends. They are deeply rooted in us. The first step to changing them is becoming aware of them.

Ultimately, we cannot just sit around and read books, watch documentaries, or post things on social media. We must make tangible differences. We need to donate to Black organizations, support Black businesses and leaders, promote our Black colleagues in the workplace, and protest injustices at every turn.

In the words of Glennon Doyle from her latest book, Untamed, she asks this question of herself and all of us white folks:

"I imagined myself to be the kind of white person who would have stood with Dr. King because I respect him now. Close to 90 percent of white Americans approve of Dr. King today. Yet, while he was alive and demanding change, only about 30 percent approved of him - the same rate of white Americans who approve of Colin Kaepernick today.

So if I want to know how I'd have felt about Dr. King back then, I can't ask myself how I feel about him now; instead, I have to ask myself: How do I feel about Kaepernick now? If I want to know how I'd have felt about the Freedom Riders back then, I can't ask myself how I feel about them now; instead, I have to ask myself: How do I feel about Black Lives Matter now?

If I want to know how I'd have shown up in the last civil rights era, I have to ask myself: How am I showing up today, in this civil rights era?"

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The resources I note above are as close to neutral and fact checked data as you can get. All of them have the goal of providing unbiased data. Does that mean sometimes they make mistakes? Of course, they're run by humans and humans, by default, are mistake ridden. However, they do a great job of correcting mistakes when and if they find any.

The truth can be hard to uncover. In some cases, it will be obvious. In others, not at all. There will always be varying perspectives and it would serve you well to keep them all in mind, but...

...at the end of the day, if you are in the dark about the truth, it's because you've kept yourself there.