Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
To My Black Brothers
Actually, I'm white, but I still consider us brothers. And, brother-to-brother, I have a suggestion. If you're going to protest, understand clearly what you're protesting about. If you want to sit, or kneel, while the American anthem is being played go to it. But do it for a reason.
Americans have protested things in the past. There were the WW I vets who came home and found no jobs or support of any kind. There were the the Vietnam War protests. Cassius Clay, later Mohammad Ali, protested. He wouldn't allow himself to be inducted into the army. He suffered for that. But he was right. We should never have been in Vietnam. It was a French problem; never an American problem. (It's often overlooked, but it was the ever popular JFK, who put us squarely into that mess.) Almost any form of protest against the Vietnam War was legitimate except one; namely, Jane Fonda seated behind a Vietnamese antiaircraft gun and aiming the gun into the sky in a mock act of shooting down American pilots.
So what are you black athletes and your brothers protesting? Slavery? Slavery is a terrible, unconscionable condition. But it wasn't invented in the U.S. It existed globally before the creation of America -- before our independence from the British. Over the years, four million, or thereabouts, of our brothers were shipped from Africa to Brazil, three million were distributed among various colonies in the Caribbean, and one million to the British colony that was later to became the U.S. Regrettably, the U.S. didn't end the practice of slavery until Lincoln became president. Getting rid of slavery was a tough job. Lots of whites died. Blacks too.
But, where did the slaves come from? Africa? Sure, but where in Africa? We can use place names like the Congo, or Nigeria, but these were names given to different areas in Africa by the white colonists. Who exactly gathered up these black folks and marched them to the slavers whose ships were parked on Africa's west cost. Mostly they were sold by tribes who didn't get along with their neighbors or simply felt that they could make some easy money rounding up their weaker neighbors and selling them to the Europeans waiting at their ships. These Europeans ships flew the flags of Britain, Holland, Spain, France, and America. No doubt there were others.
Okay, we got rid of slavery. But we didn't alter the thinking of a great number of white people. They went on to create a situation known as Jim Crow. Special water fountains for blacks, no sitting at lunch counters where whites were served, seating at the back of the bus for blacks, lynchings, and other horrific abuses. It took a while to get rid of Jim Crow, but through legislation and the will of good men, Jim Crow was ended.
As to present day bigotry and racism, that's a more difficult thing to end. Here I would say two things. First, most immigrants have gone through some of this -- wrong, though it may be. Italians know what it is to be called a wop and a guinea. The Irish were micks, The Poles, pollacks, and the Jews, keiks.
But, that was essentially yesterday. Amos and Andy (whites in black face) gave way to the Jeffersons, to Dr. Huxtable, and to Sanford and Son. Shows like, "All In The Family," helped raise the pride of blacks. The movie industry did its part too.
So what are we protesting bro? Police brutality? Some, most assuredly exists. But, most is a put-up job. Let's start with Ferguson. Where to begin? Some poor cop trying to do his job. A six foot something, 265 lb black thug who felt he was entitled to take whatever he wanted from local merchants without paying. But that's not why he was killed. Punching the cop through his open, squad car window, reaching for the cop's gun, and then, on the street, with lowered head, rushing the cop. That is what caused the cop to fire. And those actions, despite a witness who plagiarized herself, were the facts that led to Michael Brown's death.
Was the cop rewarded for doing what had to be done? Was Michael Brown recognized for the thug that he was? No. Reverend Al Sharpton to the rescue. Michael Brown became a fallen hero of the movement, "Black Lives Matter." It was a movement that raised the fortunes of Michael Brown's family to heights they had never imagined.
There are causes that deserve support from all Americans, but Sharpton's "Black Lives Matter" is not one of them. Does no one remember the Tawana Brawley affair? What about his stoking up the Crown Heights neighborhood. That riot ended in the murder of a Yeshiva student. Mr. Smith, a follower of Sharpton's, set a clothing store on fire. The fire killed 8 people.
Do my black brothers, the players on national football teams, want to disrespect the American flag for the likes of the Reverend Al Sharpton? Is that their cause? It's hard for me to believe.
Americans have protested things in the past. There were the WW I vets who came home and found no jobs or support of any kind. There were the the Vietnam War protests. Cassius Clay, later Mohammad Ali, protested. He wouldn't allow himself to be inducted into the army. He suffered for that. But he was right. We should never have been in Vietnam. It was a French problem; never an American problem. (It's often overlooked, but it was the ever popular JFK, who put us squarely into that mess.) Almost any form of protest against the Vietnam War was legitimate except one; namely, Jane Fonda seated behind a Vietnamese antiaircraft gun and aiming the gun into the sky in a mock act of shooting down American pilots.
So what are you black athletes and your brothers protesting? Slavery? Slavery is a terrible, unconscionable condition. But it wasn't invented in the U.S. It existed globally before the creation of America -- before our independence from the British. Over the years, four million, or thereabouts, of our brothers were shipped from Africa to Brazil, three million were distributed among various colonies in the Caribbean, and one million to the British colony that was later to became the U.S. Regrettably, the U.S. didn't end the practice of slavery until Lincoln became president. Getting rid of slavery was a tough job. Lots of whites died. Blacks too.
But, where did the slaves come from? Africa? Sure, but where in Africa? We can use place names like the Congo, or Nigeria, but these were names given to different areas in Africa by the white colonists. Who exactly gathered up these black folks and marched them to the slavers whose ships were parked on Africa's west cost. Mostly they were sold by tribes who didn't get along with their neighbors or simply felt that they could make some easy money rounding up their weaker neighbors and selling them to the Europeans waiting at their ships. These Europeans ships flew the flags of Britain, Holland, Spain, France, and America. No doubt there were others.
Okay, we got rid of slavery. But we didn't alter the thinking of a great number of white people. They went on to create a situation known as Jim Crow. Special water fountains for blacks, no sitting at lunch counters where whites were served, seating at the back of the bus for blacks, lynchings, and other horrific abuses. It took a while to get rid of Jim Crow, but through legislation and the will of good men, Jim Crow was ended.
As to present day bigotry and racism, that's a more difficult thing to end. Here I would say two things. First, most immigrants have gone through some of this -- wrong, though it may be. Italians know what it is to be called a wop and a guinea. The Irish were micks, The Poles, pollacks, and the Jews, keiks.
But, that was essentially yesterday. Amos and Andy (whites in black face) gave way to the Jeffersons, to Dr. Huxtable, and to Sanford and Son. Shows like, "All In The Family," helped raise the pride of blacks. The movie industry did its part too.
So what are we protesting bro? Police brutality? Some, most assuredly exists. But, most is a put-up job. Let's start with Ferguson. Where to begin? Some poor cop trying to do his job. A six foot something, 265 lb black thug who felt he was entitled to take whatever he wanted from local merchants without paying. But that's not why he was killed. Punching the cop through his open, squad car window, reaching for the cop's gun, and then, on the street, with lowered head, rushing the cop. That is what caused the cop to fire. And those actions, despite a witness who plagiarized herself, were the facts that led to Michael Brown's death.
Was the cop rewarded for doing what had to be done? Was Michael Brown recognized for the thug that he was? No. Reverend Al Sharpton to the rescue. Michael Brown became a fallen hero of the movement, "Black Lives Matter." It was a movement that raised the fortunes of Michael Brown's family to heights they had never imagined.
There are causes that deserve support from all Americans, but Sharpton's "Black Lives Matter" is not one of them. Does no one remember the Tawana Brawley affair? What about his stoking up the Crown Heights neighborhood. That riot ended in the murder of a Yeshiva student. Mr. Smith, a follower of Sharpton's, set a clothing store on fire. The fire killed 8 people.
Do my black brothers, the players on national football teams, want to disrespect the American flag for the likes of the Reverend Al Sharpton? Is that their cause? It's hard for me to believe.
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