Patriotism – There’s been a lot of talk these days about how someone can be judged as being unpatriotic. When it comes to being a black person I wonder and I hope somebody can tell me what kind of patriotic love can I have for a country that has historically and continuously demonstrates its lack of love to me and my kind???
There’s not one single black person in American expect maybe for an infant who doesn’t know indifference that can ever say America has loved them wholly without malice. A typical (dare I say typical) black person’s experience in this country has been less than favorable. Our race has encountered kidnapping, a life of bondage, oppression, loss of heritage, loss of religion, raped, family separation, forced to breed with one another, etc. As we all know I’m talking about slavery, the African Holocaust that no one likes to talk about. Some may even agree with Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist who said this week on Tim Russert’s show that slavery was sooooo long ago, sort of in a nonchalant manner. Well all I have to say to Peggy and all those who agree with her is that, “I hate to bust your bubble but this institution of slavery didn’t end close to 150 years ago. Try maybe the early 1970’s.” Yes, we were set free, but only in the physical sense. See there was a loophole called the Jim Crow laws. JC was legal racism. It was OK up until the 1970’s, in my lifetime, to deny a black person the following: home/land ownership, voting, health care, education, for God’s sake even a cup of water. While JC denied black folks the basic right to live it also sought ways to endanger our lives by permitting the rape of black women without consequence and the murdering of our men through the grotesque method of hanging them high. Yep, this sounds like a country that loves me terribly!! A country that classifies me as a minority. And trust me it’s not because of a numbers game we’re called minorities. It’s a reminder of our inferiority. Give me a break who the hell wants to be called a minority, considered less than everyone else! Forgive me for disagreeing with Peggy and the rest who feels that slavery and its effects were soooo long ago, yep, sure we should get over it! No problem! But (screech in a Fred Flinstone manner) how could we??. We’re still being discriminated in terms of housing, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities, still poor education for our children, Hurricane Katrina, Rodney King, Amaduo Diallo, The Jena 6 and countless others that aren’t publicized. Not much has changed from Jim Crow, except now it’s considered illegal, but it’s still HERE. But, wait I’m still suppose to Love my country. How??? How can one class of people who have been denigrated and have to fight and claw their way towards equality have this grand love affair with a country who quite frankly could send us all back to Africa if they could???
While growing up my father always told me “Don’t you ever love somebody who doesn’t love you back.” I know my Papi was talking about men and making sure I respected myself, but for some reason this beautiful piece of advice is something that I will hold dear and carry out through the rest of my life. It is hard for me to say I love the U.S. I tolerate the U.S. but I don’t love how they treated me, treated those before me and will treat those after me. The U.S. and especially white people hate to talk about racism; it’s like the perverted uncle in a family that everyone knows he has a fondness for little girls, but never say anything, they just keep their daughters away. The reality of it all is that racism is an evil sin that white people no matter how hard they try can never ever undo, especially not as long as they still benefit from it! It’s almost sinister to even question why Black people have any unpatriotic feelings for this country. Are you kidding me?? I think Muhammad Ali said it best when he refused to be drafted, in the words of the Greatest, “No Vietcong ever called me a Nigger.” Translation “I’m good enough to fight in your war, pay your taxes, but I ain’t good enough to live in your neighborhood or drink out the same water fountain.” It may be 2008 but guess what whitey still doesn’t want me in their neighborhood and chances are they’ll wash the hell out of a cup I drink out of!!! And yet I’m suppose to love you, I ask you Show Me HOW???
