It was a day of events in the City -- Love Fest, and a bluegrass festival, for starters. It was also the rarest of days for our Weir clan -- all six of my children and all three of my grandchildren in the same place at the same time.
It was the third day of the tenth month of this year and the very first time that has happened in 2009.
Two of the kids did not feel well at various times in the day, creating concern, since this is flu season. They both got better as the day went on.
It also was clean-up day at the high school, soccer for the little girls, and a chance for me to BBQ chicken and pork ribs.
Tonight a gathering involving all of us plus various friends of all ages came together, despite the minor illnesses, the fierce winds, and my shopping malfunctions.
I've been thinking a lot about racism lately. And by racism I mean discriminatory behavior and attitudes toward black people by white people. There are plenty of other racist syndromes in this society but this one is the base for all of the rest. As a friend put it tonight: "How can we point to a founding document that defines black people as property and that assigned them 3/5ths the value of a white person?"
Strict constructionists and conservatives of many stripes do not necessarily have a problem with that part of the Constitution, I have concluded. What we as Americans in the 21st Century ought to do is denounce all of the crap that our "Founding Fathers" believed, keep only what is useful and hold up the rest to public ridicule.
Those elitists were hardly the know-all, be-all wise men so celebrated by the political rhetoric employed by all government leaders to this day. They had some extraordinary men among them, it is true, and they established some revolutionary progress in the structure of government.
But they also institutionalized racism and set this society on a collision course with decency, equality, and fairness. We've been at war with ourselves ever since, and racism of the kind discussed here will be with us far into the future.
It is residual racism that fuels the "birthers," "truthers," and other extremists of the Christian right. These people are the most dangerous people in the world -- far more than al-Qaeda, to cite another despicable movement.
The American right wing is more dangerous because it has resources and it numbers and it thrives on hate. It is determined to disrupt the Obama Presidency, not based on ideas or ideals but simply because he is black.
They will never admit this, but I am making the accusation. I've watched and listened closely enough to comprehend that what they are seeking is the overthrow of an elected President by any means possible, including violence.
Fortunately, the great majority of them are soft, fat wimps without the courage to do anything of significance, let alone undertake the heinous actions implied by their words.
They are cowards.
So in all likelihood, their flatulent spouting of hate will die away as it becomes ever more clear they have no place in leadership in this society going forward. They and their bitterness will go to their graves, but racism, even then, will still be with us.
When the evils of the past are so great, and so deeply ingrained, there is no possible way to transcend them until many more generations have come and gone. I had wished I would see a better day in my lifetime, and in some way I have, with the election of the brightest President in history.
But so much more remains to be done, and it is a long, long way from here to where we need to get to.
-30-
2 comments:
That does it! This conservative – boarder line libertarian – is tired of the one dimensional thinking on display in this post! I must leave for a couple days, David, but will send you a thoughtful response on Tuesday next.
In the mean time, you might reflect on the September 12 event in Washington: Conservative Americans from all walks of life came in great numbers by every means of transportation, without a central leading figure or organization, to demonstrate their concerns, without incident, and by many accounts leaving behind a cleaner capitol than they found. They (the conservative, Constitution loving citizens of this great nation) demonstrated anything but dangerous behavior.
You might also work on the history of presidential assassins – not one of whom was ever accused of conservative philosophy. To the contrary!
Whenever one applies thought - beyond his sleeve - to the history of this great nation of individuals, he must appreciate the enormous good so far accomplished (in spite of human frailties), and should enjoy the confidence that his children can grow to witness even more in time.
Short answer to your friend's question; Inarguably the greatest force for positive change in discriminatory paradigms we have witnessed so far, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to our founding documents and founders' intents continuously. He saw them as the bedrock of his movement, and indeed they were just so.
Your collectivist approach, like that of your “bright” collectivist president, will fail in the face of the American individualist dream.
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