"Maybe you should move out the country or to a (third) world country and see how nice you have it there , if not shut the f*** up and thank a vet for fighting for your freedom that you take for granted everynight when you sleep in peace..."
This was the sharp response a colleague of mine received after declaring that she did not believe in celebrating the Fourth of July.
"Thank a vet for fighting for the freedom that you take for granted everynight when you sleep in peace..."
He must not be aware of the ghettos of America, the places stricken by poverty, haunted by the walking dead. He must be unaware of the places where children go hungry, fathers are laid off and mothers worry for sons that may not come back home. He must not know that no flags are flown there. Red, white, and blue herald the sirens of police and firearms replace fireworks. There is no peace there, just hope that tomorrow will come and it will mean something.
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour."
- Frederick Douglass
July 5th 1852
What to the African in America is the Fourth of July - 157 years later? Should this day have more significance in the Obama era?
Peace to this!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Independence Day should have any significance for people of color, because WE have yet to have our independence in any real sphere of significance.
-T
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ReplyDeleteat a recent event (a boxing match) the national anthem was sung. my aunt and i refused to stand for it for our own reasons...my cousin recently home from basic training glared at us and said in all seriousness, "you had better stand up for the right to not stand up."
ReplyDeleteNow I am a person of color and my ancestors have not been treated kindly by whitey (we're still his damn colony) but the basis of this country is that if you want something done DO IT; you have the power. I in NO WAY want to diminish the very real power of institutionalized racism that is at play but you can't complain if you don't fight. (and i humbly add that I myself can not always complain because fighting is hard and tiring)
Che Guevara said... "At the risk of sounding ridiculous let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love." It is hard to love without first forgiving and impossible to love without knowing. Know history so you won't repeat it and forgive those who hate you and harm you without knowing you. Then, get to work.