Black History Month 2021
This is a new year for everybody, but perhaps unlike previous years, we of the United States, and to a degree the rest of the world, are and have been re-evaluating the relationship of the races (white, black, brown, Asian,-- or White, Black, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, Native American, Middle-Eastern, et cetera) and the equality questions of Black Lives Matter, police and law enforcement mistreatment, systemic racism, white privilege, and a host of other recriminations and questions that made us wonder if we were part of the problem, or perhaps we are doing what we can or should to make things better.
I have written some things about the George Floyd protests, about Black Lives Matter, about law enforcement issues, about inequality, and perhaps I made some sense about some of it. In this month of Black History Month, I have a few thoughts to share about some of the matters related to these subjects, which I admit I can be wrong about and unfair or biased, but I wish to record and analyze for myself and possibly others some of these things. I consider myself non-racist, I love all people, but I am not beyond reproach and I can understand why some would presume that I am a person of privilege. But I am optimistic and I think that some of the racial talk is overblown. Diversity is good, and I wish to support humanity and the
1. The Claim About Racist History Narratives
I heard a lady on the radio a week or so ago claim that "everything that white people taught, published, and learned [in the United States] in public schools or the American education system was wrong, 'white-washed', racist, and needed to change".
I understand much of her concerns, but did that mean that what I learned about Harriet Tubman in eighth grade, around 1984, was false? Was not the heroic ex-slave an incredibly super figure in our country's history, who was as brave and daring as any other American hero, white or black, bond or free, male or female? Was Harriet Tubman not the historic person that I personally researched and lionized in my hand written (or typed) report as an amazing fighter and champion of freedom, at the continual risk and cost to her own life and family? Was she not one of the most exemplary and chivalrous American citizens of all time, as I was taught, and as I came to believe based on what I learned and contemplated about her life?
That is not the only example that popped into my head, but how could this lady in 2020-21 know what I had learned about American history? Me, as a white boy, in a predominantly white school system? I am and I have always have been an avid reader; I pay attention to news and commentaries, from hundreds if not thousands of sources. Not trying to brag, just sharing some truth, to be told.
Were the books that I read about African-American heroes of the Revolutionary War false, a book that I thoroughly enjoyed in 6th grade, back in 1982 or so; was it full of lies and falsehoods? Was Crispus Attacks not one of our first American heroes and martyred legends of our esteemed republic in the Boston Massacre, a town near and dear to my parents and extended family of Massachusetts? Did his name at the Indianapolis high school mean nothing to us Hoosier basketball and other fans, of every race and hue in my home state? Was Attacks not a name of honor and respect, praising a black man who died in order to help the colonies become a Union?
Were the stories of African-American basketball players in my Hoosier state false, about how great they were? I had books and magazines and supplements that featured stupendous black athletes and others of the African-American community. Were the stories and articles about other athletes of color false, that I would religiously read in my local newspaper, or USA Today, or Sports Illustrated?
These were not the only examples of what I learned as I was educated, but some real cases of what I grew up believing. So, this lady in 2021 was telling me what I learned was false?
I also read histories of the U.S. Republic, to includes the slavery issues of the Framers, the Constitution, the Civil War, and I learned from my teachers. Does this lady on the radio think that any of my small college town teachers, white, black, Christian, Jewish, male, female, were in favor of the Confederate South? If they were, they hid it well.
Also in sixth grade I read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Even before that I knew how treacherous the U.S. government could be, not just against American Indians, and always had been towards others, even against those of my faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons. Well, bringing up my church and its sometimes troubled social history, that introduces other tales of racism and prejudice saved for another day...
But my point about what this spokesperson claimed about my "wrong" education, that the American curricula and materials and messages and lessons that I received were false and wrong? Something does not square with that blanket statement. I remember, for instance, my fifth grade school mate Pat Lumbley doing a report on Martin Luther King, this around 1981, in January close to MLK Day and Pat's birthday: King was a hero; that is what our books and reports amounted to. He preached for civility and civil rights for all, and died a martyr shortly before we were born. Was this wrong? Malcolm X also died a martyr, I learned in high school. Was this wrong? Were we taught lies and libel about all these African-American heroes? Or maybe not enough: not enough about Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael, Sojourner Truth and others... Perhaps we did not learn enough Black History. Was that the radio guest's point?
You can see my issues with her comment, hopefully. I still believe that I learned truth about all Americans growing up and since, and Black Lives certainly mattered to me, to my teachers, to my educators and the research and media that I was exposed to... Was there too much falsehood in the teaching about the origins of the nation? That Washington and Jefferson and others were, in fact, slave owners, and that much of our nation's wealth was based on slave labor? That was never hidden from me. Nor was the Civil War, or Reconstruction, or Jim Crow Laws, or the Ku Klux Klan... Or segregation. Those were negatives in our American history. But they were not lies, and they did not favor the notion of "white supremacy". Was it perpetuated, to be taught to me and my classmates in the 1970s and 1980s as either out right lies about America with no flaws, or some great systemic, racist, white, superiority?
I do not think so.
2. Reactions This Last Year, 2020, Time of Reckoning, Questions, Answers
My own children have been growing up in the suburbs, which are white but not especially white, where they largely attended an elementary school where they were in a minority as to their racial or ethnic background as Anglo-Saxons; through middle school and high school they have been exposed to a lot of pluralism or multi-culturalism. I believe that they believe that they are "woke" and aware of racial disparities, inequalities, and unfair practices when Black Lives have been threatened, to so often look in the surrounding conflicts of arrests and unnecessary deaths, that Black Lives are endangered. Some of them (my children, who are white), see Colin Kapernick kneeling at the National Anthem at NFL football games in 2016 as doing the right thing. They are Generation Z, born since 2000.
I do not see this as the appropriate move back then. I am Generation X. I do not think that Kapernick did his protest and movement in the right way. I think that the gifted quarterback had, or has had, the right sentiment and desire to rid our country of police brutality and to make everyone more aware to social injustices, yes. But kneel at the beginning of these games? Could he not have done some other initiatives to work on our awareness? Was this his only recourse? I do not think so. He had other viable options. Like what?
As a starting quarterback in the National Football League, he had a voice after games. In the week. In the off season. Many other times to speak out and protest other than during the few moments of the pageantry of heralding the freedoms and honors of our nation's flag and those who have died for it, and those that are dedicated to it. That is how many took it. Not just whites, but people of all colors. Not the right time or place, no matter how serious his cause was. When soldiers and Marines die and lose limbs and get sick and head trauma in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and everywhere, we are black, brown, white and every color: we are red, white, and blue. In the military, and I say this for we: we do not care about race. We care about attention to orders, loyalty, integrity, and dedication. We are not perfect, but there are other times for kneeling, brother. I will kneel for and with Colin Kapernick and the victims of needless violence for hours, for days, for as long as he wants, after the salute to the flag. As my dad would say, and I would later repeat to my students when teaching high school: too many good lives, (blood has been spilt immeasurably), have been given for that flag for us not to respect it. Put your hand on your heart. Salute it in uniform. Stand for it. Take off your hat if you are a civilian. This was 2016. 2020 changed some things...
After George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, and the many others that we invoke at so many points of discussion and sometimes justified rage in unlawful and needless deaths, some people think that the kneeling tragedy of Floyd had come to a head, that it was entirely symbolic of what happened and how it happened: George, an unwitting victim, was crushed and suffocated by the knee of a white man, and a white man with authority, who is supposed to symbolize justice. This was wrong assuredly. But, I have a few questions to ponder from that fateful day in Minneapolis in May of 2020.
1. At the time of the event, was George Floyd dying from illicit drugs that he had voluntarily ingested? (We do not know if they would have killed him, but they caused pulmonary distress and likely his sense of physical restlessness and paranoia, part of the reason he left the police vehicle and was restrained on the ground in the street beside it. All visible on tape.) Answer: yes. He was dying or at risk of death from the drugs he took.
2. Did George give the cashier a fake twenty dollar bill in exchange for the cigarettes that he took from the store, provoking the cashier to call the police? Yes. George took the product without accepting change, despite the store worker rejecting the money, suspecting it was fake. If it was real, he should have waited for his change. But, were the illicit drugs working his brain into an irrational frenzy? Either way, this was a messed up situation that he put himself in.
3. Was Derrek Chauvin wrong to kneel on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes and watch him die? Yes. Absolutely. Should his police mates have stopped Chauvin from proceeding with that stupid action? Yes.
4. Did Chauvin lose his senses? Probably. Likely.
5. Was Chauvin a bad cop, a poor law enforcement officer? Apparently. He had received many other complaints in his long career as a police officer. So he was bad before, obviously bad, or worse that day. The worst.
6. Was or is Chauvin racist? Did he hate black people? We don't know. He may have done this same terrible thing to a white man, too. Can we prove otherwise? Not until the court comes to prove it. Or Chauvin himself explains himself.
7. Again, was Chauvin mad or crazy when this happened? Possibly. Desensitized, at minimum.
8. Should this have happened? No. Mistakes were replete from beginning to end.
9. Did George Floyd contribute to his own death? Yes. I think so. Black or not, he was responsible for being in a really bad position, from the drugs ingested, to the suspicious payment and fleeing with the product in question, to incite the police call, to resisting arrest and forcing his way out of the police SUV.
I am not the judge, the jury, nor the police or bystanders of this case. Had I walked by, if it had been a man or woman or child below the knee that ended George's life, would I have removed Chauvin or yelled at his mates to stop him from his position? Maybe. I am not racist. A life is a life. I have been taught multiple times in the U.S. Army to save lives, before that in Boy Scouts. Maybe I could have or would have saved his life. I respect law enforcement, but I respect life more. And again, George's race does not matter to me. A dying man is a dying man. I have a natural and trained urge to save anyone. Anyone.
Of course Black Lives Matter. To me? Yes, Black lives, brown lives, white lives, unborn baby lives: all lives matter. George's life mattered. I do not think that he himself valued it enough, to begin with. And, he definitely did not deserve to die as he did. Chauvin did the wrong thing and his partners should have intervened. Now the courts will rule on their fates.
Each case of a person of color being killed by law enforcement is sad and tragic. I know the names, I have written on them before: Eric Garner. Michael Brown. Freddy Gray. Trayvon Martin. Each case has its reasons for why things went sideways. But I do not think it is always because of racism or white superiority. Systemic racism may have some more oomph to the argument. Willing to talk it over...
Is this dialog all too granular for Black History Month? I don't think so. It is all a part of it. The bad and the good, the fair and the unfair. We are all in this together. Recent history and historical background back to 1619 (and before); all of it counts. Every life matters: the slaves who were given (forced upon) new names, the cruel and awful treatment for centuries. We have to continue to overcome those awful legacies, like the plights of the American Indians... Solutions are out there, we must engage in dialogs and make and take actions for the betterment of all, especially the marginalized, who tend to be people of color. There are unfair systemic things that happen to all people, but some occurrences are more disproportionate than others.
I welcome dissenting views. I invite people with different viewpoints to weigh in; please share how you may have a completely different point of reference and experience than me, or if you agree, or what have you.
AGAIN: None of the above people should have died. And, there are a lot of people to blame, not just law enforcement (the system at large might be biased towards the victims, for example, even regardless of race). Michael Brown in Missouri, I still feel like forced the officer in Ferguson into a no-win situation. After breaking the law with strong arm robbery, being warned to get off a street, rushes an armed officer and tries to grab his gun... NUTS. Some people of any/all color[s] are jeopardized by extreme circumstances, including innocent bystanders and law enforcement.
3. Black Influence and Belonging, Celebrating African-Americans.
Every January we celebrate Martin Luther King Day; more than ever I get the day paid off, on a Monday, making it a nice long weekend not long after New Years. For that reason alone I am grateful to the man, but over the years I have learned to appreciate his life, his efforts, his faith, his vision, his example. I listen to and read about him; I have written about him (my fifth grade school mate lead the way back in 1981-- he liked the idea, in part, because his birthday in January endeared him to the Civil Rights leader), the meaning of Civil Rights and other issues in our current world, our societies of upward mobility or realms of lack of opportunity for others.
I want to share positives in the month of Black History, of which there are many.
Perhaps first of all, as much as there are negative views of white supremacy and alleged systemic racism against people of color in the United States (and the rest of the world), I wish to emphasize that our country has been a great place for people of all colors and persuasions. We have many reasons to celebrate our diversity and all our strengths as a nation; I want to underscore some great things about African-Americans and help recognize some outstanding and positive factors related to the black community in general.
There is no short list of African-Americans who are extremely talented and gifted and cherished in our history and the present day. I have many favorites, most of us have many. For example, I love the major sports of football (American), baseball, and basketball, and some of the smaller sports like soccer, tennis, Olympic events, and even boxing. When it comes to the sports that I enjoy the most, I have an almost unending list of favorite black sportspeople. But for me, it is not because they are black or a "color" that I like them. Sports helps me see past that. One reason I love competitive games, it equalizes a lot. Maybe not all.
We see and enjoy black talent in all genres of entertainment. Film, T.V., music, dance, literature. There are many African-Americans successfully engaged in all aspects of our society, here in most parts of the United States. Professional and social people of diversity are everywhere, and the pools of professionalism are expanding. Right? I have explained before living abroad without the presence or influence of African-Americans, and I came to the surprising or unexpected realization that I missed them, the Black voices and contributions in art and expression. I crave African-American presence, which can be unique, distinct, and rich from all other voices. I learned this about myself at age 20 in South America.
I personally have reflected on the relationships that I have had in my professions and social groups with people of color, me being a white man. I am now 50, my father is alive and well at age 83. Reflecting on my life, and in my time in the National Guard, sometimes serving for months at a time away from my family, I thought specifically about the African-Americans that I had known and worked with, played with, associated with, gone out with. Not just the admiration and appreciation from afar, from means of media where the people never knew me, but the ones that I had interacted with. It was either 2020, last year, or 2019, about this time (MLK and Black History being on my mind) when I reviewed person after person who I had interacted with in my life in my head, to varying degrees: all the African-Americans were cool to me! Meaning, I had positive experiences and memories with pretty much all of them. And the list is not short. Perhaps 50? 70? 100? Some interactions were more in depth than others, like with some I spent an afternoon, others 4 months...
By and large in life, regardless of color, race, gender, religion, nationality, body type, preference, there are people that I do not welcome much as positive influences or pleasant or productive people for me. That is not to say that the person is not good, or even nice, or is not effective and productive in their sphere. But sometimes I do not mesh with certain people, or they strike me the wrong way, and we do not get along or click. I find it rare, but it happens. And I admit I can be the more problematic one sometimes in the equation. Either a year or two ago, I went back mentally to the relationships in the military alone, and after some thought I realized and concluded it has been a great thing for me and African-Americans. That is not supposed to come across as glib or condescending, or stereotyping, or however negatively someone could interpret it. And, I am not trying to say that I have necessarily been the great person for them, but they were for me. This realization sort of surprised me and brought me some joy. Still does.
Point is, to be American (and to be right, happy, satisfied, as a world citizen) we are who we are: white, black, brown, Asian, native American, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, straight, gay, tall, short, medium, thin, fat, medium, fast, slow, hyper, lethargic, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, agnostic, poor, wealthy, middle class etcetera. We are collectively and privately a summation of all this diversity, and for that I am grateful. I salute the African-American community and individuals within it. I respect and celebrate you, individually as I have come to know some, and generally to those I have not met but been happily influenced by. Some of any ethnic persuasion I see more eye to eye with, and I can respectfully disagree with others. We are all mixed together to accomplish and live great things. I believe that the spirit and intent of Black History Month is intended to do this.
At the end of the day I consider myself a people-person and a helper; I am fair, by most accounts, and I care about others and society at large. I am far from perfect, but I think I am decent at a lot of things. I am an overall positive addition or contributor in the scheme of things. For Black History month I wanted to share with myself and others these thoughts, reflections, and assessments. While 2021 presents negatives to many, and many of the Black and African-Americans (and others) are feeling discriminated against, unreasonably persecuted, targeted, neglected, ignored, or exploited, afflicted by job loss, economics, education, Covid-19, white supremacists or bigotry and systemic racism, I still think that the state of our community, of all backgrounds, is going in the right direction. One could stay following the long arch of history, as Doctor King might suggest.
That means that based on where we have been, where we are today, and where we are going, Black History, American history, and human history (not speaking for the environmental factors of global warming and pollution) are on the right path. The tragedy and sadness of George Floyd should in the end help us be human beings. The marches, the protests, the movements for equality, the joined kneeling at sports events during the national anthem (post-Floyd I get this and understand the sentiment, although people should not be guilted out for not kneeling).
I celebrate and salute all African-Americans, I honestly must say: you have given to me most likely more than I have shared with or given to you. I owe you and I am indebted in many ways; may this post be a small token of appreciation, recognition, and remembrance of good, bad, and things that can still improve in the United States, the world, and for all us sharing these times together.
As I shared recently in a poem about Martin Luther King and his day, his dream:
King is not dead. His body may be interred or buried, but his spirit is alive, his dreams are alive, his beliefs in God, the U.S. Constitution, pacifism, civil rights, equal opportunity, judgment base on merit, inclusion and desegregation, "seeing the mountain top".
I, too, have seen the Mountain Top, Reverend.
We have overcome many things, we are overcoming many things, and we SHALL OVERCOME ALL THINGS.
I love you, my brother. I love you, my sister. We are all brothers and sisters; when you bleed, I bleed.
And, hard to say casually, but I am being earnest: I will bleed for you. No matter who you are, you matter. There are some worthy things worth sacrificing for.
We matter. Black History Month is my history, your history, and history may teach us something. If not, may the blame be upon us.
Let us not repeat the ugly, but move on to the beautiful.
