On Racism

Seems to me that every time a person of any other race than "white" has committed a crime, been "offended", been criticized, or simply just doesn't get their way, that rampant cries of racism seem to sprout from many of their mouths without hesitation. These very same people are allegedly the "Liberals" that are supposed to be "open minded". How many times during the recent election was the race card played?? (rhetorical question) WHO, exactly, was the first one to play the race card??

It has come to my attention from a couple of other blogs that there are a few things going on. They both bug the hell out of me. The first one is about an election to FORCE the L.A. police to OBEY the law. Why on Earth should we need to VOTE on a subject that is already law?? Have some City Administrators decided that they are above the law?? Apparently. Why is it deemed "racist" to have our law enforcement do their freaking jobs ??

Then we have my friend, Texas Fred, blogging on the hyphenated American. I must admit that I pretty much agree with his sentiments in this post. I've often said similar, myself. I see that this is the bigger problem. Americans are divided. We can never truly come together as a country when we have become this divided. I recall reading stories about WWII and the Americans of German & Japanese descent went to fight for America. They weren't "divided". They didn't call themselves Japanese-Americans or German- Americans. They were just "Americans" All of this division seems to perpetuate the growing racism that we are seeing today. In addition, we seem to have somehow added in a "hate" factor. I was born and raised in Texas, a "typical" Southern State. I didn't KNOW racism until I joined the Navy. I didn't hate blacks or Mexicans. Now, there have been people that I just didn't like, but let me assure you, it has exactly ZERO to do with the color of their skin. What I've grown to disdain is how we are having other folks' race/ethnic background/ sexual preferences FORCED down our throats. The words of John Wayne (or whoever wrote the poem for him) seem to come to my mind pretty quickly. They still ring true today:

"The Hyphen, Webster's Dictionary defines,
Is a symbol used to divide a
compound word or a single word.
So it seems to me that when a man calls himself
An "Afro-American," a "Mexican-American,"
"Italian-American," An "Irish-American," "Jewish-American,"
What he's sayin' is, "I'm a divided American."

Well, we all came from other places,
Different creeds and different races,
To form a nation...to become as one,
Yet look at the harm a line has done -
A simple little line, and yet
As divisive as a line can get.
A crooked cross the Nazis flew,
And the Russian hammer and sickle too-
Time bombs in the lives of Man;
But none of these could ever fan
The flames of hatred faster than
The Hyphen.

The Russian hammer built a wall
That locks men's hearts from freedom's call.
A crooked cross flew overhead
Above twenty million tragic dead-
Among them men from this great nation,
Who died for freedom's preservation.
A hyphen is a line that's small;
It can be a bridge or be a wall.
A bridge can save you lots of time;
A wall you always have to climb.
The road to liberty lies true.
The Hyphen's use is up to you.

Used as a bridge, it can span
All the differences of Man.
Being free in mind and soul
Should be our most important goal.
If you use The Hyphen as a wall,
You'll make your life mean...and small.
An American is a special breed,
Whose people came to her in need.
They came to her that they might find
A world where they'd have peace of mind.
Where men are equal...and something more-
Stand taller than they stood before.

So you be wise in your decision,
And that little line won't cause division.
Let's join hands with one another...
For in this land, each man's your brother.
United we stand...divided we fall.
WE'RE AMERICANS...and that says it all."