It is disheartening to see the phenomenon of hate embraced by so many people who don't understand the origin, meaning, or impact. To grasp the significance, you must first understand what it means. It is an intense, deep-seated emotional response of strong dislike,...
MAJOR BEN’S ARTICLES
Below is a list of articles by Major Ben Brooks that have appeared in the Times Herald.
Daddy, What Time Will You Be Home Tonight?
Every family member asks this question daily. I wonder how many leaders realize the gravity of that question for their officers. When they get up in the morning, they have quiet time with their family before embarking on, hopefully, another routine day at the office....
Leaks
A leak is an unintended hole, crack, or fault that allows a substance- such as a liquid, gas, or light- to escape or enter a container or system. As a child growing up in the rural South, I watched my father build his own home. At that time, he installed a tin roof....
Masks and Officer Safety
As a career law enforcement officer, I am perplexed by the recent debate over officers wearing masks. Everything I learned about law enforcement involved honesty, integrity, and, most of all, transparency. The federal government has a duty to present law enforcement...
Bias Understood
As an international speaker, trainer, and consultant, I have been intrigued by the lack of understanding of various terms, with people using them without knowing their meanings or applications. At one of my National Speakers Association conferences, a presenter shared...
Fear and Bias as a Law Enforcement Blind Spot
Fear – an unpleasant feeling triggered by the perception of danger real or imagined. Origin - past experiences (0-6) History - nomadic days (fight or flight) Survival function - to protect us, triggered by a significant event, i.e., hot, cold, wet, trauma Source: New...
DEI, The Latest Bogeyman
DEI is the latest catchphrase that is the catalyst for the present state of the divided states of America. We raise and salute the flag as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America. As patriotic as that sounds, it is far from our day-to-day...
The Reality of Community Policing
Many police executives approached community-oriented policing with a great deal of skepticism because they didn’t realize the critical role that the community plays in their success. Many felt they could do it on their own. Dr. Lee Brown, a former police commissioner...
A Practical Approach to Addressing School Shootings
After Columbine, over four hundred school shootings were reported in America. Every citizen should be outraged that our society has allowed that to happen. Schools should be the safest place in our community for our students, staff, and teachers. It is challenging to...
A Nation Of Cowards
Former Atty. Gen. Eric Holder once said that America is a nation of cowards and he received a great deal of pushback for his statement. As I listened to his pronouncement, I wondered what was the concern about his statement. America has always had an issue with...
DEI America’s Biggest Blind Spot
By Major Ben Brooks
In 2016, I took a course with AARP in defensive driving. Having been driving since I was sixteen, I was curious about what the instructor could teach me. I signed up for the course to get a discount on my car insurance. As the instructor went through his orientation, I realized that there was something that I could learn.
The biggest teaching point was instructing the class on the phenomenon of blind spots. He pointed out that most accidents involving older people occur because of blind spots. He asked the question, how many of you when you adjust your outside mirrors can see the side of your vehicle. Everyone raised their hand. He said that is your biggest blind spot. He instructed the students to adjust your mirrors to the degree that you are no longer able to see the side of your vehicle. This allows you a better view of the lanes on each side.
Being a skeptic, I initiated the experiment and much to my surprise he was spot-on. I had a short stint as an Uber driver. When I found myself in the middle of Manhattan traffic, his lessons enabled me to negotiate traffic without the usual severe twisting of the head to see the vehicles on each side. The lecture on blind spots made a big difference in my driving habits.
Because of my fascination with the orientation to blind spots, I recognized what I learned in the class could be translated to my presentations as a consultant, particularly in the area of DEI. Recognizing the hue and cry about eliminating DEI as a training program, I was encouraged to invoke a more humanistic approach to a vital organizational survival initiative.
Human beings are often loathed to accept a new or different method of what brings them success. Blind spots have been defined in an economic context where critical information or potential risks are overlooked, leading to significant consequences like missed opportunities, poor decision-making, and potentially substantial financial losses due to a lack of awareness, or to put it bluntly, wokeness.
Leaders who have followers who tell them what they want to hear miss a golden opportunity for progress. However, leaders who delight in having followers who can identify and articulate blind spots, have a far greater opportunity to succeed and prosper in a competitive society.
Knowledge is power. Consider the anti-DEI and Wokeness phenomenon that has morphed into a campaign of hate, which has garnered a great deal of attention in our society. A 2021 survey showed the top five groups in Pennsylvania who are the victims, Black, Jewish, Asian, LGBTQ+, and Hispanic.
A review of the targets of the directed hate lists the buying power of each. African Americans $1.4 trillion, Asian Americans one trillion, Jewish Americans one hundred thousand, LGBTQ+ 1.4 trillion, Latinos 3.4 trillion. It is difficult to propose a monocultural blind spot perspective on a multicultural reality. America, which one of these groups can you do without?