Against my better judgement...
…..I decided to post in this thread.
I do this as a person who has worked on an Air Force base. I also have family members who are in law enforcement. (Consider what law enforcement along with the firefighters is going through in DC and NYC.) My late grandfather was in the Navy in Hawaii. (Note the Navy's treatment of Black men then.) And probably most of all I am a son of two disabled Air Force veterans. My father, whom along with my mother I admire the most, for one almost died of in a plane crash in Texas about eight years before I was born. He is also a veteran of the Korean conflict. Though my mother is from Georgia and my father lived a lot of his life in Memphis, my parents were married at Lackland in San Antonio.
I for one do not support the actions of the terrorists. There was no justification for those acts. A lot of those people who died in the WTC, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania were a lot like us. My prayers and heart go out to the families and the souls of the victims. They did not have anything to do with U.S. foreign policy, which I often consider mystifying. They were indeed hard working people, a lot like us.
But I will not condemn or attack Mr. Matriculation or GramFan for what they said. You may not like what they are saying. You may want them to say burn the H*** out of Afghanistan or any Arab, whether or not that Arab is an innocent civilization. You may want them to say something like let's (literally) nuke those nasty fools or whoever is responsible. You may want them to say a lot of things that they have not said. You may hate them that they are not saying those things.
But I think that some need to re-read what they have said. You can believe it or not. Among the things that they have discussed is the U.S. arrogance of power. To often the U.S. goes in with the attitude of do what they want whenever they want. That is not only towards the Middle East. It is also towards Africa and Latin America in my opinion. Don’t be surprised if this war is a little longer and nastier than expected.
BTW if you want to vent anger with those who disagree with some of you, go to
The Black World Today web site. Some may find a lot of writings that they disagree with on that web site.
As for our people, we have died on the battlefields around the world for American democracy. But too often our servicemen and women came home to discrimination and lynchings. Yes, they have come home to lynchings. Our people still came home to a lot of discrimination after Vietnam. I do not remember most of the news during Vietnam. But I will show my age and say that I remember seeing the news and after effects of that war, which were very real.
In essence I do not feel that we should simply discount what they say because it appears to be different than most people on this message board. They are saying what a lot of Black folks have said.
On a side note, two of my mother's sister's children are of Arab descent. Their father is from South Yemen, which is right by Saudi Arabia. They live in Ohio. I sure hope they are not victims if violence like some what has occurred at some mosques near Dallas.
Sure, I feel that this nation has more freedoms than any other. I have no problems saying it. Those freedoms exist mainly because of the our ancestors (and others) fight against slavery and segregation. Again my prayers and heart go out to the families and the souls of the victims. I want to see the nation rebuild. But I will look at this situation in its entirety.
Again I post this message against my better judgment.
(yes Blu said that!!!). Does it take away from the white cashier watching me as I shop? NO! Does it make me forget the beatings my ancestors encountered for their struggle for freedom? NO Does it make me oblivious to driving while black? NO But when it comes to protecting my home that my ancestor practically built, I will! When something goes wrong in your own household, do you just pull away and leave? I think not. You're going to work hard at correcting that problem; or at least I should hope so.
