Articles
Insights from the Community Garden
5 October 2016 I spend substantial time in the Fayetteville Community Garden. This is because I grow vegetables in a plot there along with volunteering to help maintain and beautify the garden. This five acre, 94 plot garden, is proving to be a microcosm of what I see in our country from a distance. That […]
Cutting Off Our Nose to Spite Our Face
20 September 2016 I recently read a column by Myron B. Pitts, Fayetteville Observer newspaper columnist, which added to my already tremendous mental and emotional pain regarding the condition of Black Americans. The title is “Myron B. Pitts: Donald Trump is ‘birther’-in-chief.” Pitts makes the case that because Donald Trump persisted in questioning whether Barack […]
Thought Control through Narrative Manipulation
7 September 2016 We live in a time when the word “narrative” is used repeatedly in discussing or analyzing events and conditions in our nation and world. What follows is a warning that citizens of the world, and especially America, must be alert to the thought control that happens by way of narrative manipulation. Miami […]
Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump: An Approach for Choosing
23 August 2016 I believe America is facing the most important presidential election in my lifetime, or even longer. America needs and is crying out for meaningful change. Unless something far beyond what anybody can imagine happens, voters will choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. What follows is an approach for making that choice. […]
My Interactions with White Police Officers
9 August 2016 Given that there seems to be a flood of black men relating accounts of their negative interactions with white police officers, I feel obligated to share my experiences. Before sharing my story, setting the climate is important. Why climate is important becomes obvious in the story. For starters, consider a comment made […]
A Glimpse of the Possible
28 June 2016 Without doubt, the moral condition of America is in a state that left unchecked will lead to our self-destruction as a nation. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines moral as “concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior.” With few exceptions, we are a nation where people are allowed to do […]
Without Question, This is Discrimination
14 July 2016 In an atmosphere replete with allegations of discrimination regarding black victims where the evidence is questionable, now comes a case that is absolutely discrimination. In early May 2016 the Cumberland County School Board voted 6-2-1 for Vernon Aldridge to replace Leon Mack as the school system’s activities director. Aldridge is white and […]
Racial Healing Requires Seeing the Bigger Picture
13 July 2016 Given the troubled state of race relations in America and our ongoing total failure to address this matter in a productive manner, we are at a time that “requires seeing the bigger picture.” This column explores the magnitude of our situation and shares some likely causes. Maybe discussion of solutions will come […]
America Needs a Contingency Third Party
13 July 2016 I repeatedly write about the troubled political, governmental, moral, and social condition of America. Anyone interested in the details of my assessment should use this link to access my website, scroll down, and read a few of my columns: http://karlmerritt.pairsite.com/articles/.The thinking and concerns raised in much of my writing has brought me […]
A Word on Behalf of So-called “Fearful Constituents”
1 June 2016 North Carolina’s recently passed legislation referred to as HB2 has become quite a point of discussion and contention in America as well as elsewhere in the world. Among other provisions the legislation, passed in March, prohibits people from using public restrooms not corresponding to their biological sex. In a column headlined “HB2 […]