I have been out of circulation on the blog front for a few weeks. I confess that I let real life intrude. I usually spend my early mornings doing this, getting my thoughts and feelings straight. But, I have been working on end of year and start of year tasks for work, and getting myself better organized and sorted out for the year.
So, I have not been diligent at writing things that have nagged at me. That does not indicate that things have not nagged at me. There is a lot of stuff in there percolating. This morning it is a bit of a small eruption, about things that do not matter at all, but drive a lot of conversation, so maybe they do matter and should not be ignored.
I, along with 113 million other Americans, if you believe statistics, watched the Super Bowl. Unlike 99.999% of the rest of the population, I watched it to the last miserable, underwhelming and piss poor football snap. It was the ugliest Super Bowl I can remember since the parade of whippings the NFC hung on the AFC in the 80's and early 90's. The NFL should be sad about the quality of the football on display, the quality of the officiating (for the whole season) and the quality of the league they have assembled. There is debate going on about whether Greg Hardy should be in the league, along with AP and Big Ben. There was a time that they would not, and instantaneously. It was a time of professionalism, adult accountability and good stewardship. The quality of the management is directly related to the quality of the product, in every aspect.
It is for the same reason I would strongly suggest you never buy a Volkswagon, and should refuse to purchase a car that has that Takawhatever air bag deployment system. Poor management and management accountability translate directly to quality of product. If you heard about the kind of stuff that went on with the GM ignition switch or the air bag fiasco, at a pharmaceutical company, would you take that medicine?
That, all is a truth in my mind, but not the point of this missive. I want to call out the racism involved in the half time show. Let us consider the response if Kid Rock had done a half time show, and come out in Confederate grey battle dress, with the grey kewpie hat, wrapped in the Confederate flag, or just a white sheet and hood, just to promote history and heritage (it is the 150th anniversary of the end of the recent unpleasantness). Or imagine the Red Hot Chili Peppers came out in thobes and ghutras and egals (those are the proper names for the long robe Muslim men wear, and the head dress). You know, as protest to the treatment of poor Muslims the world over by imperialistic forces.
Can you imagine just one tenth of the explosion that would occur from either of those jackass stunts? (And, I am not implying RCHP would do this, but Kid Rock damn sure would.) There would be the equivalent of a public lynching and probably riots in places that can least afford additional damage to their cities and infrastructure. I don't know that I would be upset at the outcry. It would be tasteless, ridiculous and deserving of ridicule and anger.
It is development of a false narrative, that these groups are not key constituents of documented violence and racial tension and discrimination. These are white and brown groups, that degenerated into war that America has waged, given blood to end and to abate. It is serious. If the above described incidents were to occur, there would likely be grounds for prosecution for inciting public unrest and riot. Like the proverbial "FIRE" in a crowded theatre.
How is the mess that Beyonce put on any different from what I described? It is not a myth that the Black Panthers are a group that were directly responsible for violence, death of civilians and police, contributed to civil unrest and continue to advocate violent overthrow of government institutions and public safety. These are documented facts proven in court. And, spare me the tripe about they were black so the court convicted them. That is a worthwhile argument for the 16 year old kid popped for selling crack on a street corner, but not corporate terrorists defended by the best attorneys stolen money can buy.
It was sickening and should be called out for what it is. It is race baiting. There is nothing celebratory in the life of Malcolm X or the organization known as the Black Panthers. To assert there is, is the equivalent of me asserting that we should celebrate Nathan Bedford Forrest, because of his impressive military exploits (which he had, legitimately). But, he was a crazy, scary race terrorist that contributed to the material crimes against innocent minorities. He is the American example of the hate crime, not a treasured ancestor.
NBF, JEB Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, these are great military leaders, and it is appropriate to study their tactics and leadership. They had the wrong attitude and the wrong beliefs. They were imperfect, and should not be held up as a tonic to the world, or examples of what we should emulate. They just should not. I am not ashamed of my family's participation in the Confederate cause. Some died to defend it. But, they were wrong. I admit that. It is what separates me from them, and what indicates my education and modern awareness.
Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, these are men of the same ilk as Forrest, Stewart, Jackson, Lee. I don't know that they were even very good at insurgency or radicalization, which may explain why they are not well studied and understood. You can be wrong and be the inspiration for study and understanding. Many of our best minds tried to understand Manson and his mania and charisma. I am not comparing any of these people to Manson, only that even terribly wrong behavior of uncommon significance is studied and understood.
In my opinion, Sherman is responsible for more death and destruction than any other American. His brand of total warfare was studied and perfected by many armies and generals. It is still practiced today. (Being a variant of ancient warfare, I do not claim Sherman invented it, but he applied modern technology to the application.)
All this is by way of saying this is not a black and white, racial issue. I do not misunderstand Beyonce's point and purpose because of the level of melatonin in my skin. I understand her point and purpose because I know history, the breadth and width of flawed and unsavory people of all shades and all stripes. Before you partake of political statement and demonstration, you owe it to yourself to understand for yourself what you are espousing. Celebrating the anniversary of a home grown, internal terrorist organization that actively participated in crime against all races, is sketchy at best, and downright stupid at its core.
Listening to smooth voices that claim to have understanding, that lay one side of the equation open, is dangerous. I do not deny that the FBI and the government were against the Panthers, like they are against Al Qaeda. I lump them together for the same aims and the same tactics championed. There were excesses and over prosecution. But, there was also much more that was never prosecuted that indicates significant issue with the validity of the Panther organization. There was plenty of documented terrorism, extortion, rape, riot, murder and theft, all against the black community. Ignore the threat the government saw, this was an organization that was a cancer and an injury to the black community. Proven in local courts, local juries, rock solid evidence, charges not brought by the FBI or US Attorneys.
Ignorance is never an excuse for public displays. If you are given a stage that reaches 113 million people, maybe billions world wide, and you are going to engage in political expression, you are charged with the obligation to understand what is behind that expression. This was not a display of black pride or black power. It was a misinformed fool, dancing a jig for her handlers, railing against a system that she did not study well enough to understand her condemnation. She had full police escort, to and from the stadium, yet felt obliged to decry the police and celebrate the group most responsible for the combative attitude in the black community that is contributing to unnecessary deaths to this day.
It made me sick. Not because I disagree with her opinions, which I do. She is absolutely entitled to support the Black Panthers and believe what they stand for and espouse. Awesome. But, the double standard of not being able to call it out, because it is okay because she is black, that is unAmerican. And if you are involved in that, you ought to understand why it only contributes to the continued distancing of the African American community from the growth of the American community as a whole.
Regardless of what is said and who is saying it, or who is listening, actual output trumps rhetoric. There is a gap, a huge gap, between the communities of color and the larger white community in America. There are white people, like me, that see that gap, despair of that gap and desire to close that gap. Not because I want votes, nor feel altruistic, but because it is unAmerican to see that gap anywhere. It offends my patriotism. Yet, the African American community continues to do all that it can to alienate me and those like me. The uber liberal, fake black NAACP members that crawl through our society are immune. I am not. If you cannot help yourself, if you can not be societally aware enough to understand what you say, there is no help or hope for you. When the bulk of America believes that, your struggle is most definitely real and deserved. You are entitled to it at that point.
I do not celebrate those that fought for slavery. I respect their skills and talents. I do not celebrate those that argue for discrimination or heritage and history. Masking ignorance with cries of personal rights is disgusting. I recognize the flaws in those around me, and hope that in spite of them, and the flaws in myself, we can develop a path forward that improves and impacts all of America. I just wish that was the real attitude of those that need the most help. If you cannot see the plank in your own eye, how can you help your neighbor with the splinter in theirs?
So, no, Beyonce is not excused. No, it is not illegal, but it is disingenuous and disgusting. Just because you are allowed to do something, does not mean that you should do something. And, if someone should make a poor decision as to how to utilize the massive audience that is assembled and paid for by an organization, that organization has an obligation to call it out. The NFL is okay with murderers, cheaters, wife beaters, child beaters, rapists, and I guess ideologically retarded performances. Not a peep. And not likely to change. Paying some big bucks to people that should not be associated with a federally protected brand. It is appalling.
Yes, my anger is not just at individuals. But, how do you change it? You just don't stand for it. And you don't let the uninformed that utilize the race card and the white privilege card and the ignorance excuse, stop you from calling it out. It is uncomfortable, because everyone knows you are right. Most just stay silent, because what is the use? I believe that in America, the obligation to speak is what drives us to improve and overcome.
50 years ago, my uncle said something incredibly prophetic. "Give it 50 years, and welfare will wipe out whole sections of DC, Detroit and LA. They won't survive it." That is not something I have ever been very proud of coming from my family, as I saw it as racist, and at its core it probably was. That did not change the evidence of the truth of the statement. The idea that entitlement comes from a color or a long dead history is incompatible with the American code of beliefs. You are not entitled, you are given opportunity. If that opportunity is stolen, then you are deserved of consideration for additional help. That is not entitlement. Entitlement is a cancer eating our community of poverty from the inside.
Those that have overcome it, are contributing to the cancer, by grandstanding and not understanding what their words and actions entail. The saddest part, 98% of the people watching the Super Bowl just considered it another weird costume by another oversexed, underdressed celebrity. They did not see a difference between Beyonce and Lady Gaga. I did not like Lady Gaga's hair or clothes, but they were just not my taste. I thought her version of the National Anthem was spot on, inspired and maybe one of the very best I have ever heard. The Hunger Games costume was just mildly distracting.
If you don't see a difference between Beyonce and Gaga, your high school civics teacher, your high school social studies teachers, your high school English teacher failed you. Your parents did not step up and fill the gap. Discernment and analysis are dying in this nation. We just like the way Beyonce shakes the bandoliers of magnums, we don't pay any attention to the statement. Then we don't understand why Ferguson happens, why Baltimore happens. We don't understand the steady drum beat of racism that pervades our communities of color, and we do not call it out. We just duck our heads and run when racism is thrown around, too uncomfortable. We reap what we sow when we do that. It has tired me out, and is not right
What Beyonce did was ignorant, unAmerican and wrong. I would love to understand how it is different from that. Even if your argument is that I am not black, I don't understand, fine. I think that is lazy arguing, but explain it to me. I, maybe alone in the world, am a white, middle class, middle aged man that desperately wants to understand. I don't want to give you a damn thing but my understanding and my help. I will go to the end of the argument with you, if you make me understand it. If you make me understand it, you can make anyone understand it. Imagine how awesome that world would be.
GLYASDI
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