And Another Thing...

I was listening to a local radio show while driving home last night, and the host was playing clips of Obama-Osama's pastor swearing in church and denouncing America, and the host was taking calls. One was from a black man in Seattle who started in with the same nonsense. America did this, that and the other thing in the past, which was wrong, and therefore America does suck and is evil, and he could 100% understand where the pastor was coming from, then he started in about how unfair it was that possession/dealing of different types of cocaine would get you a sentence of different lengths, and how the prisons were all full of young black males, the only reason he was here was because of slavery, etc. I could almost hear "Its Hard Being a Pimp" playing in the background. The host did his best to point out that the drugs and those who dealt them typically victimize the black community, so that maybe the fact that some of these people are in jail instead of continually victimizing their community maybe wasn't such a bad thing, and that if it really is about looking to the future, as Mr. Hopey-Changeyness and his Hate America First wife keep saying, then why not recognize the great strides that America has made in the last half-century in terms of race relations and living up to the promise presented so invitingly in the words of our foundational documents. The caller, firmly planted in the victim mindset would, of course, have none of it. Shortly after, another caller, an older white male called in to address a few of the things said, and started by saying "Well of course America has a lot to atone for..."
Another RCOB moment. I'm sure the drive last evening did NOTHING to help my blood pressure, as these calls demonstrated two symbiotic mindsets in this country that are real impediments to any true progress as a nation. The mindset that because my grandfather or great-grandfather had few or no opportunities, because their father or grandfather was a slave, and therefore I am oppressed and America owes me something, and the modern white guilt that says "Because I am white, I am guilty of the crimes of the past." "Bite Me." Doesn't adequately express my feelings about this.

I am not responsible for slavery, an institution that was brought to an end more than one hundred years before I was born.African-Americans born in the same generation as myself are not victims of Slavery, at least not the kind that we hear all the carping about. Instead, the new slavemasters are Al Sharptongue, Jesse Jackson, and the other assorted poverty pimps, a culture that embraces misogyny, and a victim culture that is used as an explanation and excuse for not fully stepping in to the promise that this country holds. Those who overcome the dependence and misdirection are vilified by the members of their own community who don't want to lose this power. Don't believe me? Ask Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and other successful African-Americans. Whenever the talk of reparations for slavery bubbles to the surface in our country's circular discussion on race relations, I see red. The excuses are lame. "We paid them to the Japanese." Yes, we did, to those who were still alive. I don't believe that any one who was a slave is still living, but even then, I might question the wisdom of a reparation. An awful lot of Americans shed blood and died to end the practice. It seems to me that a very high price has already been paid. The idea of giving a check, which we can ill afford, to someone not directly impacted by the institution, is both offensive, and silly.

Then on the other side, we have white people who think there is something they need to feel guilty about. I can acknowledge the past, and know that as a nation, we accepted many practices that are unacceptable to modern sensitivities. I don't see a need to revise it. If left unmolested by certain elements in academia who have bought lock, stock, and barrel into the 'Guilt' mentality, it would actually provide a perspective that all Americans could be proud of when they reflect upon how far we have progressed from the bad old days. Instead, the guilt crowd are obsessed with believing that American culture and history is something that we must all be ashamed of, and they are too eager to throw it under the bus in a rush to make ourselves into something different and unproven.

I love this country. I love what it stands for. We don't have people killing each other over transitions of power. We are charitable. We believe in helping people in need and distress, the world over, even when they don't share our views. Our best aspirations set the standard for the rest of the world to follow, and we seem to be forgetting that. It is clear to me that at least one candidate seeking to be the President of this country does not understand this. He can't. Not with the people who he has surrounded himself with. And the zombies of all color who follow him freighten me. They cannot even articulate his appeal for them, at least not in any terms that resemble logic. I wonder what our epitaph will be, and I wonder how soon it will matter.