Obligations, Responsibilities

In recent days, I have come across several examples of people who served in the military using the phrase "I fought for your rights" in response to those who disagree with them on matters of race, politics, or protest...almost always from people taking the most conservative stance on those issues.

I honor, respect, and thank those who have served in the military, such as my late father, who was a SeaBee in WW2, my late father-in-law, who retired as a full colonel from the Army, and my niece, a West Point graduate who is currently a captain in the Army Reserve and has taught at her alma mater. But having worn the uniform of your country does not excuse you when you act in a manner that sullies that uniform.

You have an obligation, a responsibility, not to use that service as a cover for your racism, your disrespect for those who honestly disagree with you, your wholesale disregard for the values of the nation you say you fought for. Don't tell me you fought for my right to protest while you simultaneously tell me I shouldn't be protesting. Don't tell me you fought for my right to vote while you simultaneously support those who would deny that right to others.

Live up to the oath you took when you put on that uniform and performed that service you claim to be proud of.

"Invaded?"

This is a follow-up to yesterday's post about the Black Lives Matter march and rally in Ridley, where I live.

Yesterday, a counter-rally (unfortunately, much bigger) was held at the site of the police station...and while it appeared to be peaceful and the organizers made all the right noises about "only supporting the police" (see the article in today's Daily Times--I'd link to it, but the paper only allows me to read three articles on line a month),  including a statement from chief organizer Joe Carafa, who said, "What happened yesterday had nothing to do with us." But it was clear that many of the attendees were the same people who screamed, shouted obscenities, and attempted to disrupt the BLM march--including some pick-up trucks that were identified as the same ones that deliberately spouted black exhaust at the marchers on Saturday.

More disturbing perhaps were a couple of comments in the "Sound-Off" column this morning, a feature in which people can call or e-mail and make anonymous remarks.  One caller proudly announced "I was there and flying a Confederate flag, why is it wrong?" Well, my friend, if you have to ask, you clearly will never get it.

Even worse, though, was this one: "We have our rights. This is our home. We don't want it invaded and we can stand up for ourselves...." [emphasis added].

"Invaded?" If that is the way you speak and think of your fellow citizens exercising their rights, then you don't have any idea what the United States of America is about.

Within the Gates

Jill and I were discussing the events in St. Louis over the weekend, in which the two wealthy lawyers "defended their home" from protesters moving through their gated community, by pointing firearms at them. Jill--while acknowledging that the use of firearms was inappropriate--tried to see it from the "defenders" point of view. They had spent a literal fortune to restore their home--a mansion that once belonged to the Busch family of brewery fame--to its former glory; they felt they had much to protect. And then we got into the whole question of gated communities...and especially the idea that the mayor of St. Louis (whose home was the eventual destination of the protest) lives in that same gated community.

I had to think about why gated communities offend me....and I've finally come up with an answer. Those who live in a gated community want all the advantages of living in a municipal environment--police and fire protection, museums and theaters nearby, paved streets, sewer and water utilities, etc.--but none of the disadvantages--people you don't know walking on your street, for example. If you want to live that way, move out to a rural area and build yourself an estate surrounded by acres of open land--but don't expect to be able to wall yourself off from the rest of humanity in the middle of a densely populated urban area.

And the mayor living there? I can see that the mayor may need added protection...but that's why many cities have "executive mansions" (like Gracie Mansion in NYC) for the mayor to occupy while he/she is in office. But to live in a neighborhood that the vast majority of her constituents have no access to? Is she afraid of her fellow citizens?

Your thoughts?

You've Got to Be Taught

In a recent Facebook posting, I objected to the idea that all white people are inherently racist, because of the privilege they have had in not being immediately subjected to prejudice because of their appearance. To me, that is just as bad as saying that all black people are inherently lazy, all Asians inherently hard-working, or any other claim made about the inherent characteristics of any entire group of people.

In 1949, Richard Rodgers wrote the following lyrics for South Pacific:

You've got to be taught to hate and fear
You've got to be taught from year to year
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught 

You've got to be taught to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
Or people whose skin is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught 

You've got to be taught before it's too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be carefully taught

I firmly believe that....and I believe it because I was not so taught; despite relatives who held such beliefs, my parents--especially my mother--impressed upon me that  every single person I met was to be judged on his own merits and not by what group he was part of.

We lived in a neighborhood that was primarily white, but bordered on others that were mixed and even primarily black. My elementary school was probably about five percent black; my junior high school and high school more likely 50 percent black, Latino (we called them Hispanic back then), and other non-white ethnic groups. I was beaten up more than once in those 12 years--but it was never by a non-white kid...it was always by kids who looked a lot like me.

So, I was taught to be afraid, but not of people who looked differently, but of people who thought differently.