Football is rarely a blip on my radar, so I did not have a clue as to who this guy, Colin Kaepernick is. The recent big rub was his failure to stand for the national anthem. Now he is amidst, as Justice Thomas would say, a high-tech lynching on one side, and high-tech defenses on the other.
When these lands were stolen from the native inhabitants and the subsequent wars from which this country was founded, people of color were not considered 100% human. Having been brought here in chains, in the bowels of ships where they were laid out like canned sardines, they were chattel to be bought and sold like so many head of horses or bales of cotton.
After so-called emancipation, their contributions in the areas of agriculture, medicine, manufacturing, the arts, literature, engineering and more rival any others. Having built this country without compensation, and having fought and died for this country as soldiers, fit to wear the uniform but not fit to the same care as other soldiers, or the same rights as others who did not even put on the uniform, to this day, the darker nation is still treated differently.
For those who make the argument “that was way back then,” consider one of this country’s problems is its failure and refusal to deal with the ugliness of its past. I am slain by those who take pride in their southern heritage, and want to keep their monuments and institutions and flags. Honestly, I have no problem with this; these things are a part of our history; they should not be hidden lest we forget the ignorance and evil brutality of our ancestors. But so should the murder of thousands of folks, guilty of being born to some group other than the paler nation, not be forgotten. Keep your monuments to Lee and Jackson and others of that ilk. Keep the names of schools. And add to that lists of names not to be forgotten, the names of those whose biggest crime, for which they were indicted, judged, convicted and executed without the benefit any so-called constitutional rights, was a God-given abundance of the melanin factor. Perhaps when this is done, then America will, finally, be on the path to being healed . . . . and being great.
https://youtu.be/vYM3HAVPPG8
Until then, the question remains: When was America great, and what was that like?
Great post, Andrea. The video brought me to tears. Though I'm thankful to be an American, I don't believe it will ever be a great country until all inequities cease to exist. Confronting the truth of history is a good start.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Suzanne. I feel the same way. It's like a great big dysfunctional family -- you love 'em but hate their ways.
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