All we seem to have heard about over the months since Aug, is how Black Lives Matter. I am not seeing much evidence of that among blacks in the St. Louis metro area, both sides of the river, or nationally. Again, all shades commit all manner of atrocities. That isn't likely to change. What's confusing, in my fertile, aging mind, is the sheer volume of public nonsense (fights, shootings, police killings, beheadings, etc) from an ethnic group that constantly and consistently complains that: white don't treat them fairly; police harass them; banks don't loan them money; retail security guards follow them around stores, and all the rest. Personally, I think there is a correlation between how members of this ethnic group, blacks, live on a daily basis, and the ways in which they are perceived and treated in kind. Maybe it's just me. I dislike stereotypes. At the same time, 14% of our country's population is black, yet make up 40% of our prison population. The entire national criminal justice system can't be biased towards blacks. There's too many of them crossing the line of social behavior to believe that. I understand that we are only 4-5 generations removed from U. S. slavery conditions, and that it does indeed take time for any group to re-form itself. But how long does it take? Public schools are open to all. Public universities are open to all. Bank loans and mortgages and rental properties and homes for sale are open to all. Motels and restaurants and nightclubs are open to all. Major league sports teams are integrated. Voting rights are established for all. How many different immigrant ethnic groups have migrated here, established themselves within a generation or two, and not been a societal burden to the extent blacks have been ? Yet, blacks have high high school drop-out rates, high teenage pregnancy rates, tend to live in higher crime zones, own less homes and operate fewer banks and businesses, go to college less. It's very disheartening to read and see and watch an ethnic group basically hold itself back, embarass itself, and be a public burden. I don't know what the answers are. Common sense, personal pride, family structure, life goals, these are not restricted to any one group. I just don't get it. I don't.