Part One: Cowards

A few months ago your Attorney General Eric Holder* called us all "a nation of cowards" because Americans have not made much progress in race relations. It seems that most of us do not discuss race relations enough. Well, at least apparently not enough to his and your President's* satisfaction. After the false claims of racism against anyone who apposed Obama's politics and the last couple of weeks listening to the unwarranted prattle of racism in questioning Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, I can understand why most Americans leave any such discussions about race alone. The plain fact of the matter is that if you have a differing opinion than that of minorities', or their Liberal champions, in attempting any such discussions or simply stating your opinions, all you are going to get for your trouble is to be called a racist.

So why bother?

Discussions on America's race relations usually turn into angry one sided affairs with the minorities rehashing past grievances. It seems that White Americans are only allowed into the discussions to either try defend themselves and their ancestors or to apologize. White American males are not allowed to even pretend to know what it is like to walk in someone else's shoes but everybody else is dead certain that they know exactly what it is like to walk in theirs. So while they are told that they do not, or even cannot, understand the 'Black Experience' they are assured that everybody else in this world understands all to well about the American White experience. Therefore, any and all discussions about race relations in our country must automatically become monologues about the evils of the American White man's oppression as if all white men in America have the same economic and social standings and are in positions of power.

To take it one step further White American males are not supposed to understand the meaning of empathy or, it is assumed, are they smart enough to imagine how others have lived and suffered. Those eight gripping episodes of "Roots" were supposedly entirely lost on them. Likewise it is assumed that no American White male has ever suffered, been discriminated against, or struggled in this old life. It has been widely predetermined that White American males have no right to even discuss race, as they could not possibly even imagine what it is like to be poor or a minority, even if they are poor themselves. So the majority of White males can work side by side with another man who is in a minority, sweat together in the hot sun, shovel concrete from dawn to dusk or build houses that they cannot afford to buy and then drag their tired bodies out to an old Chevy pick-up to drive home to their families and worry about paying their bills like every other working man, yet they are still supposed to have it better than the man they were working with all day, and who was getting the same pay, because White American males are not a minority.

Each of us are born with the Original Sin attached to our souls, but in today's society the White American male is born with the extra burden of automatically being declared a racist as soon as he takes in that first life giving breath. No matter how he lives his life here in America, being rich, poor or in-between, he carries that label with him throughout his life. That is unless he becomes a Liberal. In that case he then follows the Zinn doctrine and denounces all other non-liberal White American males since the discovery of the New World as evil racists who only prospered because of the blood and sweat of minorities and the poor.

Today while prospering under our free enterprise economic system, or what's left of it, and enjoying the freedoms provided by the blood and suffering of our White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, but very few Muslim ancestors, the main-stream-liberal media and the Liberal academics have declared that the United States has been too long under the White man's rule. They tell us that the White man's time is over. They declare this even though many of these same Liberals are White Americans controlling the reins of power in an ever-increasing oppressive government, the corporate and banking institutions, academics and the socialistic pandering media. Of course if White Americans take offense or argue this point, object or defend themselves, and their heritage, they are quickly shouted down as being racists. According to Liberals and many minorities it seems now that our Founding Fathers should have been ashamed of their own heritage and should have had the good sense and foresight not to even establish our great, free nation on these shores. Not only that but also these Pioneers then had the gall to carve this grand nation out of the wilderness. Boy, the audacity of some people!

Meanwhile the present day White American generations are supposed to hang their heads in shame and apologize for the misdeeds of the past even though they and the people they are supposed to apologize to were not alive during those times and thus had nothing to do with it. White Americans are told that somehow they are all guilty due to their ancestry and skin color for the evil brutality of slavery even if their ancestors, like mine and many other modern day Americans, arrived in the post Civil War/Slavery America. Meanwhile minorities are constantly reinforced with the belief that they are still victims in our society because they have the same skin color as those long ago slaves. The truth of the matter is that although our country has made huge strides towards racial equality we will never fully achieve that goal until America finally understands that today's White Americans are not responsible for the slavery of a century and half past and that Black Americans are no longer victims or slaves.

In doing some research recently I came across a pre-election posting on an African-American website were a young woman was claiming that upon Obama's election White America would be repaid for all their past sins. She went on to describe in gruesome detail 'her voyage' to America on a slave ship. At least she wrote it in first person prose. She made it very clear that because of this voyage she was very hateful of White Americans.

The trouble is that if this young lady is less than fifty to sixty years old she was most probably born in a nice clean American hospital, like most of us, and was perhaps even delivered by an African-American doctor, then taken home to her parent's house in a nice warm blanket. As is the case with many Americans, she may very well never even have been outside our borders in her lifetime. Another problem is that the ship that she was describing was probably not American but more likely from one of the many European nations that transported slaves to the New World as slavery was established here long before the United States became a nation. In other words America's Founding Fathers actually inherited the slavery problem. Now where else have we repeatedly heard about inherited problems recently? Slavery and the slave trade was started in the New World as early as the mid15th century, while America did not declare its Independence until well over 200 years later in the 18th century. Just like much of the ancient world, slavery and the slave trade had also been an established practice in Africa, by the Africans, for centuries before the Europeans ever arrived on that continent.

In addressing the young lady's rant further one must point out the obvious that no present day White Americans sailed on that slave ship or became her master once the ship arrived in an American port, as none of us, herself included, were even alive when it might have sailed. It is interesting that she does not direct any of her anger towards the Africans who most probably would have captured her and sold her into slavery in the first place, a practice that was common among rival African tribes. This is especially interesting as Obama's ancestors in Kenya most probably did more than their share of this rival tribal raiding and slave trading for centuries. It is also troubling that as slavery was such a world wide evil institution starting in ancient times and continuing to our present time, that whenever someone speaks of slavery it is always the White Americans who are singled out as the only culprits. This is especially true among African-Americans who, as one can see from the wide spread ancient history of slavery on their native continent, could have ended up in the evil bondage of slavery even if they had remained in Africa. This possibility of course does not diminish or excuse the crime of slavery that was committed in the New World. But in leaves one to wonder why this narrow view of who was guilty persists when so many others of all races and nationalities were in on the crimes.

Meanwhile she has nothing to say about the blood and sacrifice of the tens of thousands of White Americans who fought, suffered and died in the Civil War, which resulted in freeing the slaves and abolishing slavery in the United States. Apparently it is easier, or more convenient, to hate the slavers than it is to remember and love the fighters of freedom.

While I can understand her sorrow and anger at this terrible injustice that befell her ancestors I cannot understand her hatred of present day people who had nothing to do with this long ago crime. If this attitude were carried over to other past crimes in our society descendants of criminals would be wrongly persecuted for all of eternity for crimes they did not commit and that were committed before they ever existed. Yet this attitude involving slavery towards present day White America persists. In reading her post it was evident that she was well educated and may have even gone to college. But instead of being a student of the entire scope of slavery in America, and Africa, she has focused her attention and hatred only on these long ago White slave holders and traders and now seems to associate every white face with them. Or perhaps she was just given the Liberal view. Unfortunately in no uncertain terms is she alone in this mindset.

In modern America African-Americans are supposed to be rightfully proud of their heritage but White Americans are supposed to apologize for theirs. An African-American can declare that he/she is Black and Proud but if a White American says that he/she is White and Proud then they are then called a racist. White supremacist groups such as the KKK and the American Nazi movement have understandably been so fervently persecuted by our society that they have become nonentities with no political power. It is also rarely noted that White Americans led that persecution. Yet other racist groups such as the Black Panthers and Farrakhan's Black Muslims still openly display their racism and their memberships are increasing. Someone shouts, "Black Power!" Everyone shrugs and says, "Ah well, so what?" Someone shouts, "White Power!" Everyone shouts back, "Racist!" Yet the simple truth is that both are racist.

This mindset may help to partly explain why Attorney General Holders'* office dropped all charges against the Black Panthers who defied federal law when they opening interfered at election sites in Philadelphia by committing voter intimidation. Showing up in full Black Panther military style uniforms, these militants stood outside selected voting sights in a clear attempt to intimidate voters and in clear violation of the Federal Voting Rights Act. One carried a nightstick while others threatened voters including one saying he, "…supports racially motivated violence against non-blacks and Jews."

Philadelphia police arrested all of the violators at the voter locations after receiving several complaints by harassed voters. Yet even with video evidence of the crime Holder and Obama dropped all charges against the Black Panthers. Their reasoning for dropping the charges should be offensive, insulting and galling to every American regardless of race or political leanings: 

"The explanation for moving to dismiss the case is shocking. According to the Department of Justice: "These same Defendants have made no appearance and have filed no pleadings with the Court. Nor have they otherwise raised any other defenses to this action. Therefore, the United States has the right … to dismiss voluntarily this action against the Defendants." In other words, because the defendants haven't tried to defend themselves, the Justice Department won't punish them."  - Washington Times

You should also know:

"One of the defendants, Jerry Jackson, is an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee and was a credentialed poll watcher for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party when the violations occurred."  - Washington Times

Forget that if these criminals who had violated the Voting Rights Act had been members of the KKK and the charges were dropped that civil rights groups would be screaming bloody murder. Don't even bother to ponder what would have happened to a White or Republican president and his Attorney General if they had dropped the charges against some KKK defendants in such an insulting manner. Those two scenarios are a given. Instead remember back to the Obama's campaign and his promise that he was "The Unifier" that would bring all people, of all races together. Remember back to February 19, 2009 when Obama's Attorney General Holder stated:

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."

In a colorblind society it would not matter if the defendants were from the KKK or the Black Panthers. It would not matter from what race the president or his appointees are. With a chance to show leadership and yes, courage, both Obama and Holder have instead showed us all what they really are, cowards, opportunists and just plain old everyday politicians.

There's nothing new here. There's certainly no sign of any "change from the old ways of Washington politics." And America still has a lot to hope for, especially when it comes to racial equality.

God Bless America

Semper Fi,
Mike

(* Until Obama proves his US citizenship he is not my president nor are any of his appointees legal. This has nothing to do with his race but everything to do with The Constitution.)

Part Two: Reverse Discrimination For Dummies


Part Three: Playing The Race Card Game

"Copyright 2009.  Michael E. Tank   All rights reserved. No part of this document may be copied, faxed, electronically transmitted, or in any other manner duplicated without express written permission of the author."