Sunday, September 25, 2016

POTATOES ARE BACK ON THE MENU

HOW DO LIKE YOU YOUR POTATOES?

    Within the United States government there is now a division that attempts to abolish diversity, the same diversity that has been the statue of strength for the land of the free and the home of the brave. The superior white arm of power has been raised from the trenches where it lay dormant for a few years; it was only waiting on an opportunity for resurgence. Americans are once again asking to be served a large order of white potatoes, seasoned with white salt, and covered with pure white gravy. This has been America’s favorite dish from Jamestown to the genocide of Native Americans. 
   Americans demand the white potatoes to be grown in white fields, cultivated by slave labor, and served in white kitchens by colored maids who added a dash of black pepper every now and then. White potatoes continued to be served on American tables during the Jim Crow days and with the gerrymandering of the potato fields to guarantee that no others species of potatoes could ever exist.
   Now the oligarchy of the white arm of power is shaking a fist at America, saying we might have slipped up once and allowed our potatoes to be served with a heavy seasoning of salt and pepper covered with an off-color, mixed dish of white gravy, but never again.
   America’s white potato will never be served to a female in the White House backed by black pepper and with a different recipe for brown gravy. The American white potato cannot be served by the side of a rainbow-colored salad bowl filled with black-eyed peas, brown lima beans, yellow grains of corn, and pink tomatoes.
    Walk carefully my friend, avoid stepping on the weeds and tiptoe gently through the garden of white tulips.  


Monday, September 12, 2016

RESPECT GIVEN

 RESPECT GIVEN IS RESPECT GAINED 

     Disrespect for America is much deeper than one football player refusing to stand for the National Anthem. It has shocked the world to see the disrespect given to a respectable family-of-color when President Obama was elected to occupy the White House.  Americans have shown the world just how deep the roots of hatred are embedded within American society.
   Colin Kaepernick may be forced to stand for the National Anthem, but he cannot be forced to respect a society that has, for over two hundred years, disrespected people of color. Force is a method used by dictators around the world as a tool to secure power.  Respect is not gained by force and the use of force will do nothing to solve the problem of the racial divide that is within American society.
    If Americans want respect, Americans must give respect. Throughout the history of the United States African Americans have faced unspeakable forms of discrimination. Americans have yet to accept the fact that forcing humans into slavery created long-term problems that are far from being solved.  People of color are still being mistreated by law enforcement officials who carelessly use deadly force as a method to attain social order. And today American prisons are filled with working-class individuals who are victims of an unjust judicial system.
    Every day the world sees an America that is moving away from the land of the free and the home of the brave. To even consider the idea that in the land of the free an individual can be forced to conform to a public formality of respect is to show just how close America has moved in the direction of a dictatorship. The fact is: most great Americans were nonconformists.  Nonconformity produces the actions that later turn into the characteristics of greatness.
   From the beginning of American history an attempt has been made to force gays to conform to the heterosexual lifestyle. There are hundreds of examples of LGBT citizens being bullied by members of a so-called straight society in which little or no punishment was given to the abusers.  LGBT individuals continue to be victimized by name calling, denied job promotions, refused housing, and locked out of religious organizations. Gay and lesbian citizens have endured verbal and physical abuse, nevertheless the gay lifestyle has flourished from the closet to the public square. Presently, the talents of the gay communities have been recognized around the world.  
   Instead of a public uproar over the act of standing to show respect, the real concern should be the evidence of disrespect for African and Latin Americans, LGBT citizens, and other minorities living in the United States.  In America there are enough examples of disrespect to go around. The capitalistic economic system has become known as the system of disrespect. There is disrespect for the American workers by employers refusing to pay a living wage.  There is disrespect for the veterans of war who are denied adequate health benefits. There is disrespect for the honest taxpayer in the series of the tax loopholes given to the rich. There is disrespect shown to women who do not receive equal pay for equal work. Therefore, many rich Americans should not stand for the National Anthem, but should be down on their knees begging forgiveness for the harm they have caused other humans.