Proud to be an American....A Slap in the Face...Michelle....and the Press

Michelle Obama may say she's proud to be an American. I sure as hell can't. She has been through the hell of Driving While Black, Walking While Black, Shopping While Black, Sleeping While Black, Living While Black.

Michelle Obama had every right to say back in February, 2008, "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country, because it feels like hope is making a comeback … not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change." And she got blow-back for that honest comment. Oh did she get blow-back. Her opponent's white wife wanted everyone to know that "I have and always will be proud of my country." I wonder how proud Cindy McCain is of that comment now. 

Was Mrs. McCain trying to tell the world that our history of slavery doesn't matter? For any thoughtful American, that's all Michelle's comment was referring to. The audacity! While Living While Black, Michelle was elated that a substantial portion of her nation's people were supporting a black man for President.

I don't think Michelle Obama was guilty of saying it like it is. I think she might have been guilty of optimism.

But Michelle Obama is nothing if she is not honest. Only Michelle Obama can cry out to Blacks and People of Color who didn't vote...."You know, the day I left the White House, it was painful to sit on that stage, and then a lot of our folks didn’t vote — it was almost a slap in the face." It's true, Michelle and Barack did not deserve that slap in the face. I can't say the same for all their white friends. Doesn't mean that whites don't work their asses off to create good government. Doesn't mean they can't be frustrated when they lose. It does mean, however, in today's world, that a white person has no leg to stand on when he turns to a black man and says you screwed up. The screw up of not voting pales in comparison to the screw up of slavery and jim crow and red lining and lousy schools and lousy job opportunities. The list is so long. The list is so embarrassing long.

Any white person today who calls out I'm proud to be an American has to be incredibly insensitive and ignorant of how people of color have been and are treated in this country, or just plain happy to be in power.

Don't get me wrong. I think there's a lot to be proud of in this nation, first and foremost the freedom of the press. Sometimes that single institution, the free press, has almost single-handedly addressed the massive wrongs by the Congress, the Executive branch, and the Judiciary, all three of whom have worked tirelessly over the years to subjugate people of color. For centuries Congress passed laws that subjugated non-Whites, and the Executive branch happily enforced those laws, and the Supreme Court upheld those laws. Only free speech and a free press allowed solitary voices to rail against these abuses.

We can also be proud that Apple Computer invented the iphone. As powerful as speech is, people readily ignore it. The truth of video is harder to deny. 

You will never hear me saying I'm proud to be an American. America has too much history that should sadden, if not shame, an empathetic, if not god-fearing, human being.

You will, however, hear me say I'm grateful to be an American, grateful to live in a nation supported by millions of people of color who, despite their history of suffering, strive to make their communities and their nation rich and vital. 

And you will hear me say with vigor that I am proud to live in a society that values and nurtures free speech and a free press. That freedom above all separates us from a host of nations that suppress their people because the powerful know that their power does not emanate from the people, but rather from a gun. 

Maybe a hundred years from now a great or great great grandchild of mine will comfortably say, "I'm proud to be an American." Today we have a long, difficult road to travel, if we as a people are to right the injustices and inequities that still exist in our culture. That, however, is a road and a task I can say I am proud to be a part of.

2020: 75 Cities Are Rioting. Where Are Our Leaders

Another  Black man was killed by the police. Again. And it was caught on video. Again.

And people started marching. People marched in 75 cities across America last weekend. Can you imagine the frustration. 75 cities.

Businesses burned.

Where are our leaders?

Surprisingly, there are mayors, governors and police chiefs and cops on the beat responding first with sympathy. When was the last time you saw cops taking a knee with demonstrators? From California to Florida, North Dakota to New Jersey there are pictures of police marching and kneeling with demonstrators.

There is still police violence, but finally mayors and police chiefs are calling it out.

What would I like a leader say?

The violence has to stop. The violence against our Black citizens has to stop.

What else? How about a quick history lesson.

This nation was built on the backs of slaves.
For one hundred and fifty years slaves toiled and then our nation was formed in 1776.
Of our first twelve Presidents, only two, the Adams', did not own slaves.
It took another hundred years before the Civil War was waged and the legality of slavery was over.
The reality of slavery, however, lived on with barely a hiccup. For the next hundred years lynchings and ACTUAL LAWS kept Blacks subjugated as second class citizens.

Not until 1968 did the Fair Housing Act prohibit discrimination against people of color. But laws are enforced by people in power, and 50 years after the Fair Housing Act redlining is alive and well in many parts of the country, most recently documented in Long Island, NY, in 2019.

And police brutality is also alive and well in the United States of America.

Folks, demonstrations and riots don't erupt across 75 cities in America because one black man was killed by police. Demonstrations and riots erupt across 75 cities in America because one MORE black man was killed by police. We have to own up to this racism. We have to say enough.

White people have to say Enough.

Black people and people of color have been saying Enough for four hundred years. White people have to join them.

This is a stain on our nation, this scourge of racism.

What would I like a leader to say about all this?

First the killing has to stop. You'd think I were referring to gang shootings. Nope. Cop killings.

Body cameras should be mandatory. If a cop is involved in a killing without a body camera, the cop should lose the presumption of innocence.

Police departments should reflect the community they protect. If the community is 50% people of color, the police should be 50% people of color.

But life for our citizens should not just be about avoiding death by police, crazy as that sounds. Life should be about getting a fair shot at a decent wage, a decent job, a decent home, a decent school. 

For some of us, a decent job, a decent wage, and a decent home is indeed what life looks like. For others, not so much.

Back in the 1980's Ronald Reagan was a two-term, popular President and ran on the slogan that government was the problem and needed to be reduced. He was not being honest. Nor were people who wrote his speeches. They were annoyed that poor people were getting government subsidies. And they were VERY annoyed that Black people were getting subsidies. So they created the myth that poor people and Black people in particular are lazy, shiftless, not working hard enough to get ahead. And we slashed government programs designed to assist people with lower income in our society.

There were actually two themes running strong in the 1980's. The first and age old theme was racism. The second, and younger theme was the triumph of the market place. Triumph to some. Tyranny to others. Whites have used the market place for centuries to hobble Blacks and people of color. Why are all the people in control white? 

The violence has to stop. The violence of subsistence wages while our economy creates billionaires has to stop.

Capitalism is a great environment for creating exciting, innovative products. But in a morally equitable world, capitalism needs government to set parameters. Apple's job is to make a super iphone. It's not Apple's job to be sure it doesn't pollute the community or pay substandard wages or engage in unfair competition. All those jobs belong to the government. Government matters.

What would I like a leader to say about this?

Our government created and perpetuated the environment that fostered and nurtured slavery and racism. Now our government champions capitalism. Our government should own up to its past and make things right.

Slavery was wrong. Lynching was wrong. Racism was and is wrong. Poverty is wrong. Homelessness is wrong. Relegating people to gang infested communities is wrong. Cop killing is wrong.

It is ironic that we both share a history of racism and scorn for non-whites and also have clearly been advantaged and strengthened by our Black brothers and sisters and our many immigrants.

Pretty much every immigrant group to arrive in this country has been scorned outside of the early pilgrims. The Irish, the Poles, the Germans, the Italians, the Chinese, the Japanese...name a nationality and you can be almost certain it encountered friction on our shores. It is strange, because we are known as the nation of immigrants. It is strange because it is obvious to many many people in the world that our very strength comes from our diversity. It is strange because having endured discrimination themselves, one wonders why so many immigrant whites mock so many non-whites. White privilege certainly comes into play. The white aristocracy, the whites with the real power, the whites with the money have been all too happy to perpetuate the idea that whites are smarter than non-whites. But it's bullshit. Pure unadulterated bull shit.

This racist crap will cripple us. It has to stop. Race baiting has to stop. Blaming others for our troubles has to stop. Crippling others so we can have more is a false hope. It has to stop. The children and grand children and great grand children of slaves in this country, the immigrants in this country who have been brutalized, these people are the true strength of our nation. Ignore these people if your goal is for America to become insignificant. Hold back these people if you want to put out our light. For our light will only shine bright when all of us are well, when all of us thrive, when all of us can use our talents and industry to invigorate our communities.

Just as we cheer on our athletes, and laud our successful business people, and honor our scientists, doctors, artists and teachers, so also should we weep when our neighbors suffer. If her child goes to school hungry, we should worry as if our own children were hungry. If her son is shot in his youth, we must feel the pain as if our own son were cut down. If our neighbor is lynched, we must be appalled as if our own family were violated. And if whole neighborhoods and communities are suffering with this blight, we need to be vocal. We need to have a national discussion about morality. About right and wrong. About good and bad. So much of life is grey and complex, but some things are black and white.

Slavery is wrong. Murder is wrong. Racism is wrong. 

Our history books do not but should state with appalling frankness that our country was founded on the backs of slaves. Our history books barely mention the land stolen from Native Americans.  Our history books ignore the abuses endured by the Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Indian Americans and a host of other Asian Americans, primarily because THEY LOOK DIFFERENT FROM WHITE AMERICANS. Latinos are the latest non-white immigrant group to reap the benefits of racism.

What would I like a leader to say about this?

Racism is wrong. Poverty is wrong. Homelessness is wrong.

I think it is fair to say that as long as we, as a species, have the ability to create billionaires, we have the cash to solve our problems. And I'm not saying we get rid of the billionaires. I am saying, however, that as a society, as a community running under rules of government, we adjust the rules so that becoming a billionaire is a little bit harder and rising from poverty, a little bit easier. There is no doubt that those two circumstances are related. Billionaires could never exist without government and laws to support their success. Similarly extreme poverty would never exist without government and laws facilitating its existence. The sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we fix it.

Honestly, fixing poverty, ELIMINATING extreme poverty, is possible. Physically insuring that every adult and child has the means to obtain food and safe housing is within our grasp. There are communities and nations on this earth, today, that DO NOT HAVE A HOMELESS population, that do not have children hungry, much less malnourished. Those nations are far less powerful, far less influential than the United States of America. They made the societal commitment, the emotional commitment, the political commitment to insure that hunger and homelessness do not exist in their communities. That was the difficult step to take. Writing the laws, marrying government programs with private programs, that is the easier step. Not easy. EasIER.

Good government is not EASY. It requires care, commitment, passion by its representatives and senators and councilors, mayors, governors, firemen, policemen, town clerks, teachers. All these people and more are elected, appointed, and paid by our citizens. All of these people and we, the tax payers, work together to create a vibrant society. We work together. WORK. Governing well is work. A good government does so much. It creates an environment for business to grow. It creates an environment for people to grow old! It also protects us from threats: hurricanes, wild fires, pandemics, extremists. This is hard work. And we have a multitude of people, eager and ready to join hands.

What would I like a leader to say?

We need to join hands. We need to use all the talent in our nation. We need to encourage all the talent in the world to meet the world's problems.

Our current President has a penchant for deriding his opponents, and he frequently views whole swaths of humanity as his opponents, so we hear about "shit hole countries," referring to nations in Africa, and "when Mexico sends its people...they're bringing crime. They're rapists." If someone reads this twenty years from now, one hopes they will be astonished a leader could survive with such vitriol. But the hate speech of one person is not the key issue, even if that person is a President. The key issue is that he is not alone. He can pack a stadium with thousands of supporters who cheer when he mocks his adversaries.

How does we respond. We can stoop and call this President and everyone who voted for him malignant, hateful, racist, stupid, the dregs of society. That passion may feel good, cathartic, invigorating, but it won't change many minds. Let's rise above the name calling.

It's a bit harder, but perhaps more effective, to focus on the issues. This is hard because issues are complicated in all sorts of ways. But an honest effort to examine them may cause people to pause, listen, evaluate, re-evaluate, and however they conclude, respect you, the messenger.

Respect is wanting in today's dialog. Respect is wanting in many of our vital institutions. The John McCain's and Ted Kennedy's of the Senate are missing.

The issues. What are the big issues? The really really big issues? Hunger. Housing. Health. Wealth and poverty. Education. Climate change. These issues are all interrelated, intertwined, and to solve any one of them successfully will be to address all of them.

Can we solve these issues? Do we have the intelligence? Do we have the cash? Yes, we have the intelligence. Yes, we have the cash.

Do we have the political will? Do we have leaders willing to call out inconvenient truths, willing to point out our mistakes, willing to lead us together. That is an open question. Only we, the voters, have the power to demand it.

What would I like a leader to say?

Slavery is wrong. Murder is wrong. Racism is wrong. Poverty is wrong. Homelessness is wrong.

Who of us running for election cares most about these issues. My friends, you need to pay attention. 

Then you need to vote.