Elements of 'Django' exist today
By The Bakersfield Californian
Director Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" has twinklings of humor, but the reality is that slavery was a travesty for our country. Slavery began in British North America in 1619 and ended in 1865 -- 245 years. It will take many years more for the negative ramifications of slavery to end.
Elements of "Django" exist in America right now. More black males are in prison than any other race/gender. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice 846,000 black males were incarcerated in 2008 -- 40.2 percent of all prison inmates. Blacks' unemployment rate runs 15.8 percent, more than twice that of whites. Blacks are seven times more likely to be homeless. Black families account for 12.3 percent of the U.S. population but represent 38.8 percent of the homeless population. A quarter of black people in America live in poverty, a rate three times that of white people. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, racial discrimination complaints are the most prevalent of all workplace complaints.
Black on black crime is another way "Django" manifests itself in America. Why are so many black males killing each other? Remember that Django devalued other black slaves because he was free; he was trying to prove to the rich slave owner that he was better than his slaves. That was a repudiation of his own race, and that's what black-on-black violence amounts to: a repudiation of race for a price. In their hearts these young blacks really don't know why they are killing.
Larcenia Taylor
Bakersfield
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Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by...
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