Thursday, August 16, 2012

RACE TO THE FINISH

My grits are really fried (an old southern expression meaning dismayed or angry) over what's happening in "race relations" these days.

The only argument my mother and I ever got in concerned what we then called, "colored people."

She was from Georgia, and to her, "colored people" were fine to speak with, but they were not to be socialized with. They were, in her words, "different."

I (a teen-aged high-schooler) argued that they were people just like us, bled when stabbed, had human feelings and emotions and deserved our respect and their dignity. They also deserved equality of opportunity to do what they wanted to do and to become what they wanted to become.

It appalled me that there were such things as separate drinking fountains, separate restrooms and separate dining areas for "colored people." It was even more appalling to me that they could not come to school with me. I had made friends with "some of them," and was sad that we could not be friends in school.

The cry, "separate but equal" just did not compute in my feeble brain.

As I grew older and was off to college, I participated enthusiastically in the race relations movements of the 60s and 70s.

Today, I am the choir director of a church whose congregation is made up of 17 different nationality groups. My choir is half black. Such a thing would not have happened in the 50s, 60s and 70s, not in a Southern Baptist Church, anyway. I would not belong to a church that would not let that be the case.

I am, however, disheartened that so many African-Americans (Blacks) are ignoring the gains afforded them by the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers.

What has evolved today, at the leadership level, is a group of haters and race baiters whose hatred of "whitey" far out does the so-called "hate" of the 40s and 50s and after.

People like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Rev. Wright and, yes, even President Barack Obama continually spew the same kind of hatred toward whites as used to be spewed toward them.

I guess getting even makes everything alright.

Actually, it doesn't.

Apparently, blacks today tend to agree. In a recent Your Black World/Kulture Kritic survey, 85% of blacks said they were either unhappy or extremely unhappy with the state of Black leadership in America.

The Declaration of Independence recognizes that "all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

To be sure, when those words were penned, there were still slaves in the new country. Some have postulated that therefore blacks had been deliberately excluded from the sentence (as were women).

Of course, anyone who has read the writings of the framers knows that what was really being set there was the framework for centuries to come...centuries in which all men and women would be "...judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." (Dr. MLK)

Some today claim that the Declaration of Independence is being "misused" to interpret that "all men created equal" jazz applies to rich white men only. They claim that "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is for those same rich white men, and them only, and could only have been realized after a civil war, marches in Selma and the like. They think those rights could only have been made real by  our government.

The Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision (upholding slavery) and the two fugitive slave acts (which compelled northern states to return escaped slaves from the south) were examples of how the government tried to afford blacks with the same "rights" as whites.

Oh! That's not what the government did? Well, Ahh Swan!

See, government does whatever government can get away with. That's why we, the people, were given the awesome responsibility to oversee the government (not for the government to oversee us).

Abraham Lincoln (remember the Emancipation Proclamation) sited the Declaration of Independence over and over again in his quest to free slaves. He understood what it was about.

Once the Declaration of Independence was adopted, slavery was doomed. It would take time, but its doom was sure.

Although many attempts to resolve the slave issue took place at the Constitutional Convention, it would not actually be resolved for years to come.

But the Declaration of Independence became the moral basis for individual liberty for all men and women, regardless of race, color or creed. That is what makes it one of the most compelling documents ever written by men.

In its writing, the Declaration of Independence set a course for future generations that could only improve things in America. That course was called "liberty," and it would apply to all people.

The sad thing is, too many people, and far too many black leaders today, don't know what the Declaration of Independence represents. They don't know what took place in order for it to be adopted. They don't appreciate the principles laid down in it.

As one liberal media outlet show host, Melissa Harris Perry said,  “I’m deeply irritated by their notion that the ‘pursuit of happiness’ means money for the richest and that we extricate the capacity of ordinary people to pursue happiness."

That is so perverted! What nation on the face of this planet has documented in its founding papers the liberty that is afforded in the U.S.? France? Afghanistan? Kenya? Egypt? Sudan?

Go ahead...pick one.

In many nations, people of different colors, religious beliefs, backgrounds, etc. are at war with one another with rifles, grenades, bombs, and the like.

There is a tolerance in this nation today that would have seemed a long ways away to our founders, not more than a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Sixty years ago few would have imagined it.

Go to a restaurant, a movie theater, a church, a mall, a sporting event today and look around. What an astonishing thing!

Black leadership today gives the impression that they want to re-live the days of the Civil War, segregation, civil rights struggles and the rest of it.

(Are you aware of the massive welfare state that is destroying this country with an entitlement mentality that believes that if you earn something, I should be entitled to part of it, just for being alive!)

As Mark Levin says, "The day we stop siting the Declaration of Independence is the day we're gone."

It is the greatest statement of enlightenment and compassion ever written by man.

Pass it on to your children and grandchildren.

And do your part to make its dream come true, not through government hand-outs, but by people of good will toward one another, wishing for all the opportunity to reach their dreams, whatever those dreams might be.

It can happen, if you make it happen.

29 comments:

Unknown said...

MY choice would have to be ANYBODY but the Liar inept man in the White House now and the Ignoramus that holds the Office of Vice President.Joe Biden, hasn’t have the mental capacity to handle presidency should he have to.
And what about his Greatness, Barack Hussain Obama, what are all the wonderful things that he has accomplished? We already know that most of them were failures..were any of them positive?
After almost 4 years in office, I think that we Americans know just about as much about President Obama and Vice President Biden that we need to know, and they are good enough reason to get rid of him.

Unknown said...

And just in case you would like me to refresh your memory we could start with the 14 million Americans who are currently unemployed and Mr. Obama’s solution to that is to offer them more and more food stamps.
If you want to give His Wonderfulness some credit, give him credit for increasing our national debt It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since Obama took office, to a whopping $15.566 trillion.
And lets not forget the the incompetent incumbent can take credit for taking out World Leaders, something that is totally against the Constitution., like taking part in the invasion of Egypt and overthrowing their Government and installing the “Muslim Brotherhood”, lets face it, any enemy of the U.S. is a friend of Obama.. The world has been dealing with Jimmy Carter's Iranian mullahs for forty years. The world will be dealing with Obama's Arab Spring FOR GENERATIONS!
If President Obama believes the Muslim Brotherhood are a bunch of peace loving people,than he's a gigantic fool. The Muslim Brotherhood are a bunch of fanatics who want to slaughter those who AREN'T Muslim. Sadly,President Obama doesn't want to see that. He's still living in Fantasy Land,and you can't make good foreign policy choices based on fantasies.
And how about the great Obama giveaway, also known as “Stimulus”, has that had any effect on creating jobs? NO! It had no effect on jobs, all it did was to throw more money into the wind. And even after that the auto companies still filed for bankruptcy. So what did that accomplish? Other then the taxpayer paying for another failed policy.

Obama is lambasting Mitt Romney for “allegedly” outsourcing jobs, meanwhile this administration’s cure with millions of Americans out of work and the economy only growing at a snails pace, Obama is going to bring in millions of immigrants, who are known to send most of their pay-checks back to the country they came from, not to mention th jobs they will be taking away for Americans who are out of work .
Face the facts, Obama’s entitlement programs are the biggest government waste in history because it accomplished nothing except buy votes, which The Magnificent One already had.
And didn’t Obama pay off the owners of Solyndra for their support with a large government grant? And the Moron Biden tell the Blacks that Romney is gonna To Put Y'all Back In Chains! Yeah right!
Obama is against coal exploration, oil exploration, pipelines but gives millions to the States who supported Obamacare as a payoff. He spends more money on his Vacations and his “fund-raising” and sues states who differ with him, such as Arizona. ,
Doesn't he or anyone else in this crooked administration believe in States Rights? Or the right to choose? Or the right of free speech?
The Obama administration are the ones who want to raise taxes on the rich while the middle class are the ones who will suffer with the Obamacare tax, as will the Business’s. His way to solve all the countries woo’s is to everything is to tax the rich, and his idea of “RICH” is FAMILIES who make $250,000. Is he kidding?
But this is the way it typically works with this President, he has no plans for the future except to divide and anger the country.
And every time Joe Biden puts his two cents in, he puts his big foot in his mouth. Like calling Tea Party Republicans “domestic terrorists!” Well Sir then that means that I am a “domestic terrorist!” And frankly I resent that to hell. I call MY country my home and I don’t care to be called a “domestic terrorist” because I have a differing opinion then that MUTT!
So just because this Ignoramus has a Son who was in the military, don’t mean a damn thing to me. Just think that this Clown is a heart beat away from being our president!!!
Joe Biden lacks the mental capacity to be the Vice president of the United States and Paul Ryan can run rings around that buffoon..

Thank you

Lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa said...

Great post Joe. It is too bad the people,particularly the left continue to define everything by race and call us who disagree with Obama racists. They have elevated the discourse in this country and are setting us back instead of forward.
I heard this black woman on the radio that they played on TV a rant about how republicans hate blacks and she just went on and on.
It was so disturbing because it couldn't be further from the truth when it's the democrats who don't see us as equal and continually have to divide.
I grew up were there was no prejudice. The "n" word was never uttered in our house when racial divide was still pretty strong.
I really hate that word even when I hear black people say it to each other.
IMO I think the democrats purposely used Obama in order to push their agenda and keep us divided they way they alwasy have. They use it as a weapon. They truly are a despicable bunch. Just listening to the things they say they say about race it sounds like they constantly have to convince everyone that thay aren't a bunch of racists. I think if you have to keep bringing it up the way they do,it makes them sound guilty.

Unknown said...

Many things you stated here are true Joe.
Al Sharpton, is Obama's Poverty Pimp and Media Whore.
God Bless you brother!!! Race baiting is tearing our country apart. And it's coming from both sides of the fence. People like you are doing a great service pointing these frauds out!!

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Great post, as usual. :oD

One suggestion: - "siting" the Declaration should be "citing." The liberals will clamor how uneducated you are for misspelling - I know, because I have been told that for a misspelling!

Lisa said...

'The liberals will clamor how uneducated you are for misspelling'

And hypocritically Glen they pander to the most uneducated in our society.

Lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa said...

Sorry for the misspell of your name Glenn,lol!!!!

The Piper's Wife said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Lisa,
That's okay, I'm always getting cut short!

Fredd said...

Joe, I would guess you and I are roughly the same age, give or take a year or two. I was raised in the Pacific Northwest, and in 1959 or so at the ripe old age of four, had never ever met anyone of 'color.'

I learned of the race issue on TV. The first person of color I ever met was in 6th grade. By high school, I had actually interacted with maybe 7 persons of color. It wasn't a major divisive thing back in my neck of the woods. And no, all of these 7 persons of color didn't 'know their place.' They were part of our community, and were not excluded from any part of our local culture.

But then I joined the army and was enlightened into the race thing, and I rejected any attempt at joining that school of thought. I still look at people, not races. My own adopted daughter is not of my 'race,' but I never consider race as any input into our lives.

Anyone who thinks this way is by definition a racist. I am color blind.

Everyone else should be as well. In a perfect world. But, alas, the world is not perfect.

Joe said...

IW: $15.5 trillion should be all anybody has to say to get this imitation president out of there.

But it will be harder than that.

Lisa: There is so much race baiting today and most of that done by the racists who are liberals.

GEC: Actually, I spelled the word correctly.

siting present participle of sit (Verb)present participle of site (Verb)Verb: 1.Adopt or be in a position in which one's weight is supported by one's buttocks rather than one's feet and one's back is upright.
2.Fix or build (something) in a particular place.

I just used the wrong word.

Didn't mean to, but that's what I typed.

Bad fingers...bad fingers!

Fredd: The truth is there are far more racists among liberals than there are among conservatives.

Every liberal "Yankee" I know in my town calls blacks the "n" word behind their backs.

Enrages me every time.

Trekkie4Ever said...

Ivan nailed it! And I agree with him. Excellent commentary.

Living in the hood doesn't help matters, the blacks around here, are well, vile. They are rude, dirty, as in leaving their trash in everyone's yards, blare their music at 2 or 3 am, have broken our mail box, continually steal our recycle blue bags, drugs, drive-by shootings, etc. It's wretched.

But then like most races you have the good and the bad. Some of my best and greatest friends are black, however they are hardcore Christians who trust in God not the man in the White House.

Xavier Onassis said...

I've just been sitting back and watching all of these supposedly tolerant, generous hearted, right wing, conservatives discussing races and racism.

You guys crack me up.

There is no such thing as a "race".

Doesn't exist. There are no "races".

"Negroid, Mongoloid and Caucasoid.

These are the three races, right?

Not so, according to science.

While the American concept of race took off in the late 1600s and persists even today, researchers now argue that there’s no scientific basis for race."

http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/WhatIsRace.htm

When you use the word "race", you are admitting prejudice and bigotry because "races" don't actually exist. They are a construct made up and reinforced by RACISTS!

White folks just can't stand the idea of a BLACK man in the WHITE house! It sticks in their craw! They choke on it.

The inherent bigotry of southern, white, conservative, religous Republicans always comes home to roost.

They (you) can sugar coat it all you want.

You "marched". Blah, blah, blah. So did everyone else.

What are you doing TODAY, NOW, in THIS election cycle to further the cause of social justice and equality?

Because in case you missed it, THAT is what the Civil Rights movement was about. Equality and Social Justice for EVERYONE!

That's what you would call "socialism". That's what you were marching for.

Did you think you were marching for something else?

Lone Ranger said...

Races don't exist? Tell that to the New Black Panthers, who spew a type of hatred that (if we had an honest attorney general) could be prosecuted as terrorist threatening. Tell that to Bill Clinton, who once said that a few years ago, Obama would be serving him coffee. Tell that to every mealy-mouthed liberal who has ever accused Republicans and the Tea Party of being racists. Tell that to every black "leader" who has used racialism to line his own pockets. But, even if humans were all one color, even if races did NOT exist, Obama would still be a corrupt Chicago politician who has engaged in gutter politics for his entire career.

Joe said...

XO: If you really believe there are no races, you are among the stupidest of liberals.

What do you think Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was all about? Do you think he was fighting for equality of rice pudding?

No races? A construct of right-wingers?

Do you think the Egyptians who enslaved Jews thought there were no races? I think they came before the 1960s, right?

(I'm not saying I think Jews are a race...I'm saying racism existed long before the 60s and 70s. You're just a dopey, stupid, un-hip white guy.)

Who said, "Separate, but equal? Was it a Republican or a Democrat? What was he separating?

You people (liberals) just freely change the meaning of words to mean what you want them to mean.'

By that standard, I'm an olympic athlete...just because I say so.

You are just plain wrong.

SL: You have hit the nail on the head...as usual.

Joe said...

XO: "...researchers now argue" equals nothing. It has no meaning.

Unknown said...

If you read between the lines you'd see that Al Sharpton had his hands in this drivel,
and Eric Holder the race-baiting liar for the Democrat Cheating Party. I'd like to know what is wrong with providing and ID? Are Minorities too dumb to get an ID?
You need an ID to cash a welfare check. End of argument.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Joe,
There is actually only ONE human race. In the Bible, and in the past, "race" was the same as "tribe" or "culture" - such as the Irish race, the Jewish race, the German race, etc.

Race due to skin color is a social construct, which racists want to maintain.

Craig said...

Are Minorities too dumb to get an ID?
You need an ID to cash a welfare check.


No bigotry there, huh Joe? They're all on welfare.

Around 40% of R's think Obama is a Muslim. 40% think he's Kenyon. A majority want to see his transcripts because, why? Affirmative action? A black man couldn't possibly have become pres. of Harvard Law Review or graduate Magna Cum Laude? What is it Joe? How dare he take a vacation. Don't forget the "hip hop bbq in the hizzouse" (quote courtesy of Fox). His deep seated hatred of white people. I'm with you on the Declaration. But, honestly Joe, when have you ever seen a pres. treated with such suspicion about his background?

I'm not saying you're a racist, Joe, but there is some pretty ugly stuff coming at Obama and it is all from the right.

Over 90% of blacks vote Dem. Apparently their life experience and level of intellect doesn't allow them to see what an old white guy in Fla. can see is best for them.

Lisa said...

"White folks just can't stand the idea of a BLACK man in the WHITE house! It sticks in their craw! They choke on it." XO get some new material. Nobody is saying this. Who's race baiting here? Stop getting your info from that "has been" Jeanine Garafolo.


yeah Conservatives hate the thought of a black man in the White House which is why we supported Alan West and Herman Cain.
Now I will wait with bated breath on how those 2 are not really black and don't understand he American black experience. But Obama does because wait for it.....they may have found a connection to slavery ,not to his Kenyan family but his mother's' white family. It was suppose to be the smoking gun to validate his blackness.
That's the democrats and the media,not us!
To the left the new definition of racism is anyone who doesn't agree with Obama's policies,which technically aren't his but the democrats used him so they can push an agenda and call those who they know would oppose it racists. Yeah we know who the real racists are.

Joe said...

Craig "...there is some pretty ugly stuff coming at Obama..."

Well, he's done some pretty ugly stuff.

He rules by executive order without regard for the congress or the Constitution, this "law lecturer" (neither scholar nor professor).

That it what is ugly about him.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Of course the real example of racism is that they call Obama black, as if his white content doesn't count. He has a much white as black, but no one would call him a white man. So why call him a black man? PC, because his skin is dark. So pretend he is black instead of half-black, and pretend he represents the blacks of America.

Ah, liberals and racism; ya gotta love 'em.

Anonymous said...

Have you seen the movie called The Runaway Slave? http://www.runawayslavemovie.com/

Dead on.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"...even President Barack Obama continually spew the same kind of hatred toward whites as used to be spewed toward them."

Can you give us an example of President Obama advocating separate but equal, advocating that non-African-Americans be kept from attending tax-payer-supported schools, advocating that non-African-Americans be hanged without due process if a male looked at a white woman the wrong way. Those are some of the things that "used to be 'spewed' at African-Americans.

Can you quote anything President Obama has every said that advocates that level of hatred--or any hatred.

You claim so in your post.

Where's the evidence to back it up?

Ducky's here said...

"the blacks around here, are well, vile...continually steal our recycle blue bags, drugs ...
======
They steal your drugs, Leticia?
That is vile.

Joe said...

SK: I am the documentation. Others quote me when they want to document something.

Shaw Kenawe said...

IOWs, you've got nothing.

Just as I thought.