I think about this every Memorial Day, but this year – the year that we are also “celebrating” the 150th anniversary of the Civil War – is a good time for a public pondering: what are we really honoring when we acknowledge Memorial Day?
On November 19, 1863 – widely acknowledged as the first observance of what would be called Memorial Day, although it was not declared a national holiday until 1971 – Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in dedicating a cemetery for fallen soldiers. He said:
“That from these honored dead we take increased devotion of that cause which they gave the last full measure of devotion . . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . .”
Yet on this day, we also honor soldiers who, certainly, were not fighting so that others would have “a new birth of freedom.”
Others were, however, and their struggles and sacrifices should be included and honored on this day. They were not necessarily the military veterans of which Lincoln spoke; in fact, military pathways for them were banned or obstacle-laden. And their service – as military soldiers and as civilian Racial Apartheid Freedom Fighters -- was denigrated, overlooked, and for the majority of this country’s existence, relegated to the back pages of its history.
These domestic Freedom Fighters served in the full spirit of Abraham Lincoln’s remarks. Some served publically and some served quietly, but all served under the noses of American laws which supported every defense of American Racial Apartheid. Soldiers in these wars were Afrikan Descendant and they were white, working apart and together, living embodiments of dreams for “a new birth of freedom.”
It is they, above all others, who brought us here today. It is they whom we should be honoring today and every day. It is they, above all, who deserve remembrances and gratitude, in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln’s words and hope for this day.
And yet here we are, another year, and they who deserve it the most continue to be overlooked and just plain ol’ dissed on this day.
So this is my “shout out” to those Warriors and Transformers, with Thanks, and Gratitude, and Appreciation. On this day especially, I acknowledge your sacrifices, which were made beyond measure and reason. You lived up to a vision that America, for all its words, spat upon every day for the majority of its existence. You are whom I think of whenever I read the words: “That from these honored dead we take increased devotion of that cause which they gave the last full measure of devotion . . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . .”
Quite simply, because You Were, I Am, and others have a chance to be . . .
Your examples continue to inspire me, and your Spirit is needed as we are quickly slipping backward to America’s Racial Apartheid roots. But that is another story and should not mar this, the day we remember you.
And you are who I honor on this day, for because of you, I have opportunity to say and pray that we are:
Moving Forward,
Adar
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
WITH BIN LADEN’S DEATH, WILL OBAMA FINALLY BE SEEN AS “AMERICAN”?
Well, America has finally -- on President Obama's watch -- tracked down Osama bin Laden, who was hiding in plain sight, and killed him -- allegedly unarmed -- in his compound.
After 10 years, $1,291-plus trillion spent*, and more than 12,2712 American military casualties** (deaths and those wounded in action; this does not include Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani casualties), President Obama finally did what George Bush so wanted to do but couldn't: kill Osama bin Laden and avenge the 9/11 attack in American soil.
And after a week of media orgy covering every unclassified aspect of the raid and as I watched repeated images of young -- and mostly white -- Americans literally dancing in the streets celebrating Osama Bin Laden's death, one question kept running through my mind: I wonder if white America will FINALLY give Obama his "freedom papers" and concede once and for all that he is American and Christian and -- that Holy Grail word when white America is talking about anyone who is not white, but most especially African Americans -- Qualified.
From the Tea Party to professional self-promoter Donald Trump, President Obama's politics (including the characterization of his healthcare policy as "reparations" to Black America) and person (seriously, do I really need to give examples?), have been racialized and put under unrelenting assault to prove to white America that his perceived "otherness" will not betray their interests.
So we have had the 3 year campaign for President Obama to release the long-form of his birth certificate. And immediately after its release, we've seen a grassroots campaign mobilizing around proving it’s a forgery.
Now we have Donald Trump clamoring for the release of President Obama's school transcripts, stating:
"I heard he was a terrible student, terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard? I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records."
In this Associated Press interview, he went on to say "I have friends who have smart sons with great marks, great boards, great everything and they can't get into Harvard. We don't know a thing about this guy. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered about our president."
And -- just so we understand that Trump speaks for more than just a small, marginalized segment of society -- his questions about Obama's legitimacy as a United States citizen and as someone who is "qualified" to be president shot him to the top of the polls as a Republican presidential candidate contender. Not only that, his allegations have been treated as serious news by "mainstream" media (which is to say, media where the news "lens" of newscasters, their "experts", and their audiences are not generally inclusive of the world views and experiences of people of color).
USA history, in relation to its African American population, has example after example of the very clear message that generations of African Americans have received: that there is nothing people of color can do to instill white America’s confidence in and respect for their merit accomplishments. And in this instance yet another generation is having reinforced the old adage that African Americans have to be "twice as good to get half as much" played out through the example of President Obama.
We are seeing that even graduating magna cum laude and as president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review -– noteworthy accomplishments by any measure but extraordinary accomplishments considering the school's history, culture and climate -- does not insulate people of color from having to prove that they are merit worthy. It reaffirms that no matter how accomplished, no matter how smart, no matter how many credentials they have, they are somehow “less than”, in terms of their intellectual capacity, and that their accomplishments can be challenged and called out at any time. It reaffirms the historical racial and power dynamics of this country.
Unless "Trumpers", Tea Partiers, or other naysayers have proof in their back pockets that President Obama’s accomplishments were somehow rigged -- and unless they are willing to go on record accusing Columbia and Harvard of collaborating and colluding with Barack Obama in false academic achievement -- THEIR motives and biases should be scrutinized and THEY should be called to explain their racialized rumor-mongering. THAT should be the "serious news story" to which the mainstream press gives credence. America has an opportunity here to say that long-gone are the days when any and every white person can call into question a person of color's achievements -- or citizenship, for that matter -- based on a feeling or whim and have it taken seriously. They have an opportunity to pull the white sheets off the heads of those who would put the burden of proof on a person of color to disprove such ramblings.
Let me put this another way: if President Obama -- with his centrist, colorblind universalist philosophy, record of achievement at Ivy League schools, and direct connection to "whiteness" -- has to show his "papers", what hope can the rest of us have in a country where the "wrong" skin color seems to trump honest merit every single time?
And so here we are. Bin Laden has fallen and America is in a "feel good" moment, on Obama's watch.
Let's see how many of those who count themselves as Americans are willing to concede that President Obama is too. Let's see how many of them will speak out, demand a stop to this newest round of madness, and give President Obama his "freedom papers" of citizenship, religion, and merit qualifications for holding the office of president.
Moving Forward,
Adar
* Congressional Research Service, "The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11". Belasco, Amy, 3.29.11 (Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress).
** US Department of Defense, Statistical Information Analysis Division,
http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oefmonth.pdf.
After 10 years, $1,291-plus trillion spent*, and more than 12,2712 American military casualties** (deaths and those wounded in action; this does not include Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani casualties), President Obama finally did what George Bush so wanted to do but couldn't: kill Osama bin Laden and avenge the 9/11 attack in American soil.
And after a week of media orgy covering every unclassified aspect of the raid and as I watched repeated images of young -- and mostly white -- Americans literally dancing in the streets celebrating Osama Bin Laden's death, one question kept running through my mind: I wonder if white America will FINALLY give Obama his "freedom papers" and concede once and for all that he is American and Christian and -- that Holy Grail word when white America is talking about anyone who is not white, but most especially African Americans -- Qualified.
From the Tea Party to professional self-promoter Donald Trump, President Obama's politics (including the characterization of his healthcare policy as "reparations" to Black America) and person (seriously, do I really need to give examples?), have been racialized and put under unrelenting assault to prove to white America that his perceived "otherness" will not betray their interests.
So we have had the 3 year campaign for President Obama to release the long-form of his birth certificate. And immediately after its release, we've seen a grassroots campaign mobilizing around proving it’s a forgery.
Now we have Donald Trump clamoring for the release of President Obama's school transcripts, stating:
"I heard he was a terrible student, terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard? I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records."
In this Associated Press interview, he went on to say "I have friends who have smart sons with great marks, great boards, great everything and they can't get into Harvard. We don't know a thing about this guy. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered about our president."
And -- just so we understand that Trump speaks for more than just a small, marginalized segment of society -- his questions about Obama's legitimacy as a United States citizen and as someone who is "qualified" to be president shot him to the top of the polls as a Republican presidential candidate contender. Not only that, his allegations have been treated as serious news by "mainstream" media (which is to say, media where the news "lens" of newscasters, their "experts", and their audiences are not generally inclusive of the world views and experiences of people of color).
USA history, in relation to its African American population, has example after example of the very clear message that generations of African Americans have received: that there is nothing people of color can do to instill white America’s confidence in and respect for their merit accomplishments. And in this instance yet another generation is having reinforced the old adage that African Americans have to be "twice as good to get half as much" played out through the example of President Obama.
We are seeing that even graduating magna cum laude and as president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review -– noteworthy accomplishments by any measure but extraordinary accomplishments considering the school's history, culture and climate -- does not insulate people of color from having to prove that they are merit worthy. It reaffirms that no matter how accomplished, no matter how smart, no matter how many credentials they have, they are somehow “less than”, in terms of their intellectual capacity, and that their accomplishments can be challenged and called out at any time. It reaffirms the historical racial and power dynamics of this country.
Unless "Trumpers", Tea Partiers, or other naysayers have proof in their back pockets that President Obama’s accomplishments were somehow rigged -- and unless they are willing to go on record accusing Columbia and Harvard of collaborating and colluding with Barack Obama in false academic achievement -- THEIR motives and biases should be scrutinized and THEY should be called to explain their racialized rumor-mongering. THAT should be the "serious news story" to which the mainstream press gives credence. America has an opportunity here to say that long-gone are the days when any and every white person can call into question a person of color's achievements -- or citizenship, for that matter -- based on a feeling or whim and have it taken seriously. They have an opportunity to pull the white sheets off the heads of those who would put the burden of proof on a person of color to disprove such ramblings.
Let me put this another way: if President Obama -- with his centrist, colorblind universalist philosophy, record of achievement at Ivy League schools, and direct connection to "whiteness" -- has to show his "papers", what hope can the rest of us have in a country where the "wrong" skin color seems to trump honest merit every single time?
And so here we are. Bin Laden has fallen and America is in a "feel good" moment, on Obama's watch.
Let's see how many of those who count themselves as Americans are willing to concede that President Obama is too. Let's see how many of them will speak out, demand a stop to this newest round of madness, and give President Obama his "freedom papers" of citizenship, religion, and merit qualifications for holding the office of president.
Moving Forward,
Adar
* Congressional Research Service, "The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11". Belasco, Amy, 3.29.11 (Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress).
** US Department of Defense, Statistical Information Analysis Division,
http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oefmonth.pdf.
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