Germany didn’t wake up one fine morning to discover they were under the dictatorship of Adolph Hitler. It was a gradual process. Hitler *seemed* quite sane with the best interests of Germany at heart. Hitler’s first act upon coming to power was not to open death camps. That came later. His was a subtle dance of seduction. Rarely does great evil spring upon a people full blown. It begins as a little cloud in the sky. The weather is beautiful a few days before a hurricane.
We are at a fork in the road. Fortunately, we have the advantage of being able to look at history. I personally do not believe in coincident. Everything that happens is the result of cause and effect. Often the *cause*is plotted and planned in dimly lit, cigar smoke filled rooms. The *effect* is designed to take you by surprise.
We need to decide what type of society we’re going to become. Those who are enlightened and evolved, care little about the ethnic designation of those in charge, we care only about their integrity and competence. We recognize the mutual commonality of humanity. We all share the same needs. Safety, opportunity, a clean environment and being able to educate our children such that each successive generation will surpass the last. We also care about the welfare of our fellowmen. We understand that as a society we are no richer than the poorest amongst us. For us to prosper, we all must prosper together.
Unfortunately, there exists a dark cabal who are more concerned with securing and maintaining power for those of their own ethnic designation. For them, power and control is the objective. If you’ve been paying attention, you can see them sliding the pieces in place to set up a society that does not represent the lofty goals, hopes and dreams of the majority of U.S. Citizens. Rather than pass a Jobs Bill to put people back to work rebuilding our infrastructure, they’d rather take another meaningless vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act which will provide health care for children and poor families. Rather than fund our system of education, they’d rather give away billions in subsides to oil companies that don’t need them.
Though we cannot see the wind, we can mark its passage by the leaves it blows and the grass it bends. Thus it is by looking at the areas receiving their most ardent focus, we can determine their true motives. Look. Pay attention and connect the dots.
This latest kerfuffle involving Paul Deen and the ubiquitous “N-Word” is a study in hypocrisy. Our feigned outrage over an old white lady from the deep South admitting during a deposition that at some point in her life, she’d referred to a Black person as a nigger, pushes the bounds of my patience to its point of breaking! Really??? The attorney might as well have asked her if she’d ever farted?
Lets be real for a moment. Is there any white person born and raised in the United States of America who can truthfully say, they’ve never in their entire life uttered the word “nigger?” If a white person reading this can truthfully make this claim, please send me an e-mail. I would dearly like to talk to you and learn the details of your upbringing.
Don’t get me wrong. In my youth, I integrated sever all white schools out on the west coast. It was my policy to beat the ass of any white person who called me a nigger. I once chased one little white boy six blocks, dragged him back out of his house and whipped his ass right in front of his mother and screaming sister. It is a word that should not be used.
Since then, I’ve had several white people who felt comfortable enough with me to ask the question so near and dear to most of their hearts. To wit: “We hear Black people using that word… why can’t we?” My response? “You can… However, if I have one of my blackouts and come to stomping on your neck… you will forgive me won’t you?” That usually settles the matter.
All of this having been said, the facts of the matter are these. Mrs. Deen comes from an era and a geographic location where she was raised around people, and by people for whom that type of terminology was the norm. Who was going to sit her down in her youth and teach her that referring to Black people in that manner was wrong? Is how a child is raised the child’s fault or the parents fault? I do give Mrs. Deen credit for becoming more aware of right, wrong and what is acceptable in a civilized, multicultural society.
Eclipsing The Real Issue
The reason Paula Deen was being deposed had to do with a discrimination law suit involving an employee of color who has alleged racist behavior and abuse. Did it happen? I have no idea. However, I’ve been around the block enough times to know that just because someone alleges something in a law suit, doesn’t make it so. That is why we have trials and the presentation of evidence. Conversely, merely because someone uses the word “Y’all,” speaks with a southern drawl and admits to having used the word “nigger” in the past, doesn’t mean that they’ve treated an employee in a discriminatory manner. Let’s wait for the trial.
A Study In Hypocrisy
As of today, the Food Network has fired Paula Deen because she told the truth under oath and answered a question which might not have been allowed in open court for being overly broad and irrelevant. The rules for depositions are a lot more flexible. In court the only way an attorney could ask such a question would be if Paula Deen stated that she didn’t use that word. Then the question of whether or not she had ever used that word would become relevant.
Suppose the same question were posed to the attorney who asked it? What would he or she have said? Suppose that question were posed to the judge? What would she or he say? If every white person who has ever used the word nigger – in life – were taken off the air tomorrow, we’d be watching a blank screen and listening to a test tone.
Addendum
When use of the “N-Word,” becomes the litmus test for racism, then ardent racist like Rush Limbaugh can claim to be non-racist because no one has yet to come forward to out him for having said it. White people who are comfortable with their separatist attitudes – many don’t realize they have them – are quick to seize on use of the “N-Word” as being the litmus test. “So long as I don’t say that word, I’m not a racist!” Thus they can support all manner of racist positions. The President is Kenyan. He wasn’t born here. He’s un-American, our economic woes are due to minorities on welfare… on and on.
Paula Deen – bless her soul – simply doesn’t get it. In truth, because of her history and upbringing, she may well be incapable of ever getting it. She’s not the problem. You can see her coming from a “Y’all” away. The problem is the corporate bigwigs that run corporations like the Food Network. They’re racist to their core. When Paula Deen started talking about the beauty of an “Old Southern Wedding” served by Black people dressed as Slaves, they should have cut ties with her back then. They might have said that her views were inconsistent with the audience they were trying to build and attract. They did not. They were comfortable chalking it up to her eccentricities. Why? Because for them, the litmus test for racism is use of the “N-Word.”
A white banker doesn’t have to call a black person applying for a loan a “nigger.” All he has to do is make sure he gets his loan at a higher interest rate. An insurance company doesn’t have to call a Black person a “nigger,” all they have to do is determine where minority communities are located and designate those areas for higher insurance rates. The company a Black person works for doesn’t have to call them a “nigger.” All they have to do is pay them less than the white person working beside them doing the exact same job. When we allow use of the “N-Word” to become the litmus test for racism, we are deluding ourselves about reality and the way the world works.
Justifying Murder – LAPD And The Christopher Dorner Case
At the time I’m writing this, ex-LAPD officer Christopher Jordan Dorner is still at large. Officer Dorner is the primary suspect in several murders. At least one of them being a fellow LAPD officer.
If he has done as accused, there is no excuse for his behavior. His actions are reprehensible and would meet almost anyone’s definition of a serious mental pathology. It is not the purpose of this piece to either defend or justify his actions.
What concerns me is the reactions and the actions of the LAPD which presumably is not claiming “diminished capacity” as an explanation or justification for their behavior. If anything, their reaction is going a long way to prove the allegations levelled against the LAPD in Officer Dorner’s so called “manifesto.” The main accusations Officer Dorner levelled were those of racism and police brutality.
A little while later, another vehicle was shot up. Fortunately the man inside was not hit. No commands were given. No opportunity to surrender. No attempts to effectuate an arrest. I was under the impression that the job of Law Enforcement Officers was not to act as judge, jury and executioner, but if possible deliver a suspect to a court of law. What we’re dealing with here is “street justice.”
Warrant-less Searches???
What is the difference between the actions of LAPD and your common street gang? They have been ordering citizens out of their vehicles, searching their homes at gun point without obtaining search warrants as demanded by due process. Does the law not apply to the police? Are they above the law?
I have personally tended to scoff at the likes of Alex Jones when they beat the drums of societal collapse and martial law. However, they suddenly don’t seem so crazy. We are either a nation of laws or we are not! If the LAPD can throw “due process” and the United States Constitution out the window, then anybody can. All they need do is claim to be concerned for their own safety.
A Campaign Of Demonization
The Black Rambo?
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that the Public Relations department of the LAPD has shifted their tactics. The shift has been subtle, but evident nonetheless. At the beginning the focus of the LAPD was to paint Officer Dorner as mentally unstable, irrational, possibly suffering from PTSD, perhaps because of his service to this country in the Navy. In short, “Crazy Black Man” on the loose! Be afraid, be very afraid! Now, they’re portraying him as some sort of “Black Rambo.”
In an unprecedented move, the LAPD has released video tapes of Officer Dorner going through the common training course allLAPD Officers go through. They showed him on the shooting range – alongside other Officer candidates – remarking on how well he controlled the recoil of the pistol he was shooting. Evidently, according to the anonymous Public Relations representative, being able to control the relatively light recoil of a pistol, makes one an extremely deadly and accurate pistol shot. In point of fact, controlling recoil is not necessarily indicative of accuracy.
Practising disarming techniques with his fellow LAPD officers
They released a clip of him practicing disarming techniques with fellow Officers. Evidently you’re supposed to either forget or ignore the fact that the training he was receiving was the exact same training that allLAPD Officers receive. Thus, how does this make Officer Dorner any more or less dangerous than your average LAPD Officer? It does not.
Clearly what LAPD is doing is laying the ground work to justify murdering Christopher Dorner rather than bring him to justice. The question I have is why? This is a question that you and everyone else ought to be asking as loudly and as often as possible. What does he know? What might he say in open court that the LAPD would prefer him never to reveal in open Court? Are they justifying murder ahead of time? It seems to me that they are.
The lessons of this election? RACISM NO LONGER WINS ELECTIONS! You cannot simply play to white people and ignore all the other groups in our multicultural nation. Non-racist white people are cool with this because they see themselves as Americans FIRST. They embraced their brothers and sisters of all races and sent a powerful message to the less enlightened. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! We must never forget this simple truth.
Mitt Romney believed he did not have to release his tax returns. He believed he did not need to give any specifics on anyof his plans to actually fix the economy. He did not lay out any foreign policy agendas. He promised 12 million new jobs – ironically the same number economist forecast would be created if we simply continued on the path we’re on – but gave no specifics as to how he would create these jobs. He said he would repeal “Obama Care,” – a program growing more popular by the day – without saying what he’d replace it with… if anything!
He promised a $5 trillion dollar tax cut. Again no specifics about how he would actually achieve this figure or how it would be paid for. Evidently the”peasant class” doesn’t need to know these things?
Mendacity aka Lying!
Mitt and the truth evidently are not even passing acquaintances. I’ve been around for 55 years now and I’ve seen a few election campaigns. I am familiar with the fact that lying and politics is like ham and eggs, peanut butter and jelly or smoke and fire. When you see one, you assume the other is in the immediate vicinity. However, Mitt Romney’s campaign took things to a whole other level! In fact, there is strong evidence it may have been the “bridge too far,” “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
In 2008 when our economy was in free fall and our automotive industries were on the verge of collapse, Mitt wrote an “Op-Ed” entitled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” Without going into the mechanics of the theory of how in certain cases, bankruptcy could be a good thing. I will say, for there to be any chance of a bankruptcy leading to a positive outcome, there has to be some entity out there willing to buy the distressed company, reorganize it and take on it’s debt. Suffice it to say, there were noentities capable of doing this for our automotive industries. Thus, what Mitt was proposing would have been the total end of the American automotive industries. Not just the “Big – 3,” but all the other industries that support and rely on our automotive industries. Put another way? He was proposing manufacturing Armageddon for the United States.
Fortunately, President Obama took a different approach and the United States Government stepped in to save our Automotive industries. Mitt’s big lie came into play when he attempted to take credit for what happened by pretending that what the President did was exactly what he was suggesting. No it wasn’t!Mitt never suggested that the Government bail out the Automotive industries.
The lies continued. When our embassy in Libya was attacked, Mitt tried to get as much mileage as he possibly could from it by claiming that the President – yeah, the same President that killed Osama Bin Laden – was either too inept or trying to cover up something, to call it an “act of terrorism.” I’m not sure what he was trying to get at. Perhaps he was trying to say that the President has been faking it with regard to our successes taking out Al-Qaeda’s leadership? Nevertheless, he was severely embarrassed in the 2nd Presidential debate when he was “fact-checked” in the middle of his lie. Turns out there is video tape of the President calling the attacks terrorism the very next day in a “Rose Garden” press conference.
Mitt’s most egregious lie had to be his “Hail-Mary” pass at the end of his campaign where he claimed that Chrysler was secretly going to move the production of Jeeps to China. He released television and radio ads to this effect based on – far as I can tell – absolutely nothing! What he did was force Chrysler to weigh in and call his ads a lie!
October Surprise!
This years October surprise was delivered – if by anyone – God! Although tragic, Hurricane Sandy revealed all the lies the Republicans have been telling. The American people saw a President extend his hand in a bi-partisan way to a Governor who was one of the leading attack dogs for the Mitt Romney Campaign. Governor Christie did not have the luxury of playing partisan politics and showed himself to be grateful and appreciative of the Presidents competent handling of the disaster.
A Real President
One of the many lies told by certain Republican nitwits was that the President – who’s mother was white – doesn’t like white people. The American people saw our President holding and comforting a white lady who’d lost everything in the storm and promising her that he personally and the Federal Government would be with her and all those who suffered catastrophic loss, every step of the way until they recovered. This is the way things should be and the way they’re supposed to work.
FEMA
Ironically, during his primary campaign, the question of FEMA and “Disaster Relief” came up. Mitt’s Response? “We should do away with FEMA and send it back to the States and if possible privatize it. As you might imagine, Hurricane Sandy put Mitt’s position on FEMA front and center. Instead of giving a response or answering the questions, Mitt chose to duck, avoid and ignore the questions of the American People. Evidently, In Mitt-land, we don’t deserve any answers from his majestic presence.
I’M THE WHITE GUY!
When you add it all up. The only real argument Mitt Romney’s campaign delivered was, vote for me, I’m white and wouldn’t you really rather have a white president? That message may have been enough 10 years ago. However, America is different. It is more mature. It is definitely more brown and we are much more sophisticated. You can no longer simply assume that because someone is white, they share your views on race.
I am pleased to report, we have finally reached the place where many white people are not only put off by racism, they’re not afraid to call other white people out for it! If I must say so, the future of our nation is looking very bright indeed. When we all come together, there is absolutely nothing we cannot achieve.
First let me say by way of disclaimer, I am a devout Agnostic. You might say, “then you have no dog in this fight?” In one sense, that would be true. However although I do not subscribe to any system of belief, I live in a country where those in government not only do subscribe to systems of belief, but invite us to form opinions regarding their integrity and fitness for office based on their particular brand of faith. Since we are invited to use their professions of faith as a measuring stick for their fitness to lead us, it is only fair that we oblige them and examine, not only their beliefs, but how ardently they adhere to those beliefs. Likewise when people with the title of Evangelist share their faith with us, it is not beyond the pale to observe and examine their actions to determine if they actually believe in what they’re selling.
When Racism Trumps Christian Faith
Strange Bed Fellows Indeed
This past week “Evangelist to the Presidents,” Billy Graham and the heir to his ministry, Franklin Graham sat down with Governor Willard Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney is running for the office of President of these United States, so on the surface there is nothing strange or unusual about their meeting. Indeed the 93 year old Rev. Graham has met with every President since Eisenhower. What is unusual is what happened following that meeting.
On Rev. Graham’s website at that time there was a list of religious groups he considered to be “cults.” Mormonism was on that list along with Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Church of Scientology and others. Following that meeting, Mormonism was removed from that list. Why? What happened? What changed? When things seem unusual, it is often best to dig a little deeper. First, we need to take a step back and get a perspective on some things.
Moses Brings Down the Ten Commandments
Christianity has been a “no compromise” religion. If you trace it back through it’s roots in Judaism, the Christian God wrecked genocide on groups of people who did not believe in or worship him. The Old Testament of the Bible is rife with wars of aggression being waged against people for whom there was precious little mentioned in the way of provocation. You must remember, if you believe the whole “10 Commandments” thing with Moses, a mountain and God, the “10 Commandments” were given to the Jews, not the rest of the world. Thus, to punish people for not living up to a law they were never given in the first place, seems a bit peculiar does it not?
The Walls of Jericho Coming Down
It would be sort of like driving through a town in your shiny black truck, being stopped by the police, pulled out of your truck and then summarily shot! Why? Because driving a black colored vehicle is a crime punishable by immediate death in the town you’re driving through. Might have been nice to have known that before hand wouldn’t it? Remember the famous battle of Jericho? You know? Probably heard about it in Sunday School? People marched, trumpets blew, walls came crashing down, slaughter ensued… What did those people ever do to deserve what happened to them? If we’re going by the Biblical accounts, not a thing.
The Crusades
Saladin
Fast forward in time to the “Middle Ages.” You have the Crusades. If you drill down an actually analyze the issues, Saladin the Muslim Sultan of Egypt and Syria was an admirable person. He had no problem with Christian pilgrims coming to the “Holy Lands.” The problem was, the Roman Catholic Church simply could not abide the fact that Jerusalem was being controlled and run by people who were not Christian. Never mind the fact that the sites they considered holy were not being defiled but were equally revered by the Muslims. They had to go to war. Thousands of innocent people – civilians if you please – lost their lives for no good purpose. The wounds inflicted during the “Crusades” still haunt us today and influence the relationship between Islam and the West. Why all the bloodshed? Muslims believed differently than Christians. Same God. Same patriarchs but a different spin on things. Christians, Jews and Muslims all claim to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Odd that with so much in common, they simply cannot get along.
Thirty Years War
European Involvement in Thirty Years War
Fast forward again to the “Pre-Colonial” period. One of the longest lasting and most destructive wars in recorded history was what is known as the “Thirty Years War.” This was a war between Catholics and Protestants. It involved most of Europe at one time or another. Again, same God, same basic beliefs, but because one group had a different spin on things, they had to go to war and people had to die. The cost in lives and resources was tremendous.
Indeed, all the denominations we have today, your Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, all of them Protestants, could be said to have had their genesis in the “Thirty Years War.” It was this war that helped to solidify the lines as it were and the differences between these groups. The question I continually ask is, “how can all these people, reading from the same book, the “Holy Bible,” all come away with something different?
Mormonism
[KJV] Galatians 1:8
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
No, these are not really them. This is an artists depiction of what they might have looked like had they actually existed.
Mormonism in the grand scheme of things is a brand new man made religion with little to no basis in reality. It lacks the historical context that the other religions point to. Other religions regardless of how they interpret the archaeological data, at least have archaeological data they can point to. Mormonism does not. Those “Golden Tablets” supposedly delivered to Joseph Smith by the “Angel Moroni?” Well, supposedly they were taken back to heaven. Thus, they don’t exist. Even before they were magically transported back to heaven, you couldn’t see them if you were not a truebeliever. I don’t mean they wouldn’t let you see them. I mean you could be looking directly into the box they were supposed to by lying in. Only those who trulybelieved could see them. A delusion induced hallucination by any other name.
Mythical Battle Between the Lamanites and the Nephites
There is no archaeological evidence for any of the supposed battles claimed to have occurred between the “Lamanites and the Nephites.” No weapons, arrowheads, swords, shields all the things that we find from the sites of battles many thousands of years more remote in their historical context. What’s worse is, the science of DNA disproves the seminal Mormon claim that the Native Americans are actually descendants of lost tribes of Jews. Of course, Joseph Smith didn’t know about DNA or the science of genetics when he was making up his religion. Who did back at that time? He had absolutely no idea that a time would come when with just a simple cheek swab, we could pinpoint a person’s ancestry to almost any point on the globe. Not only that, but using DNA you can pull out all the different ethnic contributions that make up who you are.
We know that this never happened
The bottom line? The Native Americans are in no way, nor have they ever been related to Semitic people. Thus, they’re not some lost tribe of Jews. Of course, one never asks, how exactly do you lose a tribe of people? Has this put the lie to Mormonism? Of course not! Some people simply do not want to be confused with facts. When it comes to Judaism, Christianity and to some extent Islam, much of their lore is simply uncheckable. Can we prove that Abraham existed? No we cannot. We also cannot prove that he did not exist. Science and archaeological evidence strongly suggests it is all a myth, however the events occurred so far back in time that we can never be absolutely certain as to what happened.
Tom Green – Mormon Polygamist with his five wives
Unfortunately for Mormonism, this is not the case. We actually have the records of Joseph Smith’s run-ins with the law on fraud charges. We have records of how he actually died in a gun battle trying to escape from being lynched in jail. We have records of his numerous infidelities with the wives of other men. How surprising that the religion he founds has as one of it’s primary tenets of faith, polygamy. In fact to become a God with your very own planet to rule, you had to take many wives. The more the merrier as they say.
Irreconcilable Differences
The differences between Mormonism and orthodox Christian teachings, is simply staggering. Put another way, wars have been fought and thousands of people have died over disputes in theology that look specious by comparison. Christians teach that Jesus is the only begotten son of God.Mormons teachthat not only did God have other sons, Jesus and Lucifer are in fact brothers. Thus all humanity is caught up in a family dispute over a difference of opinions.
Poor Joseph, God would have been a hard act to follow.
Christianity teaches that God is a spirit and those who worship him, worship him in spirit and in truth. Mormonism teaches that God has a physical body with which he enjoys endless celestial sex with his numerous wives. Christianity teaches that Jesus was born of the “Virgin Mary” who conceived through a move of the “Holy Spirit.” Mormonism teaches that God – Elohim – came down in a physical body and had sex with Mary. Of course, if she were a virgin, she wouldn’t have been after that.
Had Joseph Smith been around during the Inquisition his theology would have received a warm reception.
The most staggering problem with Mormonism and in essence, what ought to be the deal breaker for even serious consideration as a religion is this fundamental error in logic. According to Mormonism, Elohim was born a human being to as yet unknown, unnamed parents who were of course gods. Elohim was elevated to God status following his death because of his adherence to the teachings of Mormonism.Did you catch that? How could Elohim the supposed creator of this Universe and this planet have followed the teachings of Mormonism when Joseph Smith had not been born and of course had yet to invent Mormonism? You say it was given to him by the angel Moroni? Where did Moroni get it? The whole scam… er, schemefalls apart with the application of a few very simple questions. Had Joseph Smith lived during the time of the Inquisition – damn shame he didn’t – he would have been summarily burned at the stake.
When Racism Trumps Christian Faith
“In the face of a common foe, traditional enemies will unite.”
So what on earth could have bridged the gap between Christianity and Mormonism? Who could have brought these two diametrically opposed theologies together? Who is the “unite-er and not the divider?” Who on this planet has the power to upend 2,000 years of Christian beliefs? Beliefs held so strongly that people have been willing to die for them? Whom could possibly do this?
President Barack Hussein Obama 44th President of the United States
There is but one man on this planet with the power to perform such a miracle. His name? President Barack Hussein Obama. Yes, his very presence, his very existence has caused racist white people so much distraught that possibly for the first time in recorded history, they’ve stopped fighting one another over the basis of their theological differences and have come together in unity to fight against the very thought of our first Black President having a second term in office. This phenomenon is one that should be studied for years to come. It should be of interest to political science students and theologians as well. When you look back over recorded history and realize how many wars have been fought and blood spilt over such minor issues as to whether or not one group had their baptismal formula correct or whether or not one needed to be fully immersed in water or simply have water poured over one’s head.
“I am not at all bothered by the fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon.”
The history of religion has been fraught with one war after the other over what a disinterested 3rd party would consider minor points of doctrine. After all, they all read from the same book, believe in the same God, who cares what comes first in a worship service? This is what makes these current events so damn miraculous! The differences between Mormon theology and Christian theology are not at all small. They’re huge! So, when Franklin Graham says he’s not at all bothered by the fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, there must be something else, some power working behind the scenes that can warp the very fabric of theological reality.
Racism
Racism has always been a part of Christianity
Our first clue to this mystery probably has to do with the fact that in spite of the fact that President Obama spent over 20 years in a Christian church, was baptized, there, married there, had his daughters Christened there, a portion of this nation still believes him to be a Muslim. In point of fact, there would be nothingwrong with him being a Muslim, but why do they insist on making him something he is not?
Islam is considered by many white people to be a religion for dark skinned people. Thus if they’re already racist, it carries a connotation when mentioned.
Islam is considered to be a religion for and of dark skinned people. When you say the word Muslim, in many white people’s minds, the word “Black” is inserted in front of it. Thus, Muslim becomes “Black Muslim.” The reality is, people of allraces practice the Islamic faith. However, to know this, you’d actually have to study a bit and become familiar with what Islam is. There are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today. You would think with that many people practicing a system of belief, you might want to know a little about what it is they believe.
Christian pilgrims participating in a group baptismal ritual in the river Jordan. Of course they’re white people, but as with Muslims, they could have well been any race of people.
There are a little over 2 billion Christians in the world. The difference in those numbers is actually negligible in the grand scheme of things. When you have a billion people on the planet who think anythingis important, it might be a good idea to become familiar with it. It is not so much what we say, not so much what people hear, the important things is what happens in their minds when they’re processing our words. Just as Islam is considered to be a religion practiced by dark skinned people, so too is Christianity considered to be the religion of white people. If I say to you, “he’s a good Christian man” when describing someone to you whom you’ve never met, what image pops into your mind? What race of person are you seeing? By the same token, if I were to describe someone as a good practicing Muslim, what image pops into your head? What is the race of the person you’re imagining?
Mormonism
Mormon Missionaries
The same is particularly true for Mormonism. If I told you to pick the Mormon out of a crowd, you would begin looking for a white person. Believe it or not, there are Black Mormons, nevertheless when you think of Mormons you do not consider Black people as being Mormon. The perception of a Mormon is a white male with no facial hair, wearing a white shirt, black slacks and a neck tie. If we were going to go all in on the stereotype, you’d be looking for a bicycle nearby. This is the image many people have of Mormons. At some point you were presented with it, probably can’t remember when or where and it’s been reinforced over time. Thus when you hear the word Mormons, that memory is automatically triggered.
Mormon Sister Wives
Of course there is the other popular image and that is of a group of women – “sister wives” – all with their hair similarly arranged, uncut, wearing shapeless, straight dresses that could easily be made at home. These are images which automatically come to mind whenever we’re presented with certain triggers. Is this true? Is this factual? It doesn’t matter. We operate from our perceptions. Racism flows from our perceptions. Our perceptions is where latent and often overt racism resides.
When Franklin Graham opines that President Obama may secretly be a Muslim, on what does he base his opinion? President Obama is rather fond of beer. Muslims like Mormons abstain from alcoholic beverages. President Obama is married to only one woman and has only been married to one woman. Many Muslims around the world just as do many Mormons, practice polygamy. President Obama believes the same gospel Franklin’s father has been preaching for over 63 years. Mitt Romney does not. Yet we now find these two as the strangest of bed fellows. Why?
It is clear that racial hatred long buried and obscured by the façade of Christianity has revealed it’s self at last. For your racial hatred to be so strong it will allow you to embrace with open arms what heretofore on your own website you called a cult. It must be strong indeed. Let’s be clear. Prior to this unholy alliance, had you asked either of the Grahams if there would be any Mormons in heaven, without hesitation they would of told you unequivocally no!Further they would have told you that anyone teaching the false gospel of Mormonism was leading people straight to hell and imperilling their immortal souls. If this is suddenly no longer true, then perhaps we ought to question the entire gospel the Grahams have been preaching all these years. Were they only in it for the money?
If you want to know what Mormons believe and teach, watch the following video presentation prepared by ex-Mormons based on their own documentation. If after watching this you conclude that people who sincerely believe the Christian message as outlined in the Bible, can embrace Mormonism as just another branch or denomination of the Christian faith, then all bets are off and we need to dispense with the Bible because it’s become meaningless psycho-babble.
Did Slavery actually benefit Black People? This silly narrative resurfaces from time to time, promoted by racist white people whom ironically enough, never seem to say this in the presence of Black people unless they’ve got security and strength in numbers close at hand. Presupposing this notion indicates not only an ingrained sociopathic racism, it reveals a paucity of historical knowledge and American history in particular. One might just as easily – in the spirit of a free exchange of ideas of course – ask if the Jewish Holocaust benefited the Jews? After all, they got the “Nation of Israel” out of the deal?
A beginning is a very delicate time… well, not really!
As with most atrocities in human history, this one too began with religion… the Catholic Church in particular.
“We grant you [Kings of Spain and Portugal] by these present documents, with our Apostolic Authority, full and free permission to invade, search out, capture, and subjugate the Saracens and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of Christ wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, counties, principalities, and other property […] and to reduce their persons into perpetual slavery.” __Papal Bull from Pope Nicholas V in 1452 known as the Dum Diversas
What the “Dum Diversas” did was usher in a new type of slavery. A type of slavery which had never before been seen in recorded human history. Chattel Slavery.Prior to this, Slaves had rights, they could own property, they could acquire skills or a trade, they knew the date of their release because slavery was not in perpetuity. They could even buy their freedom early if they were talented.
Under the aegis of the “Dum Diversas” once enslaved you were a slave for the rest of your life. You could never again own property. If you were born to parents who were enslaved, you were a slave merely by accident of birth. You were born without a future. Did slavery benefit Black people? Do you think being born into Slavery was a benefit?
One of the attendant myths is that most of the Slaves were sold to the slave traders by other Africans. Did any of this happen? To be sure, it did happen on occasion. However, when you look at the sheer numbers, it becomes immediately clear that the percentage of Slaves captured in battle and sold by other Africans becomes insignificant.
The enslavement of Africans was a booming business. As with all businesses, records were maintained. Profit and loss statements. From capture to being sold at auction was called “The Middle Passage.” During the 400+ years that Slavery was practiced in the Americas, by conservative estimates, over 100 million Africans lost their lives. These were Africans who never made it to the auction blocks to live out the rest of their lives under the misery and degradation of Slavery. Africans were considered expendable and replaceable.
Where the Slaves Went
The other thing to understand is, what became The “United States of America,” received no more than 4% of the Slaves. The bulk of the Slaves went to South America, the West Indies and a few went to Europe. The lions share of the Slaves went to the West Indies. Why? In a word, “Rum.” Slaves were brought in to work the sugar cane plantations. The sugar was used to make Rum. The Rum was sold back in Europe and in the United States. The drug of choice was alcohol in the form of Rum and just as with Cocaine today, the cost in human misery was staggering. Did Slavery benefit Black people? A lot of white people certainly got rich selling the Rum.
The Rum-Slave-Triangle
It was quite common for the slaves working the island sugar cane plantations to simply be worked literally to death. As far as they were concerned, they had an endless supply. No doubt it was the excessively harsh conditions that lead to the Slave revolts and uprisings that eventually led to the liberation which never occurred here. The Slaves in the islands had no choice. They were dead either way.
Slavery in these United States
Haitian Revolution – the beginning of the end of Slavery in the Caribbean
Had it not been for the Haitian Revolution, the Louisiana Purchase never would have happened. France needed the money to put down the Slaves who’d had enough in Haiti. Thus Napoleon made a deal with Jefferson which amounted to a little less than 3 cents an acre. The Louisiana Purchase solidified what was then only the seed of a notion. It was a concept that came to be known as “Manifest Destiny.”
Slaves clearing land for infrastructure expansion
Ask yourself, how did a budding set of colonies, leap forward, catch and surpass the much more mature and established industries of Europe? The simple answer is all the free labor provided by Slaves. The largest cost when it comes to expansion is in building your infrastructure. Your next concern is logistics. How do you supply “civilization” to those people who expand into newly opened territories? They will need food to get started, they will need axe heads, shovels, plows, saws, nails, hammers and a host of other things we rarely consider and take for granted.
Slaves with their children picking cotton.
The only reason the South was so ready to secede from the Union was, because they made heavy use of slave labor. They could always undercut European prices on quality textiles. Because of fear and the mechanisms of oppression and control, Slaves were denied access to educational opportunities. Thus, it was more difficult to make full use of them in the industrialized Northern States. The products of industry created in the North could not compete price wise with the older more mature industrial production in Europe.
10,000 Confederate bodies stretch into the distance. They’d rather die than work their own fields.
People forget that the entire reason for the Civil War had to do with trade tariffs. In order to protect the fledgling manufacturing industries from the predatory trade practices of Europe, the Government of the United States placed tariffs on incoming European industrial products. This levelled the playing field for American manufacturers. Europe in kind did the same thing which affected the price on textiles they were importing from our Southern States. Quite naturally this cut into the profit margins – which were already way out of line due to free labor – of the plantation owners and they went through the roof.
Picketts Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg
The reason they voted to secede was because they believed that they could then negotiate their old profit margins by claiming to no longer be part of these United States. The North disputed and that disagreement led to the Civil War. As the war went on and the body count rose, it became apparent to Abraham Lincoln and others, that the South could continue to fight – logistics – so long as they had a free labor source at home tending their fields, growing their crops and producing the goods and services they needed for their war efforts.
If you actually read the “Emancipation Proclamation,” you will note that it only applied to the Slaves in the rebellious Southern States. If you were a Slave in the North, it did not apply to you. Thus the notion that Abraham Lincoln freed the Slaves is specious on it’s face. His “Proclamation” applied to States he did not control.
Did Slavery Benefit Black People?
The stacking of human beings as though they were cargo.
One of the common arguments of racist is to compare the standard of living and the lifestyle of African Americans with people in various nations on the African continent. To be sure there is a remarkable difference. However, we need to examine some facts. In 1492 the entire European population was estimated to be at 60 million. Compare this figure to the 100 million Africans who lost their lives during the 400+ years the Atlantic Slave Trade was in business. There were more Africans murdered – never made it into enslavement – than the entire population of Europe. When you add to this slaughter, the number of Africans who actually were sold into Slavery, what we’re really talking about is an African genocide. This was the largest holocaustin recorded human history.
There is really only one true resource on this planet. It is the “Human Resource.” All the solutions to all our problems ultimately come from the human mind. They are applied through human ingenuity. Every white person who has ever lived in these United States, traces their ancestry back to Europe. You no doubt are familiar with the old time machine paradox? “Could you go back in time and murdered your grandfather before he met your grandmother?” The point acknowledges that if your grandparents never got together, you wouldn’t exist.
African children in poverty. Yet some white people say that slavery benefited Black people?
Keep this concept in mind when you’re looking at the African Holocaust. There were entire branches of the human family that were extinguished. Some of those minds that were aborted generations before they had the opportunity to be born, may have held the cure to death and ageing. They may have held the solution to a faster than light drive which would make interstellar and intergalactic exploration possible. They may have invented new forms of abundant, efficient clean energy. These marvels are not to be… or if they come may come too late.
Ever hear of “The Real McCoy?” His inventions were so good there were knock-offs.
Even with the racial discrimination that Black people – descendants of Africa – have faced here in America, their contributions have helped to make American society the society we enjoy today.
A few inventions by Black Inventors:
air conditioning unit Frederick M. Jones July 12, 1949
almanac Benjamin Banneker Approx 1791
auto cut-off switch Granville T. Woods January 1, 1839
auto fishing device G. Cook May 30, 1899
automatic gear shift Richard Spikes February 28, 1932
baby buggy W.H. Richardson June 18, 1899
bicycle frame L.R. Johnson October 10, 1899
biscuit cutter A.P. Ashbourne November 30, 1875
blood plasma bag Charles Drew Approx. 1945
cellular phone Henry T. Sampson July 6, 1971
chamber commode T. Elkins January 3, 1897
clothes dryer G. T. Sampson June 6, 1862
curtain rod S. R. Scratton November 30, 1889
curtain rod support William S. Grant August 4, 1896
door knob O. Dorsey December 10, 1878
door stop O. Dorsey December 10, 1878
dust pan Lawrence P. Ray August 3, 1897
egg beater Willie Johnson February 5, 1884
electric lampbulb Lewis Latimer March 21, 1882
elevator Alexander Miles October 11, 1867
eye protector P. Johnson November 2, 1880
fire escape ladder J. W. Winters May 7, 1878
fire extinguisher T. Marshall October 26, 1872
folding bed L. C. Bailey July 18, 1899
folding chair Brody & Surgwar June 11, 1889
fountain pen W. B. Purvis January 7, 1890
furniture caster O. A. Fisher 1878
gas mask Garrett Morgan October 13, 1914
golf tee T. Grant December 12, 1899
guitar Robert F. Flemming, Jr. March 3, 1886
hair brush Lydia O. Newman November 15, 18–
hand stamp Walter B. Purvis February 27 1883
horse shoe J. Ricks March 30, 1885
ice cream scooper A. L. Cralle February 2, 1897
improv. sugar making Norbet Rillieux December 10, 1846
insect-destroyer gun A. C. Richard February 28, 1899
ironing board Sarah Boone December 30, 1887
key chain F. J. Loudin January 9, 1894
lantern Michael C. Harvey August 19, 1884
lawn mower L. A. Burr May 19, 1889
lawn sprinkler J. W. Smith May 4, 1897
lemon squeezer J. Thomas White December 8, 1893
lock W. A. Martin July 23, 18–
lubricating cup Ellijah McCoy November 15, 1895
lunch pail James Robinson 1887
mail box Paul L. Downing October 27, 1891
mop Thomas W. Stewart June 11, 1893
motor Frederick M. Jones June 27, 1939
peanut butter George Washington Carver 1896
pencil sharpener J. L. Love November 23, 1897
phone transmitter Granville T. Woods December 2, 1884
record player arm Joseph H. Dickenson January 8, 1819
refrigerator J. Standard June 14, 1891
riding saddles W. D. Davis October 6, 1895
rolling pin John W. Reed 1864
shampoo headrest C. O. Bailiff October 11, 1898
spark plug Edmond Berger February 2, 1839
stethoscope Imhotep Ancient Egypt
stove T. A. Carrington July 25, 1876
straightening comb Madam C. J. Walker Approx 1905
street sweeper Charles B. Brooks March 17, 1890
thermostat control Frederick M. Jones February 23, 1960
traffic light Garrett Morgan November 20, 1923
tricycle M. A. Cherry May 6, 1886
tricycle M. A. Cherry May 6, 1886
Did Slavery benefit Black people? It sure benefited white people. The above list is but a fewof the many things invented by Black people that we use every day. You probably are using something invented by a Black person right now. The typewriter for instance is what we call a “foundational invention.” Without the typewriter you wouldn’t have a computer keyboard. The typewriter had to come first.
What if there had been a European Holocaust?
The further back you prune a branch, the more leaves you remove from the tree. All those secondary and tertiary branches that split off, and the branches that split off from them are removed the closer to the trunk you make your cut.
1912 Ford Model T
If an ancestor of Henry Ford had died or Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, they would not exist. Imagine what the world would look like today. If an ancestor of the Wright brothers had been killed, would we have Jet airliners today? Think of some of the people who invented vaccines, or made earth changing discoveries, if their ancestors had been swept up and murdered, what
iPhone 5
would the world look like today?
When you look at Africa, you’re looking at a continent that was plundered of it’s most precious of all resources, the human resource. The things that Africans may have created and invented that would have benefited the entire planet have now been lost to racist greed and the capitalism of human bondage. We are paying for this today whether you realize it or not. I have listed but a few of the contributions that the descendants of Africa have made to Western Civilization… if we can call it that. Even so, imagine what contributions they might have made had they been treated equally, and had access to the same educational opportunities as their white counterparts. A mind is truly a terrible thing to waste. Remember this when some racist fool deigns to open his mouth and spew hate speech with a smile. The answer to the question is, “No, Slavery did not benefit Black people. It benefited white people and in the process may have mortally wounded humanity.”
This was forwarded to me by my sister. After reading it, I thought this an appropriate forum to share this in. Like the person who first began forwarding this, it speaks the sentiments of my heart as well. Since the author is unknown, feel free to share it if you agree.
I don’t think anyone was under some real illusion that the election of Barack Obama actually means the end of racism in America . I’m pretty sure that the president-elect knew it better than anyone. After all, he saw it every day, from the moment he announced his candidacy. To some degree, he saw it within his own party during the primaries. And he saw it in all ugliness during the general election. For half of this country, he was “That One”. No matter how big and clear his victory was. No matter how smart he is. No matter how decent he is. No matter what a true patriot he is. No matter how optimistic and positive his vision for America was. All that didn’t matter. Because at the end of the day, he was still black.
I’m quite old. I remember, vaguely, where my parents were on November 22, 1963. I’ve seen so many presidents. Some were feared, some were hated, some were adored, some popular and some not. But all of them, without exception, were treated with the highest respect deserving the office of the president of the United States .
That is until a black man won the right to occupy this office. It’s been 13 months now, and in the eyes of so many, Barack Obama is still that one. He is being disrespected and at the same time being held to the highest standard of any president I’ve ever seen – and not just by the Republican side! He has to perform three times better than any president in history, and even that may not be enough.
For the media, he is many more times just “Obama” than “President Obama”. They create scandals out of nothing issues. It took them at least 6 years to start giving Bush a small part of the shit he deserved. It took them 6 months to begin crap all over Obama because he’s yet to fix the catastrophe that was left for him.
They use condescending tones when they talk about him, and only mildly less condescending when they talk TO him. With anyone else, CNN wouldn’t dare go to commercials every time the president speaks, like they did during that summit on Thursday. They wouldn’t dare be counting how many minutes George Bush or Bill Clinton were talking. Chris Mathews wouldn’t dare make an issue out of Ronald Regan calling members of congress by their first name, like he is not actually the president. They fully cooperate with the Right-Wing smear machine when it comes to president Obama’s national security performance – even if almost every independent and military expert actually thinks that he’s a terrific Commander-in-Chief. You’ll never see them on TV, and virtually no one from the Left, in congress and outside, defend the president on this matter.
I don’t care about the Far-Right. They’re just crazy ignorant Neanderthals. It’s the way the beltway and the mainstream treats this president that is shocking. On Thursday, almost every Republican had no trouble interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. They looked like they’re going to vomit every time they had to say “Mr. president”. They all had this Eric-Cantor-Smirk whenever he spoke. Then they went out and started to spit their stupid talking points, to the delight of the media. Sarah Palin, a woman who can hardly read, thinks that he was “arrogant” towards John McCain, and somehow this is an important news. Because you see, “Obama’s Arrogance” is the talking point of the day.
Oh, those talking points. He is arrogant (because he knows the facts better than all of them combined). He is an elitist (because he uses big words that they don’t understand). He is weak on national security (because he actually thinks about the consequences). He divides the country (well, he did that the day he had the audacity to win the election). Worst of all, he actually thinks that he’s the president. He even dared to say so on Thursday. How arrogant of him. You’d think that previous presidents didn’t have any ego. Somehow it turned out that the one president who treats even his biggest opponents with the utmost respect – is the arrogant one. I wonder why?
I expected that his winning the Presidency would bring out some ugliness, but it’s been far worse than I imagined. The racism coming from the Right is obviously clear and shameless, but there’s also some hidden and maybe subconscious and disturbing underline tone behind some of the things that I read here and throughout the Left blogosphere, even before the end of Obama’s first year – ‘He’s weak, he’s spineless, he’s got no balls, primary him in 2012’. It’ll be dishonest to deny that.
The fact is that for millions in America , Barack Obama is this uppity black man (Not even a “real” black), who received good education only due to affirmative action, and has no right to litter the sacred Oval Office with his skin color. They just can’t accept the fact that the president is a black man, who unlike his predecessor, was actually legally elected. But what’s really sad is that it’s not just the fringe, its deep deep in mainstream America .
Barack Obama’s ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is and He never makes a mistake.
Sometimes, they make me feel ashamed to be a white man!!
