A Cop Was Knocked Unconscious After Allegedly Making Racist Comments

Unfortunately, violence begets violence

I woke up this morning to a story about a police officer who got punched in the face for allegedly making offensive statements. My first thought was that maybe this meant we’re finally having a cultural awakening. However, once I had a moment to think about it, it occurred to me that some innocent party is likely to be made to suffer in response.

In a general sense, white supremacists always stomp around bleating empty threats and bragging about how tough they are. It’s tiresome. They know that nobody is likely to call them out on their nonsense because the grand majority of people are civilized and we don’t often beat people up even when they deserve it.

Every racist I’ve ever met will talk your ear off about how tough they are, and then they cower and even beg not to be hit when the chips are down. These people are pathetic cowards through and through, but it’s important to remember that they’re still a threat. In fact, they’re a bigger threat because they’re cowards who are most likely to retaliate when you’re powerless or distracted.

The incident in question

It’s important to note that this incident is still under investigation and my comments are meant to be taken as general social observations and should not be interpreted as specifically related to this incident. Here is a summary of the altercation in question:

A Knoxville Police Department officer attending a wedding reception while off duty was knocked unconscious after allegedly making racist remarks.

“I didn’t know they let Black people into the reception,” 22-year-old KPD officer Tanner Holt reportedly told a Black man just moments before he was knocked unconscious — Sebastian Murdock, Tennessee Cop Knocked Unconscious After Allegedly Making Racist Remarks

Obviously, I wasn’t there to witness whatever happened. However, I’ve been in other situations where people who did deserve to be punched didn’t suffer any consequences, and I’ve been in situations where people who didn’t deserve to be punched were assaulted.

We live in a society that is replete with injustices. Unfortunately, physical violence does not tend to change a person’s fundamental behavior, particularly when that person endures it when they’re drunk. That being said, when people make racist comments, I too, want to punch them in the face. I don’t do it because I have too much to lose to waste my time in legal entanglements based on an altercation with some loser racist.

The corrupting influence of power

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a men’s character, give him power — Abraham Lincoln as quoted by Erika Andersen, Abraham Lincoln: 10 Quotes To Help You Lead Today

Some people know enough to be inherently skeptical of power in any form. Power should terrify you. The best thing you can do with power is to run away from it.

I’ve had power a few times in my life, and I don’t like it. Even something as simple as working as a teacher can be enough to make some people drunk on their authority. I used to start my classes by giving a lecture about how grades are meaningless, until the administration made me stop because the other teachers complained. How dare I undermine their precious power!

My rejection of power extends to my philosophy on guns. I’m from Wisconsin, so I’ve handled guns all my life. I know more about guns than most of the imbeciles who walk around wearing the discount camouflage they got at the second-hand store and their stupid shooting glasses with the yellow lenses.

Responsible gun owners are the first to admit that an accidental discharge is inevitable. The idiots who claim, “I’m always in control of my weapon,” are the dangerous ones because they’re not taking their power obligation seriously. I live in constant concern over an accidental discharge even though I’ve never had one, the irresponsible idiots have had dozens, but they don’t see them as the lack of responsibility they truly represent.

Cowards can never be moral, said Mohandas Gandhi. Here is why:

People can know what is right and even want to do what is right but still not act rightly. Why?

Because they are afraid. They lack the courage to support their convictions.

We need courage to face the unknown; we need courage to let go of irrational fears — Arthur Dobrin D.S.W., Cowards Can Never Be Moral

Because cowards are afraid, they seek power. They arm themselves, they find a “brotherhood” in positions of authority. The problem is, by definition, those that seek power are the last people who should be entrusted with it.

The trope of the pathetic man-child in charge of everything

What is it that makes a man stand around bleating racist words at a public gathering? You might say it’s a sense of power, you might say it’s a sense of entitlement, but I think the most accurate explanation is that it’s cowardice.

Every time a big truck goes roaring by, my wife says, “There goes a guy with a small penis.”

It’s infuriating to have to put up with these people on a daily basis. You can’t punch a person in the face without touching them, and touching these people is the last thing I want to do. That’s a large part of the reason I’ve ghosted everyone I know who voted for Trump.

I have enough self-control at this point to endure insults against me, but I can be provoked if people insult my children. Trump supporters have no problem with the video Trump tweeted of the man screaming “white power.” That tweet drew white supremacists out of the holes they live in, and some of them berated my children. I think of that every time I see a Trump flag and I have to walk away.

Asking me to sit across a table from some smirking man-child who has no problem claiming my children are less than human is more than I can endure. Then they cry about it when I absent myself from them. I live in fear that they’ll show up at my house in their entitlement and demand that I be their friend. They’re capable of that kind of insanity, and if they come, they’ll come in a pack.

The terrible consequences

The problem with beating up racists is that somebody is made to pay, even if it’s not you. They don’t get into fights they think they’re going to lose. Instead, they bide their time and wait until they can find somebody weaker, or somebody who falls into their power, and then they destroy that person.

The classic case is a frustrated worker who is yelled at by his supervisor and cannot yell back. So he then comes home and “kicks the dog,” that is, he takes his frustrations out on someone else, probably a member of the family. The one most likely to receive this displaced anger might be the most vulnerable member of the family; or it may be the one perceived to be the most forgiving or trusted. Dogs, because of their non-human status and their fawning and obsequious nature, provide an easily understood proxy for the target of the anger — Alec MacLeod, Kick the dog, Metaphordogs.org

This kind of thing happens all the time, but except with dogs it’s innocent people getting kicked. This is the essential, pathetic cowardice of racism. Deep in their soul, racists know how worthless they are. They run around screaming at the void in denial and frustration at the cruel joke that was played upon them by the universe.

The problem with holding them accountable is that they’ll round up their buddies and permanently injure or even kill some innocent person just so they can feel better about themselves. We see it on the news every day. I don’t have an answer for this, I wish I did.