Let’s all take a moment to appreciate the struggle this country went through to be as open-minded and tolerant as we are today. Brave men and women stared down the system that was backed by deep-rooted bigotry and fear, and changed it peacefully.
It didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen without setbacks.
But it happened.
Not without struggle, not without murder and death. But in the end the righteous prevailed and the losers became Republicans.
We have a bloody and shameful lineage of racism in this country. Most people would prefer not to think about it. They’d rather pretend that none of it happened, or rather, it did and it was shameful but it’s in the past.
Unfortunately, in America, racism is in our past, present, and future.
In fact in 2006 and so far in 2007 it’s seems like stupid bigoty is back in fashion. From George Allen’s Maccaca, to Mel Gibson’s Jews cause all the wars, Michael Richard’s, the guy on The Real World, and now Persia the white rapper’s gratituous use of the N-word. Lately it seems the epitaphs have been flying loose and folk’s ignorance has been unleashed, the cavemen have bared their chests.
How many politicians today are going to speak with praise for Martin Luther King Jr. and then come Tuesday rail against illegal immigrants, supporting bills that restrict their access to basic human care? How many will turn prejudice against people of darker skin into political gain by demonizing and vilifying them? Today they talk warmly and solemnly of progress, tomorrow they’ll stoke the fires of hate, whipping up hysteria that racists feed on to spread lies and further fear.
It seems in this country we kill a concept by giving it a holiday. Don’t think too much about the meaning of freedom and government, have another Bud and watch these loud fireworks. Don’t think about the birth of Christ and his teachings about the poor and the weak, buy another Wii and a bigger Christmas tree. What do you mean we don’t have equality, we get a day off in January for MLK.
Once the state recognizes you you’re either dead, or compromised, or both.
It’s a great thing that we acknowledge Martin Luther King and what the man stood for, but hearing George Bush speak, one wonders how far we’ve come:
“I encourage people all around the country to seize any opportunity they can to help somebody in need,” Bush said from the library of Cardozo High, a predominantly poor, minority high school about 10 minutes from the White House.
“By helping somebody in need, you’re honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King,” the president said. “And by helping somebody in need, you’re really helping yourself; you’re lifting your soul.”
It’s probably wise to listen to the man because he knows more than anybody that the government isn’t going to lift a fucking finger to help anyone. Not the 60 million Americans without health care; not the residents of New Orleans; not our soldiers in Iraq.
Why do I so distrust the man that I can’t read these words as inspiring and hopeful, but rather I see them as cynical and cruel? At least, what he really means. On this day we’re honoring a man who fought against the system to change it peacefully, Bush is using it to espouse Norquestian ideas of limited government.
I see these words as code to conservatives. What he’s telling them is: ‘although I’m here in an inner-city school, painting a fruity mural, I haven’t gone soft. I still believe in Darwinian economics; people will either sink or swim’. Except, of course, in light of Katrina he wouldn’t dare use those terms instead he tramples on the sanctity of the day with this drivel about private charity. MLK battled against institutional racism and Bush borrowed a speech by Bill Cosby and painted in the letter B. What a guy!
I wonder if he even gets the irony? A republican president; who’s party rose to power opposing the ideas of MLK, and to this day draws most of its support from the ideological heirs of those that lynched, intimidated, and oppressed; subtly reminding the African-American community that they’re on their own on the day honoring a slain leader for equal rights and justice.
Tomorrow he’ll return to slaughtering other people of dark skin.
With this man all you have to do is read the whole article and eventually you’ll get a glimpse of his true nature: that insecure, little brat inside of him.
“Getting the drift of this thing here?” a smiling Bush asked as he painted, seeking approval of his technique. Volunteers nodded yes.
If there’s anything I can possibly admire about George W. Bush, it’s that he is a man who is completely comfortable inhabiting a world of colossal contradiction.
