Truth or narratives?

I read a letter to the editor last week from Laura West regarding racism in America, and more specifically white supremacy, that contained some good points. Racism absolutely still exists. As does white supremacy, which is just one of the many types of racism that we see in the United States

today.

I don’t dispute this, but I do take issue with the false narratives she used to prove her point. Irresponsible actions like this add to the growing divisiveness that we’re seeing continue to spread throughout the country. It also shows a blind faith in a media that has been proven to push these false narratives over and over in an attempt to sway a largely uneducated public opinion for purely political purposes.

One example used by Ms. West about Trump’s controversial comments regarding Mexican immigrants is a perfect illustration. Stating that the President referred to all Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers is completely false. He said that many who have come here illegally are rapists and drug dealers. This is true. The Texas Department of Public Safety shares crime statistics related to illegal aliens, and in fact, there have been over 10,000 arrests related to sex-related crimes, over 1,000 homicides, around 50,000 drug-related crimes, and about the same amount of assaults over the last eight

years.

This is just one state where illegal border crossings are at all-time highs. But what is often left out by people like Ms. West is that Trump also said that most are honest, hardworking people just looking for a better life. This, of course, doesn’t fit the desired narrative, so it is left

out.

Ms.

West also mentioned the Twitter feud between President Trump and the “Squad” — Congresswomen Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar and Pressley.

All four of these elected officials have been highly critical of the President (as well as members of their own caucus) with a constant barrage of claims of racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc.

Yet, the media turns a blind eye when anti-Semitic statements are made, as well as corroborated claims of multiple types of fraud and campaign finance crimes by these same four women.

Their histories are ignored.

When the President defends himself and calls attention to these issues, he’s a racist simply because they are women of color? This is the literal definition of racism and

sexism.

I am tired of the rhetoric that strays far from reality, as there are many examples of this available to anyone willing to do the research with an objective mind. It is entirely possible that Ms. West is an unfortunate victim of a media that purposely pushes the false narrative of racism every chance they get — often creating it where none exists.

It is ultimately up to each of us to seek truth (even when we might not like it) or be content to be fed a narrative like blind sheep. And make no mistake —the mainstream media absolutely has an agenda. We have many alternative news sources today, and while most seem biased one way or another, the truth can often be found somewhere in the middle. Our government is not perfect, and we’re finding more and more about the deep-rooted corruption that has existed within it for a long time, but it helps no one to simply spew rhetoric and false narratives for partisan purposes.

My hope is that we in Sisters can rise above such nonsense, as it only leads to division and what we’re seeing in Portland with the lawless Antifa mobs. We owe it to ourselves to focus on truth whether it aligns with our ideologies or not. Anything less is just adding to the

problem.