Editorial: Three points that I have evaluated so far in 2021

This year has been tough with the virus and other things going on in America. We all must step back and really evaluate everything that has happened with a grain of salt. I feel that there are three things that we have learned that are critically important going forward and I emphasize this strongly.

The first lesson is paying teachers is a must. Teachers are very important and will always be important. There should never be a debate on how we should pay our teachers. We should just do it. I do not want to hear about debt when we continue to shell out money for whatever we want to do. Yet, teachers who go to school to get their degrees and work hard are not given the proper respect. This especially goes for school boards along with supervisors around the country. Make it happen. There is no excuse in my opinion.

My second critical observation is the nonsense about defunding the police and the disrespect towards law enforcement. I understand folks. I have been stopped and have had times where the police have targeted me because I am Black. I have been there and done that. However, the national media has made it seem that all police are bad, and we do not need that. Politicians talk tough until people show up in their yards and the first thing they do is call 9-1-1.

The images we see on television are not good with excessive police force, but I promise you that does not tell the entire story. Think about the officers who now walk on eggshells working 12-hour shifts while having to deal with so many threats that it would make you spin. Law enforcement has a tough job and frankly without them, we would fall as a nation. So yes, the abusers of power need to go but the honest ones who love the job and keep communities safe need to be shown some respect for their efforts of putting their lives on the line so that we can live comfortably.

My third and final critical observation is to stop putting so much energy into sending kids to college if the system is going to give them crumbs. I get sick of young people spending the amount of money they would on a car or house for four years of school, only to result in working a job that is unbecoming of them. If this is the case, send them to trade school or help train them to start a small business coming out of high school.

We need to put college graduates first. The entire argument of it not mattering for some jobs is a horrible way of going about things. The bottom line is if people take their time to go get a degree, then reward them.

I do not care about first generation graduates or celebrating graduation day. These things do not matter. You go to college to get a great job along with great money. If this is not your reason, then you are wasting your time. We must reward people for excellence. If this is not the case, then we continue to fail the future even more.