DONALD TRUMP'S FATE MAY REST IN THE HANDS OF ONE BLACK WOMAN
A FORMER WATERGATE
PROSECUTOR SAYS THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT DONALD AND IVANKA CAN BE JAILED FOR TAX
FRAUD.
While many doubt that a former president will end up in
prison, Nick Akerman told CNN's
Erin Burnett in a Monday interview, "No question about
it," Trump could go to jail, "and his
daughter could go to jail, too. Tax evasion is a five-year felony.
It's a pretty serious crime, and the more money that's stolen, the longer you
go to jail."
Salon reported Akerman as saying,
"The Times report laid out 'a whole series of activities that
could qualify as tax fraud — not tax avoidance.' While
the headline read, 'Trump Tax Avoidance,' Akerman said there is 'a key
difference' when it comes to fraud — a more serious crime."
BUT WHILE TRUMP
MAY SKATE ON THE FEDERAL CRIMES HE'S ALLEGED TO HAVE COMMITTED DUE TO THE CORRUPT MANIPULATION OF THE SYSTEM, HE’S NOT GONNA SKATE PAST NEW YORK’S ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES.
.
New York Attorney General Letitia James walked through the door pledging to burn Donald Trump, and she’s filed one case against him every two weeks since she’s been in office.
.
Letitia is a sister on a mission. She’s the one who burned Trump and his family on their charity fraud. As part of the settlement Trump was required to admit to several counts of wrongdoing, and was forced to pay $3.78 million in restitution and damages. She's also the reason Trump changed his permanent residence from New York to Florida, but that’s not gonna help him a bit. His base of operation when he was committing many of his crimes was in New York, and unless he flees to Russia, Letitia's gonna burn him for every one of them that comes to light in her extensive investigations, and Trump knows it. He's gone so far as to filed a lawsuit against Ms. James, personally, to try to get her off his case, but she’s not the least bit fazed.
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So Trump is desperate and running scared, and he should be. With his long history of racism, sexual assault and disrespect of women, wouldn't it be ironic if in the end he's brought down by a Black woman? That possibility is certainly not lost on Ms. James, and if Trump loses the next election, she'll be waiting for him right outside the White House gate.
Ewattree@Gmail.com BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND
INDEPENDENT THINKERS
.
Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like
me - it's just that God does.
I recently wrote a piece on Donald Trump’s
frustration over not being able to live up to Barack Obama’s legacy. It was
just a routine piece on what I had assumed was common knowledge. I pointed out in the piece that Trump is fixated on Obama because he wants to be looked upon with the same kind
of respect that Obama commands, but since he lacks Obama's knowledge, intellect, and
class, he’s fighting a losing battle. Then I got a post on my
wall from a guy by the name of Michael Bowman. He just had one thing to say – “You’re the most racist Black man on the internet”. He never substantiated his claim that what I said was racist as oppose to mere fact, so I’m sending him
the following in response:
.
Michael, you can't insult a Black man by calling him a racist, because our
attitude on race - regardless to what it is - can be fully justified. But in my
case, while I admit to being a virulent bigot, I’m not the least bit racist. You have to be stupid to be a racist, and let me assure you, I'm far from stupid.
.
Human beings only come in one species –
human. The superficial differences in people are merely a result of an
adaptation to their environmental surroundings. The melanin that causes a Black
person’s skin to be dark, for example, allows us to be more resistant to the Sun’s UV rays in
the area of the world in which we originated. That’s why we don’t have to
drench ourselves in sunscreen to take a walk on the beach. But other than that,
there’s absolutely no difference between one group of people and another.
.
Well, maybe I should take that back. Culture also plays a role in our development, and our
cultural development plays a significant role in who we become. As a result, there
are basically two types of people in this world - the enlightened, and those
who are stupid enough to be racist in the first place. Only idiots fail to
understand that people think with their minds and not with their skin, and you
seem to fall into that category. It is for exactly that reason that we’d never be
able to see eye-to-eye, because when it comes to ignorance, I’m the most
virulent bigot on the planet Earth. I can’t stand stupidity, and I’m always on
the look-out for my enemies.
.
You see, there was a reason you called me
a racist, and it speaks volumes regarding your intellectual development. You’ve been
culturally groomed to believe that you’re naturally superior to Black people, and
you feel threatened by anything that causes you to doubt that programming. So you've obviously read something that I’ve written that’s challenged your feelings of superior,
and being the "superior" person you assume yourself to be, you can't believe that it could possibly be due to your intellectual inferiority, so the flaw obviously resides in my arrogance. Thus, you’ve come to
the conclusion that I’m just an “uppity” Black man who’s prone to hating my
intellectual superiors.
. Sure, that’s the problem! It’s not that I’m simply smarter than you are, it’s
just that I’m a racist Black man who THINKS I’m smarter than you are. . That’s much easier to live with, isn’t it, White boy?
Ewattree@Gmail.com BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND
INDEPENDENT THINKERS
.
Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like
me - it's just that God does.
Black People Can’t Be Racists!!!? Give Me A Break!!!
The Contention Alone Is Racist
.
.
Bro. Dyson,
.
While I fully embrace the overall point you're trying to make, you’re misinforming our people with respect to Blacks not being able to be racist. You're indulging in twisted logic, and as a result, when your Black followers run around quoting you on this issue, they’re making themselves look like unthinking idiots. Black people can be anything White people can be - good, or bad. To deny that is to play right into the hands of racist bigots, because it suggests there's a fundamental difference between different races of people. Racism is a state of mind, not just the power to PROJECT that state of mind. Thus, the racist mindset comes first, and only then, the social injustice derived from that mindset. . You enjoy a measure of respect in the Black community, so along with that respect should also come a measure of responsibility. Thus, one would expect that you would use your position of honor in the community to help teach our people to think efficiently and with precision. So here’s the position I recently took with one of your adherents:
.
Being a racist is a state of mind, so it doesn't require power, all it requires is ignorance. According to your logic we also have to say that a Black person can't be a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, or even an asshole because he doesn't control the system. And what about those who have racist attitudes in OTHER countries (like Israel and Muslim nations) where they don't control the system? Are they not racists, or do they get a pass because they don't control the country? And finally, what constitutes power? What if a Black criminal pulls a gun on a White man? Does he only become a racists after he pulls out the gun? After all, the gun gives him the ultimate "POWER" over life and death, so to his victim he's the most powerful man in the universe. So when did this Black man become a racist, when he decided to single out his White victim, or not until he pulls out his weapon of mass destruction, giving himself the "POWER" of life or death?
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"Racist" and “racism” are two entirely different words. One, racist, describes a person's mindset, and racism describes the activity resulting from that mindset. So a person can be a "racist" by attitude and predisposition without actually practicing "racism" as a way of life, or conversely, a second person can adhere to racist conventions (like working in a bank that refuses to give loans to Black people) without being a racist by either nature or mindset. Your argument fails to take those distinctions into account, and that’s where it’s flawed. To be a racist is a state of mind, which is one thing, but to act on that state of mind is racism, which is another. So while you are correct that in most cases Black people don't have the power to engage in institutional racism, they are perfectly free to have a racist mindset - which makes them a racist.
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So the point you seem to be TRYING to make is that Black people don't have the power to EXPRESS their racism as effectively as White people because we don't have the power to employ INSTITUTIONAL racism. But to extend that to say that Black people can't be racist AT ALL is not only a gross corruption of common sense, but it defies the very definition of the word. It’s what’s called a "factoid" - a lie that’s been told so often that people begin to accept it as fact. Because the fact is, we not only have racists in the Black community, but we also have "Bligots," those who harbor racist attitudes towards their own people - Clarence Thomas, Larry Elder, Omarosa Manigault, and Ben Carson just to name a few.
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So it’s one thing to express your views, but when you do it, you should make every effort to express them with precision. Don’t try to corrupt the English language in an attempt to make it mean what you want it to mean; the only thing you accomplish like that is instead of helping people to understand your point of view, you cause most thinking people to dismiss you as an idiot. Thus, you’re defeating your own purpose.
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The primary reason I'm even bothering to address this issue is because I love Black people, and I know that many Black people listen to people like yourself because some of us tend to confuse credentials with intellect. I also know that many people like yourself are given to telling Black people what they WANT to hear instead of what they NEED to hear. As a result, they go around regurgitating this nonsense and make themselves look like damn fools. So personally, I don’t care what you believe, but I hate it when Black people follow your lead in making comments like the one under discussion and I have to look at the smirks of satisfaction on the faces of White bigots, because whenever Black people make ridiculous statements like the one above, it tends to reinforce the position of White bigots that Black people are just a bunch of ignorant and undereducated idiots.
.
Have you ever noticed how when the news media wants to interview a Black person they seem to look around for the most ignorant, inarticulate, and uneducated Black person they can find? They do that because they're looking for a sensational level of stupidity; people who give adrenaline priority over intellect; and people who will say EXACTLY the kind of thing that we’re discussing here. They’re looking around for someone who will validate the position that Black people are stupid. I don’t like seeing that, or seeing Black people being used in that way. That’s the one and only reason that I’ve wasted even one brain cell on this silly nonsense. I don't like seeing Black people being portrayed as stupid, and by regurgitating the utter mindlessness that you're spewing, it helps the malevolent do just that.
QUESTION
"Eric, who is responsible for crafting the dictionary definition of racism? As you correctly state, Eric, bullshit in, bullshit out. Dr. Neely Fuller's stance regarding what constitutes a racist/racism closely mirrors that of Dr. Dyson and Dr. Anderson. Do you submit they too are full of lies?"
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In a word, yes - they're either full of lies, or the rumor of their powerful intellects has been greatly exaggerated. The handful of so-called "learned" individuals who are going around spewing the myth that Black people can’t be racist are doing much more harm to the Black community than good. First, their position is a corruption of common sense and defies the very definition of the word "racist," and secondly, it antagonizes potential allies by sowing division during a time when the poor and middle-class, of every stripe, are in dire need of unity to fight off the neo-fascist agenda of Donald Trump and his corpo-Republican alliance.
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The English language is what it is, and so is the definition of the word racist. As for who compiled the definitions in the dictionary, that’s irrelevant, because the dictionary doesn't DETERMINE what the English language is, it merely INFORMS us of how the English language is used. So the fact is, the "learned" gentlemen that you cite are not simply lying, or either grossly out of touch with reality, but again, they're doing the Black community a horrible disservice. It makes us look like we're so undereducated that we don't know the difference between common sense and fiction. Yes, we do live in a racist society. But a racist society is made up of various kinds of racistindividuals - including racist Black people. Dyson is trying to split hairs in order to promote his flawed point of view, but the English language is clear - if you're a racial bigot or prejudice, you're a racist, period. A clear definition of the word "racist" is in the dictionary.
.
Noun: racist; plural noun: racists
1.
a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
"[Her] comments have led to her being called a racist"
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But in spite of this clear and concise definition of what constitutes a racist, if these “learned” individuals insist on holding to their self-serving, ad hoc position on this issue, they should consider the following. With every yin to an argument, there’s also a yang. So if they insist on taking the position that Black people can’t be racist like White people due to our position in society, the flip side of that is, neither can we be as brilliant, creative, or intelligent as White people for the exact same reason. Because who we are as individuals is either innate, or defined by the individual, or forged by society. We can’t have it both ways. Being "equal" means we’re just as good as White folks, but also, just as bad. If we're not, we're not "equal."
.
And no, I'm not missing the point. I fully understand the technicality that Dyson's argument is based upon, but it's dumb nevertheless. He's saying that Black people can't be racist because our behavior, regardless to how prejudice or bigoted toward others, doesn't promote the White supremacist agenda of this society. Thus, a Black bigot can have the exact same character flaws as a White bigot, but it has to be called something else other than racist since it doesn't promote White supremacy. But the flaw in that argument is this - the term "racist" doesn't just refer to an individual's promotion of the WHITE supremacist agenda, it refers to the promotion of ANY form of racial supremacy. Just because White supremacy is the prevailing form of bigotry in this particular society, that doesn't mean that it's the ONLY form of racism. So yes, a Black bigot is also a racist, he's just a different kind of racist - he's a BLACK supremacist as oppose to a WHITE one. Whether or not his preferred form of bigotry is the prevailing form of racism in this country is meaningless, he's a racist nevertheless, he just happens to be on the opposing team. In other words, just because the visiting team doesn't control the ball park, that doesn't mean that they're not baseball players.
.
So we've got to be careful when we go around trying to change the definition of words and redefine reality "all willy-nilly," because Black people have already been there, and done that. We already know what a serious impact the meaning of words can have on our lives. What if they decided to change the definition of "human" to exclude all people with Black skin, and then began to claim that Black people aren't human? That could very easily be done by using the exact same kind of word manipulation that Dyson is trying to employ here. So he's opening up a can of worms that many thoughtful Black people have been fighting for centuries:
. "The myth of genetic inferiority of people of African ancestry is centuries old, tracing back to when the first slave boat arrived on our shores in 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia. The myth of genetic inferiority of people of African ancestry not only legitimatized slavery, but also biblically sanctioned it. It was aided by people like Nobel Laureate William Shockley, who in 1956 voiced his theory of a genetic basis for racial inferiority. As part of his theory on the biology of ethnicity, Shockley stated that people of African ancestry belonged to a lower species of humanity, and deserved sterilization." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/irene-monroe/theory-of-blacks-intellec_b_589916.html
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So the very last thing that Black people want to do is to reignite a debate on what Black people can and "can't be." Dyson should know better. Even though Black people can more than hold their own in such a debate, its mere existence could have a negative impact on the Black community. It could have a negative impact on our ability to find employment, for example, because as we see in the case of Dyson supporters, people actually believe this nonsense. So it wouldn't be outrageous to see signs like "NON-HUMANS NEED NOT APPLY." And with this conservative Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas would be the very first one jumping up to claim that non-humans lack legal standing in bringing discrimination cases before the court, and a policeman can’t be charged with murder for the killing of a non-human. So no, we don’t want to start tinkering with the meaning of words, and somebody needs to send Michael Dyson that message.
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It's very important - especially in a racist society - to establish that Black people can be anything White people can be - good, or bad, and that there is no fundamental difference between Black people and any other race other than our culture and the color of our skin. So yes, we can be racist just like anyone else, but the key to growth is to enlighten our minds to the point where we're above such ignorance. That's the key to being special. We don't want to be known as the people who can't be racist, we want to be known as the people who have risen above it.
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TRUTH IS TRUTH AND A LIE IS A LIE, AND THAT WILL ALWAYS BE THE CASE
People tend to confuse themselves by trying to make truth much too convoluted. They do that in order to try to contort truth into a configuration that lends comfort to their preferred way of viewing reality. But all they're doing in the end is deluding themselves. Truth is truth, and if you have to spend time tweaking it, what you're actually doing is trying to tweak truth into a convenient lie, and that's exactly what's being done in this controversy.
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The simple fact is, a racist is a racist, and that includes ANYONE who is bigoted toward people of another race - period. Anything that you try to add or take away from that very simple definition is a distortion of truth and too convoluted to be viable. Truth is simple. John Coltrane played saxophone - PERIOD! Case closed. Simplicity is the key to efficient thought, but we now have a group of people who went out and picked up a receipt for sitting up in a class that they didn’t fully understand, and then became so full of themselves that they think they’re now qualified to redefine reality in a way that lends comfort to their political point of view - “All dogs have fleas, and my cat has fleas, therefore, my cat is a dog.” They then expect us to accept their pompous pontifications based on a receipt they picked up somewhere saying that they’re “learned.”
.
Unfortunately, some of us buy into that, but I don’t. I say their corruption of truth is ridiculous, and the emperor has no clothes. Truth will always be truth and it's inalterable, and trying to do so turns it into a lie. A German Shepherd is a dog, the Sun is hot, and a racial bigot is a racist. Those are immutable facts, and they always will be, regardless to how many letters are behind the person’s name who’s either lying, or deluding him or herself into trying to prove otherwise.
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So while you may not have been able to go to college, you should never confuse credentials with intelligence. Knowledge is free, and some of the greatest minds I've ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lot of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I've ever known roamed university campuses in pursuit of credentials attesting to an intellect that their minds were far too weak to substantiate. So it is incumbent upon us to learn to think for ourselves and never sell ourselves short, because the adversity that you've endured also constitutes an education, an education that should never be underestimated.
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While you may not realize it, adversity has made you more, rather than less.So use your adversity like a slingshot, and allow it to hurl you into a world of wisdom, knowledge, and excellence. You don't need the White man to educate you. Who says he corners the market on knowledge and wisdom? And neither do you need some Black man waving a receipt from the White saying he's been approved to educate you. Dyson was "educated" by the very same White man he is now trying to criticize, and the only reason he's allowed to do so is because he's playing into the hands of that very same White man. Cornel West also has a tendency to do that. So seek to become a "Eulipian" and base your assessment of reality on independent and self-cultivated knowledge. Always be independent of thought, and embrace the power of your own intellect, because that's the only knowledge, wisdom, and intellect that we can trust. Group-think is not thought at all. It's an accommodation, and more often than not, the very source of societal dysfunction.
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And in that regard, what makes the self-serving stupidity being propagated by these pseudo-intellectuals so horribly egregious is the fact that this nation is currently knee-deep in a CLASS WAR in which the enemy's most potent weapon - their ONLY weapon - is division. So by running around spewing this nonsense to the unthinking, Dyson and company are lending comfort to the enemy. They're helping to keep people who are normally of good will, and who SHOULD be our allies in this war against corporate feudalism, hostile, antagonistic, and throwing spitballs at one another. That's dumb, and if Dyson were actually the powerful intellectual that he seems to think he is, he'd recognize that fact, but that seems to be yet another truth that has managed to allude him. The fact is, if Dyson wasn't disseminating this counterproductive nonsense for free, the Koch bros. would be willing to pay him to spew this reckless and unsubstantiated stupidity.
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As Black people, we can't out-scream the White establishment, because they control the media, and we can't out-fight them, because they control the police and military, so our only option is to out-think them, and we have the intellectual creativity to do just that - and they know it. The very same creativity that went into the making of a Ray Charles, an Areatha Franklin, or Charlie Parker can very easily be redirected toward math, science, and social development. They recognized that while we were in slavery - that was one of the reasons they established a Jim Crow society in the first place, and it's also why so many conservatives hate Barack Obama so intensely, because he's walking, breathing evidence of that fact. So instead of going out of our way to antagonize potential allies, we should use our natural creativity to first, educate ourselves, and then educate the public to the fact that the new paradigm in this country is not about race, but about class.
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Racism is simply a man-made construct designed to keep the poor and middle class divided. So we shouldn't buy into this lunacy. ANYBODY can be a racist if they're ignorant enough, and Dyson is inadvertently proving that fact with his racist assertion. But wouldn't it be ironic if the people brought over here in chains ended up teaching America how to survive? So we shouldn't be telling America what Black people "can't be," because we can be anything we decide to be. We should be showingthe entire world what we can be. So we need to trade in our reputation for being soulful victims for one of being brilliant educators. Instead of teaching America how to dance and shoot jump shots, we need to be teaching them how to think. That's what we should be focused on throughout the Black community - knowledge, not nonsense.
Not All White People Were Created Equal: White Privilege in America
.
During WWII, even the United States and the Soviet Union had sense enough to put their differences aside long enough to fight off Nazi fascism, but these so-called learned individuals who are running around spewing this stupidity have obviously learned absolutely nothing from history. The current GOP represents nothing short of creeping fascism. They don’t care any more about poor and middle-class White people than they do Black people. So people like Dyson should be educating the public to the dire need for the people to come together to fight off a common and insidious foe instead of stirring up division among the poor and middle-class for their own selfish benefit.
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DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE ENOUGH "POWER"
TO BE RACIST?
By going around spewing the myth that Black people can’t be racist, Dyson is placing his own desire to gain personal street creds above what’s in the best interest of the Black community. Black people make up only13% of the population, so if we intend to make any progress in this country whatsoever, it is essential that we seek out allies, not go around spewing antagonistic nonsense. And beyond that, politically motivated claims such as this serve no useful purpose. If Dyson's contention had any validity, and by having that knowledge it would benefit Black people in some way, that would be one thing, but his ridiculous assertion has absolutely no remedial value in addressing the current conditions being faced by the Black community - in fact, it only serves to stirrup anger and hostility, so rather than being remedial in nature, it actually makes things worse. What benefit can we possibly derive from going around claiming that Black people can't be racist (like the White man)? It may make us feel good, and justify our hostility toward White victims of this society, but other than that, the only purpose it can possibly serve is to turn off badly needed allies who could help us to improve our lives, and the lives of our children. Thus, our ignorance is killing us.
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SCOTT WALKER: REPUBLICAN STRATEGY
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AMERICA NEEDS TO WAKE UP.
MANY OF THE PEOPLE THIS POLITICIAN INTENDS TO "DIVIDE AND CONQUER" VOTED FOR HIM, AND BLACK PEOPLE SHOULD BE USING OUR CREATIVITY TO MAKE AMERICA AWARE OF THAT FACT. SO WE SHOULD BECOME EDUCATORS, NOT ANGRY VICTIMS.
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Thus, while we should never bite our tongue when it comes to speaking truth to power, before we start shooting off our mouth, we should make absolutely sure that it is, indeed, truth that we're speaking, and not counterproductive stupidity that plays right into the hands of our enemy.
. I've Known Bullshit
.
In
Every newspaper, every nook,
I see blatant bullshit wherever I look.
Prolific bullshit,
pro and con,
Man deceiving man,
like human pawns.
.
We
Bullshit our children
whenever we can
On the role of government,
and the sojourn of man;
We bullshit the people
regarding their lot,
While failing to address
the conservative plot.
And now I hear even Santa's a myth,
So even my mother was touched by his kiss.
.
So,
My threshold for Bullshit is extremely low,
I sense him wherever he hides;
While Langston Hughes has known his rivers,
I've known Bullshit in every disguise.
.
I've
Known bullshit lovers of innocent women,
Who fades with a piece a ass,
I've known bullshit preachers who loved the Lord,
But not nearly as much as your cash;
I've known bullshit politicians,
who "Just want to help"
Right up til they get your vote,
Then after reciting their bullshit oath
can't wait to start cuttin' your throat.
.
Yes,
Bullshit's' a stalker, who seems to haunt me;
I see him wherever I go--
On the street, in the store,
In the eyes of my lover,
Though I try to deny that it's so.
.
I used to
Simply shut my eyes,
so I wouldn't see him no more,
But my ears betrayed me and--
Knock, Knock, Knock--
"It's Bullshit. Open the door!"
.
So
I came up with a plan to take a stand, and
Confront Bullshit wherever he hides;
Like the terrorist he is, you must weed him out,
By confronting him where he resides.
.
I learned
That shit will be shit because shit is shit's nature,
So it's really not Bullshit's fault;
It's the fault of society for embracing ignorance,
For the enemy of Bullshit is thought.
.
This article was originally written in December of 2005. It wasn't written to glorify either crime, murder, or the gangster lifestyle that a minority of Black and Hispanic youth embrace in the hood. It was written to reflect the reality of life in this nation’s inner cities, and the culture of wasted humanity that it spawns. . In the end, it turned out that Tookie Williams was a brilliant young man, and he just might have possessed a mind that could have cured many of society’s ills. This nation cannot afford such a waste, and the Black community cannot just sit back and allow this sort of thing to continue, because the fact is, Stanley 'Tookie' Williams was actually an All American Boy; the only thing he did that we don't routinely honor our young men for, was applying his American values toward his own interest, instead of Exxon/Mobile's.
*
I went to view the remains of Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, the Friday after America released his body from its death chamber. He went to Washington High School with my late wife. When I went inside the mortuary’s Slumber Chamber where Tookie’s body lie in repose, there was only two of us there, a lady sitting in the front pew quietly weeping, presumably a member of Tookie’s family. It was obvious that the lady was in great pain, so in spite of the fact that I didn’t know her, I offered her my condolences. The chamber was quiet and solemn. Then, after paying my respects, I walked out the side door of the mortuary - and into an absolute zoo.
.
In the parking lot next to the mortuary there was a crowd of people partying like it was New Years Eve - the music was blasting, one car was on lifters so high that it seemed to be standing on end, and three sisters were dancing in a heated frenzy before a crowd of maybe a hundred people shouting, “Go ba-by! Go ba-by! Go ba-by!” It was unbelievable. But the scene outside the mortuary that night served to reinforce a point of view that I’ve held for many years now - it's time for our people to wake up and sniff the funk, because the fumes are emanating from all around us, and it’s coming at us from every direction. That goes for the American people in general, but black people in particular.
.
As black people, we have a beautiful and festive culture, and I realize that in the past that festive spirit has been used to great effect as a defense against pain. But times are changing in this country, and they’re changing faster and more drastically than we’ve ever known before. So, if we are to survive as a people, we must adapt to that change - and we’d better do it real fast.
.
Looking at the United States today, one can’t help but recognize that it’s become reminiscent of Germany during the 1930s, just prior to the rise of fascism. We have a regime currently in power that’s stolen two elections, and has taken over every branch of government; they invaded a sovereign nation on false pretenses, and they’re saber rattling towards others; They’ve set up concentration camps all over the world, and they’re torturing innocent people. As we party, they’re not only passing laws that will allow them to spy on American citizens, but arrest those citizens, while denying them rights supposedly guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States.
.
We’ve got to start thinking the way this government thinks (notice that I didn’t say “the White man,” because if a White man happens to be poor or middle class, he’s in trouble too). We‘ve got to start thinking ahead. When I was in the Marine Corps way back in 1971, even then, they had me out in Twenty-nine Palms training reservists in desert warfare. So you see, while we’re living in the moment, this government is thinking ahead. And when you consider the fact that Bush is now spending 2 billion dollars a week in Iraq, and sending this country into so much debt that it precludes our funding education, Medicare, most entitlement programs, and possibly, even Social Security, you’d better believe they have a game plan in mind. They have to have one, just to deal with the resulting social upheaval that is sure to result - and they are practicing that game plan in Iraq as we speak. So it is past time for black people to set our party hats aside, at least for the moment, and embark on a very serious and sober reassessment of where we stand in this country today.
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Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-America - I Love America. America has provided me and my family with a way of life, and opportunities, that we might not have found in any other place in the world. But what I love most about America is the American ideal, those ideals that we may not always live up to, but we aspire to. It is the American ideal that makes America special, and it is the assault on those ideals that makes me very nervous about the Bush administration. Under Bush, we seem to be losing sight of what America stands for. He claims that the terrorists hate us because of the American ideal of freedom, justice, and equality. But if that is indeed the case, the terrorist are clearly winning this war, because with every day that passes those ideals are being whittled away.
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When Bush invaded Iraq in response to 9-11, he demonstrated very clearly his propensity for venting his hostility towards people of color. In spite of the fact that all available evidence pointed to the fact that Saddam Hussein had absolutely nothing to do with attacking this country, his invasion of Iraq seems to say, “Oh well, one Arab is just like another - they’ll do.” That is not the American way.
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And as a result of that policy, United Press International reported on July 12, 2005 that according to an Iraqi humanitarian organization, 128,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion began in March 2003. The report goes on to say, “chairman of the 'Iraqiyun' humanitarian organization in Baghdad, Dr. Hatim al-'Alwani, said that the toll includes everyone who has been killed since that time, adding that 55 percent of those killed have been women and children aged 12 and under.” Thus, according to this report, more women and children are being killed in Iraq than anyone else - and that, is not the American way.
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In addition, it has now come to light that the Bush administration has been spying on Muslims in their homes, businesses, and mosques, without warrant, since September 11, 2001. Conservative spin doctors try to justify this policy by saying that this fudging of the Constitution only affects 0.1% of the people, so those of us who don’t have anything to hide, don’t have anything to worry about. But the fact is, these violations set a precedent that sends the nation down a slippery slope that affects us all. It’s not only a gross violation of an entire community of people, but a corruption of the United States Constitution that places us all in jeopardy. That is not the American way.
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So it is clear that our government, under Bush, has no understanding, nor respect, for limits. Since he's already demonstrated his propensity to paint all people of color with the same brush, it’s not a very big leap from terrorist, to Muslim, to Black Muslim, to black people in general. And while that's not the American way, it's a glaring reality.
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So, again, it is past time for the black community to turn down the music for a minute and get serious. The Cabbage Patch can wait, because if there has ever been a time in our history where it is incumbent upon us to focus, educate ourselves, and become politically engaged, it is now. We’ve demonstrated over the years that we can party hardier than any group of people in the world, but at this point in our history, we have absolutely nothing to party about. Tookie’s body should attest to that fact.
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ADDED AFTER BARACK OBAMA'S ELECTION
Since I wrote that article eight years ago, there has been some change - with respect to the Black community, it's gotten worse. Some Obama critics - like Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and the entire Republican Party - would say, that makes their point. Even though we've elected a Black president things have gotten worse. But that's not true. On a national level things have gotten a lot better. Under the Bush administration the nation was hemorrhaging 850,000 jobs per MONTH, and this nation, and the world as a whole, was racing towards a second Great Depression, so on a national level things are much better.
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What the steady decline of the Black community does clearly indicate, however, is that we're not doing nearly enough to help ourselves. So why are Obama critics wasting so much time on television selling books, and rolling around in buses promoting themselves when there is so much work to be done in the community? Why aren't they in the community with their sleeves rolled up and educating the community to the need for change, and about how to bring that change about? The answer is, because they don't care. All they care about is their own enrichment. So the fact is, we've got to stop waiting for them, and start caring about ourselves. So let's get moving.
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About Tookie and Others Like Him
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We must also remember while we’re condemning Tookie that society creates it’s own monsters. All any person is, is a walking, breathing, bundle of past experiences, and society creates those experiences. So society plays a huge role in what we become as individuals. Then, why is it that two people from the very same sociological group will become complete opposites - one will become Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams, and the other, Dr. Ben Carson?
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First, is parenting - our parents help to shape the way we view reality, how we deal with adversity, and determine whether we feel entitled or deprived. Second, is predisposition - some people tend to be appeasers, while others are combative. And finally, every individual is shaped by micro experiences - the individual experiences that serve to shape our personalities. Maybe at some point in his life Tookie Williams was slapped by a cop, and Ben Carson never had that experience. So although Carson is from the very same sociological group, his INDIVIDUAL life experience has shaped him differently.
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Thus, Tookie Williams wasn't just BORN to be rebellious, he BECAME rebellious as a result of what he'd experienced in life. And Ben Carson wasn't BORN to be a subservient kiss-ass - which is clearly what he is. His INDIVIDUAL experience has shaped him into what he's become. Therefore, society creates its own monsters, both in fact, and portrayal. So what you saw in Tookie was a brutal murderer. What I saw was a pensive guy who I found, in the middle of a raging party, sitting quietly in the glow of a red nightlight in my kid's bedroom watching them as they slept - he was in pain, because his legs had been injured in an attempted assassination, so he couldn't party. Nevertheless, he took his life in his hands and came all the way across town, where he would have been killed on sight, just to share a few moments with a high school friend.
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Tookie regretted forming the Crips. he told me that he and a guy by the name of Raymond Washington organized the Crips at Washington High as a defense against bullies, and my wife confirmed that. But the group took on a life of its own, and he got caught up in the fame, folklore, and notoriety of his name. He didn't want to live that kind of life, but it got to the point where he either had to live the life or die. But actually, Tookie had a brilliant and curious mind. I was already in college studying psychology the first time he came to our house to visit Val, and considering his reputation, I was amazed at his brilliance. He could discuss, in detail, any subject that came up - cosmology, philosophy, epistemology, etc. I was taking epistemology (the science of knowledge and logical thought) when I first met him, and he could discuss the subject in so much detail that it was like he was the star student in the class. So I went from being angry over my wife inviting such a notorious person into our home, to looking forward to seeing him. I could write an entire book on my discussions with Tookie, and I might do just that in the future. So I can say without any fear of contradiction, Tookie was much more brilliant than the people who executed him. When they killed Tookie Williams, they sent a lot of knowledge into the next world.
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So those images came back to me as I looked upon him in the mortuary in what seemed like a peaceful slumber. That's why I don't believe for a minute that Tookie was guilty of the crime that he was murdered for. They couldn't produce a shred of hard evidence at his trial, but he was infamous, he was smart, and he was Black. That was enough for them. So as I looked upon Tookie's stilled body, I didn't see the infamous Tookie Williams, I saw who my late wife (who had died in April of that year) used to call Stan, and the image of him as he sat quietly in the glow of a red nightlight still remains with me.
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But, that said, this society also created Gorge W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and we know for a fact that they're responsible for the death of over a million people, the maiming of thousands of others, and the brutal torture of still more. So even if Tookie was guilty of what he was accused of, his crime doesn’t even begin to approach the magnitude of Bush and Cheney’s. Yet, instead of killing Bush like society did Tookie, they built him a library. Thus, Tookie’s major crime wasn’t murder, per se - the mere murder of men, women, and children is a part of the American ethic. Tookie’s major crime was allegedly murdering in the promotion of his own agenda, rather than the agenda of Haliburton and Exxon/Mobile, the kind of murders in which we routinely hand out medals.
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Now, those are the facts. Bush and Cheney turned the American military into nothing less than the Crips with a dental plan, and Tookie merely took the American ethic - in which he’d been indoctrinated into all of his life - and applied it to his own environment. As far as he was concerned, he was America, and everybody else that didn’t see things his way, was the USSR.
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But the existence of the Tookies in the Black community is also partly our fault, because we’re so busy watching BET, MTV, ESPN, partying and having a good time, that we're failing to educate our own young people in OUR own values. We're allowing them to take on the very values that were responsible for our enslavement - and I'm not speaking as a detached academic from an office atop Mt. Olympus; I'm speaking as a "hood rat" . . . just like my late friend, Tookie.
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Tookie was a brilliant writer, with a brilliant mind, and he had the respect of the very young Black people we need to get through to. So his institutionalized murder was a complete waste of what could have been one our most valuable assets. His influence could have prevented the pending murders of the innocent people who are today walking around happy and smiling, and completely unaware of the horror that lies in their future.
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ODE TO TOOKIE
* Tookie? Yeah, I knew Tookie; I WAS Tookie, And I knew his pain. * I knew the pain of a child That the cold, smirking Eyes of society Peered down upon; Of being caught like A doe in the headlights Of unbridled hatred For nothing more than Just . . . being; Of being Under-acknowledged, Under-appreciated, And under-educated, By a society Intent on robbing me Of the innocence That is every child’s birthright. And I know the churning, agonizing, And unfocused anger Of a youth Who knows anger Much too soon. * So, Tookie? Yeah, I knew Tookie; I WAS Tookie, But I ain’t going out like that. * Because some the greatest minds I’ve ever known Held court while sitting on empty milk crates In the parking lot Of ghetto liquor stores; And at their feet I embraced The love of knowledge, And through their tutelage Defined self-worth In my own terms. * These were the "Eulipians"— Writers, poets, musicians, painters, And uncommon drunks— Those shade-tree philosophers who Contemplated the fungus Between the toes of society; Who danced with reckless abandon, Unfettered by formal inhibition Through the presumptuous Speculation of the ages. * Yes, the Eulipians, Who lived in county jails, Cardboard boxes, alley ways, And luxury apartments. Seemingly insignificant Here in Great Bruteland, But of ultimate significance In the eyes of God. * While these obscure intellectuals Stood well outside the mainstream Of academy, I watched with astonished delight As they sang, scat, blew, and scribed Their various philosophies into the Mainstream of human knowledge. * Tookie? Oh Yeah, I knew Tookie; I WAS Tookie, * But I met the Eulipians, Who, from their ragged podiums, Put forth the proposition That knowledge was free, thus, Would transcend attempts to be Contain through barriers of Caste and privilege - and even, Institutionalized murder - Leaving man's innate thirst For knowledge free to overwhelm His lust for stupidity. * So, Tookie, Yeah, Yes in deed, I did know Tookie; I WAS Tookie, But I choose a different tact. While I refuse to lunge Against your saber, In a glorious and defiant act, Look into my eyes, my man-- I still got my brother’s back. * You thought you had him, While facing death, But he went down like Like Trojan - Leaving your silly asses, With your silly smiles, Standing there Shocked and frozen. * "What’s up, baby, Can’t find a vein? You been beggin’ to do this, So let’s us do this thang. But if y’all Waitin’ around To see me grovelin' in pain, I ain’t the only one gon’ Die here, You jive ass, lame. * "Faint of heart? Give it here, I’ll stick the damn thang for ya; I’m a man of the hood And strong of heart, So I goin' down Like a warrior. * "Naw, my man, You don’t see no fear; You really look surprised! I’m gon’ honor my people As I leave here, So just stick me, So I can close my eyes. * "You schemed and you cheated To take me out, So let us get this on; You can still my body And take my breath, But my heart Will still live on." * So, Tookie? You mean THAT Tookie. Yeah, I knew Tookie, We’ve planted his heart Within the hood;
So what you saw as dirt, We see as soil, To sow this tragedy, Into something good. * Tookie, Oh yeah, I KNEW Tookie, But I ain’t goin’ Out like that.
RACISTS DON'T REALLY HATE BLACK PEOPLE - THEY FEAR WHAT WE REPRESENT
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A Discussion On Race Between Interracial Peers
DURING SLAVERY THE ONLY BLACK PEOPLE WE KNEW WHO SPOKE "PROPER" ENGLISH WERE HOUSE SLAVES, AND MANY OF THEM LOOKED DOWN ON FIELD SLAVES. AS A RESULT, MANY OF US EQUATE INTELLECT WITH "TRYING TO BE WHITE," SO WE HAVE AN AVERSION TO, OR REJECT, OUR OWN NATURAL INTELLIGENCE.
Let's keep it real and stop trying to emulate our oppressors. The BLM movement needs to tone down their militant rhetoric because they don't have the resources to back it up. Black people are only 13.2% of the population, so if they turn off the rest of the public and find themselves without allies, they can't win one battle alone. In addition, the modern Black man doesn't have a heart for laying his life on the line. That's why we've been abused for the past 250 years. . But there's a reason why we're no longer warriors. It's because the adversity that we've endured over the centuries have made us MORE rather than less, and we've evolved into the people of the future. The murder and mayhem of battle is an animalistic, brain STEM activity that lower animals used prior to developing a cerebral cortex, or higher intellectual brain function. They all had the instincts of a snake. They didn't have the ability to think, so their first response to any problem was to attack. . But again, due to the adversity that Black people have endured over the centuries, we've evolved and adapted to overcome that adversity. As a result of having to deal with both overt and covert racists every day of our lives, we've developed an intellectual muscularity that has made it possible for us to out-think our enemies. .
What we refer to as "Soul" is Black creativity straining to burst forth and be utilized. The very same creativity that goes into the making of a Ray Charles, an Areatha Frankiln, or John Coltrane, can easily be redirected toward math, science, politics, and engineering. That's why racists hate Barack Obama so passionately, because he's using the knowledge that he's gained from the Black experience to make them look like idiots. You see, he's utilizing a source of knowledge that they can't obtain at Harvard, Princeton, or Yale, and Black people as a whole have got to learn to draw on that unique source of creativity as well. We've got to get away from the brain stem mentality and limitations of our oppressors, because racists are the people of the past, while we're the people of the future. Our history lies before us. .
BLM IS MAKING THEMSELVES LOOK LIKE THE BLACK COUNTERPART TO THIS GUY. DOES HE LOOK LIKE SOMEONE YOU'D WANT TO TAKE SERIOUSLY?
Racists tend to be the mediocrity of White society, so they try to use the fact that they were born White to define themselves and to compensate for their lack of personal value. Their entire sense of self-esteem is based more upon group association than individual value and accomplishment, and their entire claim to personal significance is, "Well, at least I'm better than them." . That's what's driving radical conservatives so crazy about President Obama - he's walking, breathing, evidence that they cannot claim superiority by virtue of the color T-shirt they were born in, and that simple fact alone is causing them to suffer a severe attack of cognitive dissonance before the eyes of the entire world. That's also why they're so determined not to allow President Obama to be successful, even if it means destroying the country - and international corporatists are using the social division inherent in those sentiments to lower the standard of living of the American middle class. . Thus, this entire nation, and the future of our children, is being threatened by the desperate attempt of a handful of insecure bigots to maintain their delusions of superiority, and as far as they’re concerned, if the country has to be sacrificed for that cause, so be it. .
FELLOW AMERICANS, DON’T LET OUR IGNORANCE DESTROY US
. The racist animosities that are running rampant among ALL segments of the American people are playing right into the hands of the those who are our most insidious enemy – the global corporatists. These people are intent upon enslaving us all. The only difference between literal slavery and what they have in mind for us is we'll have to provide our own housing. . These people are no longer Americans; they are now globalists, and America is just a virtual cotton field to them. And as long as they keep the poor and middle class fighting and hating one another, we’ll be powerless against their social and political manipulation. So "illegal aliens" and others are far from the biggest threat to the American way of life – the global corporatists are. . If Al Qaeda represents a rattlesnake in America's garden, the corporate/GOP alliance represents a python under our bed. Al Qaeda can only destroy buildings, but the corporate/GOP alliance wants to destroy our entire way of life and replace American democracy with a system of corporate feudalism, where corporations, literally, control the nation. So it is essential that every man, woman, and child who is a part of the poor and middle class begin to recognize that fact, put our petty hatreds aside, and come together to fight our most insidious enemy - the global corporatist. .
Suzette Sommer
AMEN. Damn, Eric, you covered so much TRUTH! . I grew up in a tiny racist town with Sunset Laws... I grew up with people who hated non-whites and gays and anybody "different." . I escaped at 18 - ended up in LA, and finally began to know the real world - a multi-racial multi-cultural world. . I am almost 65 so I have watched our society go through a lot. We are making progress though not nearly enough. The younger people give me hope! . But more and more what I notice is the brilliance of our Black citizens... and I have been thinking the same thing: the reason some whites hate blacks so much is they do not want to compete with them because they know they will lose. . Not only in sports and feats of coordination and strength, not only in musical or performing talent, but also in feats of mental brilliance - look around and see how many are outstanding despite every obstacle society puts up - given even a tiny opening, so many black Americans reach and achieve. Just read that black women are the most educated segment of our society now.... and we now see leaders - black leaders and achievers everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Science, medicine, business, space, media, ballet, arts, engineering, on and on and on. It is no longer "rare." All from 13% of the population and despite how many in poverty? And I agree, the strength comes from deep in the heart and soul.
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Wattree
Thank you so much for this, Suzette. . With you're permission I would love to use your comment to compliment this piece. You present a powerful and inspirational message that I think many young people need to hear. They need to understand that "God" made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man to think. Thus, the essence of our being is what we THINK not what we look like. So our true brothers and sisters are those who THINK like we do, not those who merely LOOK like we do. In short, you're much more my sister than Clarence Thomas is my brother. Clarence Thomas, Ben Carson, and Sarah Palin are of a different breed than we are, and it goes much deeper than just racial attitudes. You, myself, and Donna, who commented above, are the same kind of people. The color of our skin is superficial. .
Absolutely fine with me. I mean every damn word. . I adore President Obama and only wish he COULD have a third term. I also consider Michelle our first truly modern First Lady - and I remember Mamie Eisenhower. . I have almost always lived on the Left Coast... it has only been these last several years of being on FB - making friends all over the place, that I have made friends in the South and TX and slowly begun to get insights into how horrible life in those areas really is for anybody who is not well-off and white. . The debacle in Ferguson MO was a huge eye opener. The shake down of a whole town by white people. . Due to social media, I have learned to see what privatized prisons are all about, what our "war on drugs" is really all about, how we will never have "equality" in this country until every damn neighborhood has equally GOOD schools, how there truly is a war on black people, non-white people and homeless and poor people of any color by our police... And how many people are beaten down by all of that. . Yet how many black Americans are rising up to great success and raising beautiful families despite it all. Things are changing. And the haters are being left behind. They are being exposed, outed, shown. They are raising hell right now. . But we are at a tipping point. Injustice is being seen. Really seen. And yes... BLM has pissed off some white people. But some of us listen to the rage in it and understand. Because some of us have been feeling the same way about the police violence in particular: How can this go on! . I am still in shock about so many events - and they do just keep coming... and it has to stop. We will stop it. Just as in Nazi Germany... "First, they came for the Jews." Corruption touches and endangers us all. I really do think a lot of white Americans get that.
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David Snyder
One of the earliest white people to get it [regarding Black intelligence] was Mark Twain, regardless of his use of the word "nigger." He realized that once in a while, if he or she trusted you enough, he could get wisdom and insight from black people that didn't exist in whites. A former slave once said to him "You tell me where a man gits his corn pone [cornbread] from, I'll tell you what his '[o]pinions is." After thinking about it, he realized it was one of the most insightful things anybody ever said to him about the human condition. . Over the years, I've gotten myself into trouble and it's been non whites that have always had the best advice and explanations for me of what made my adversaries tick.
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Wattree: .
When I was a child my grandfather, Samuel Wattree, Sr., gave me some of the most insightful advice that any person could ever get, and it was especially designed to address adversarial situations just like the Black community is facing today. . My grandfather was run out of Louisiana after a rich White family, essentially, tried to enslave my grandmother. She was working for the family as a domestic and the people's kids bonded with her, so the family wanted her to live there on the premises. They weren't brutal, or threatening, or anything - at first. In fact they were all syrupy grins, and spewing words of love, and "family" - at first. But the bottom line was, they wouldn't allow my grandmother to come home, and they insisted that my grandfather come live in a shack there on the premises.
. So my grandfather pretended to cave in, and packed up all their belongings (including his gun). Thereafter, he pulled up on the property brandishing his weapon, told my grandmother to get the baby and get into the truck, and they drove off and kept going until they reach Los Angeles. That was in 1931. They moved into a house a block or so away from the Dunbar Hotel. At that time my mother, their first child, was one year old, so I was born in Los Angeles. . But by the time I was a little boy, my grandparents were doing pretty well and they could afford to go back to Louisiana once a year to visit (my grandfather was a master mechanic). I was attached to my grandparents at the hip because while my mother was in college they essentially raised me (My mother and I were more like sister and brother). So every year when my grandparents started packing to leave for Louisiana, it was all the way on. I raised hell from the moment I caught wind of the fact that they were leaving, until an hour after they walked out the door and the car was out of sight. We went through the same ritual every year. . On one of such occasion, however, when I was about nine years old, my grandfather decided to use the occasion as a teaching moment and drop a little wisdom on me. He said, "You're right, you're not a baby anymore, but there's another reason we can't take you to Louisiana with us now - you talk too much and you could get us killed. You've got to learn to listen to what's on everybody else's mind, and never let anyone know what's on yours, because if you tell the next man everything that's on your mind, he'll then know everything you know, plus what he already knew, and that'll make him smarter than you are. So that's why you have to stay home - because we can't afford to let those White folks down South know more about us, than we know about them."
. And that's the primary problem that I have with BLM. They talk too much, and too recklessly. They don't seem to think things through, and they tend to shoot from the hip. They also seem to have far too many people among them who are so anxious to gain their ten minutes of fame that they're falling all over each other to jump in front of the cameras. . They're missing the point. The point is to gain America's support, and thereby, enough political allies to give us the clout to obtain our objective, not to shake our fist at the American people. That's a losing battle. So all they're doing is flapping their lips and giving the White establishment the ammunition to demonize the entire Black community by portraying us as a raging and reckless beast, a threat to America, and potential terrorists. . Some may say that's ridiculous, but the more thoughtful among us recognize that the White establishment are experts at demonization - ask any American Muslim, or ask the parents of Trayvon Martin, who's son the White establishment converted from a child who simply went to the store to get some candy, into a violent gangster with a ravaging case of the munchies. By the time they were done they had demonized Trayvon so thoroughly that they convinced the jury that George Zimmerman had performed a public service to America by stalking, and then killing, a perfectly innocent child. They claimed that Zimmerman simply acted in self-defense, but how could he be acting in self-defense when HE was the stalker? Trayvon was being stalked on a rainy night by a strange man who had a hundred lbs. on him. What about Trayvon's right to stand his ground? . George Zimmerman should be in prison today, but the simple facts above are the kind of things that get lost in the shuffle when everybody is screaming and hollering and nobody's thinking. So BLM needs to learn a lesson from that, a lesson that informs them of when and how to speak, about considering what they're going to say - BEFORE they say it - and when to keep their mouths shut and simply listen. And just as important, they need to learn to NEVER attack an ally. If the USSR and the United States hadn't learned that lesson during WWII we would be goose stepping today. . So as I've said many times before, while I agree with the overall objective of protecting Black lives - in fact, protecting ALL lives - the BLM is going at it like a raging beast without a brain, and by letting emotion trump serious and logical thought, they're going to end up causing even MORE Black lives to be lost.
Strive To Become Your Own Hero... Then Let No One Remove Your Cape.
BIO
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s been a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and is a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of "A Message From the Hood."
Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.
Am I a hater, you ask? You're damn right I'm a hater. I hate injustice. I hate hypocrisy. I also hate demagoguery, apathy, and the stupidity that allows it to exist. Hater? Absolutely. I'm a big time hater. I hate what I see happening to this country, and I hate watching the development of a culture that embraces ignorance with a stupid sense of pride. So yes, I am indeed a hater, but not only that - I'm a hater with a very low threshold for bullshit, so step off.
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