Have you ever been in a bad relationship and couldn't figure out how to get out of it alive or without serving the rest of your life in prison for making them disappear? I now have a slight idea of what it must feel like to be, or have been in a verbally, mentally or physically abusive relationship with someone full of hate and anger if they didn't get their way 100% of the time. When I watch old movies, they show how one simple word could piss off one's mate and before you know it the back of a hand, a foot on your neck, or a fist to your belly is felt against the body. Most partners or spouses of physical abuse often end in death. Well, that sums up how I have felt most of my life being born and growing up in a country that I loved and believed in but it hated me because of the colour of my skin. So, I decided that it was time for a divorce.
Only now do I understand why black parents and grandparents avoid the topic of racism and discrimination because it was much tougher in their time. Elders only wanted the best for the young black children, hoping that they would be the ones to make things better for generations to come. What they didn't understand was if the true lessons were taught to us at a young age, we would be better prepared for the racism today. Instead, the past 2 years have been filled with me basically eating books about slavery and black history. It didn't stop there, I have also been eating books and digesting documentaries about Native Americans or Indigenous people, as well as everything on the abuse and mistreatment of Latinos. The lies that have been created to define people of colour actually define many in the so-called superior race. They say people of colour are lazy, untrustworthy, and need to go back to their country. In all honesty, those who consider themselves to be a part of the fake dominant race should consider going back to the country they came from, but I think many of them have no idea where that would be or if they would be accepted back in many of those countries that wouldn't put up with the racist crap that has been allowed in America for over 300 years.
Not long ago I enrolled in an eleven-week online class called, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, taught by the author of the book, Dr. Joy DeGruy. The class changed my life and answered many life questions for me on why black and brown people are hated so much in American society. It started a very long time ago during slavery. We all know that lots of white people became wealthy as a result of free slave labour. Slavery existed for a long time, too long to be honest, all for money. Slaves were treated worse than animals. They were beaten daily for no reason, raped, abused and sold. Children born from rapes were considered free slave labour.
At the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the enslavement of people not only remained legal in all thirteen British colonies, but it also continued to play a significant role in their economies and societies. The institution of slavery in America was firmly established as limited to persons of African ancestry. As a result, the seeds of white supremacy were sown. Whites believed they were the dominant race and taught their children the same lies which are still believed today. Even when the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1789, very few black people and no enslaved people were allowed to vote or own property. This became law. The Civil War caused lots of heartache to the plantation owners who felt that their livelihood was being threatened although they never paid any of the slaves a salary for their hard labour. Fought between northern states loyal to the Union and southern states that had seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America, the Civil War was lasted from 1861 to 1865. The South lost the war but continued to hold on to their ridiculous ideas that they are the dominate race and no one is better if their skin is not white. When the war ended, the Constitution was amended to free the slaves, to assure equal protection under the law for American citizens, and to grant black men the right to vote. I learned in my class that the Constitution was flawed from the beginning and the so-called founding fathers were made up mostly of slave owners. If you get a chance, review the Constitution, you may be surprised to learn that many of the laws written a long time ago still exist and are used today. For example, the citizen arrest law, the right to kill a black person if you are white and feel threatened, and the right to stand your ground. These laws were hidden or disguised for a reason. What do you think would happen if a black man or woman started using these laws and standing their ground, killing white people if they felt threatened or questioning every white person like the so-called racist women called Karens are doing today? Frankly, they haven't come in contact with the right black person or as they would say, Nigger yet because it would be their last day breathing or uttering another stupid derogatory term at anyone.
With the recent passing of U.S. Representative John Lewis from Georgia, I couldn't help but think what it would have been like if mobile devices existed at that time and would it have changed anything that happened during that time. We have mobile devices now recording and videotaping the cruelty and abuse of police against peaceful protesters. I am still waiting on the results. Why are white people so scared of losing their perceived power and privileges? If they are the superior race; they should be able to excel with all the special privileges that they give to each other just for being white. It makes you scratch your head when police officers allow Ku Klux Klan members and white supremacist groups to attend events and carry military weapons fully loaded and ready for use, yet they shoot rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowds of peaceful protestors marching for justice at the Black Lives Matter demonstrations. That's when I started to believe that many police forces and officers slipped out of their white sheet and pillow case outfit and are in a blue uniform costume pretending to protect everyone, but really only protecting a certain part of the population that looks like them. It's time to re-evaluate police departments all over the world and get rid of all the corruption. Once police departments are defunded, I truly believe that racist cops will become the agitators to cause problems and frame black people for their crimes so they can trick consumers in believing they made the wrong decision by defunding them. It's not the wrong decision. The right decision would be to build a force all over the country and world built on integrity and trust. It all needs to be redefined with everyone at the table making decisions for all people and not just some people.
Today, I have a better understanding of what civil rights activists went through. It's amazing to me how they never gave up the fight after being beaten, kicked, thrown in jail, yelled at with nasty derogatory terms, hanged from trees and even murdered by Klan members. But they never gave up. It's the reason I am still here today and why we all continue to survive and rise. None of these lessons were taught in any of the schools for fear that the truth would be told to black children. There are so many great civil rights leaders that I want to acknowledge for their strength, power, commitment, integrity and love for generations to come. The list could go on forever, but I will list a few that stand out, but please know there are many who participated and many that were murdered standing for truth. Praise to:
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Malcolm X
John Lewis
A. Philip Randolph
James Farmer
Rosa Parks
Paul Roberson
Maya Angelou
Medgar Evers
W.E.B. Dubois
Richard Loving
Percy Julian
Barbara Jordan
Hank Aaron
Jimmy Lee Jackson
Stokely Carmichael
Harry Belafonte
Jesse Jackson
Nelson Mandela
Thurgood Marshall
James Meredith
Sidney Poitier
Ruby Bridges
Special praise goes out to my two heroines – Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.
This week I started reading an amazing book that I highly recommend called, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, the first woman of African American heritage to win the Pulitzer Prize. She is also a journalist with the New York Times. In her book, Wilkerson shared, "Racism is an insufficient term for the systemic oppression of black people in America." She adds, "Racism in the U.S. is best understood as a caste system that helps us to understand how we got to where we are today. The United States is a rigid social hierarchy that depends on psychological, as well as a legal system of enforcement." It all makes perfect sense and really helps me to understand the absurdity of the caste system. This is a book that I highly recommend reading with a group of good friends so that it can be discussed.
Recently, Wilkerson was interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR. The topic was, It's More Than Racism, where she explains the Caste System. If you are not tempted yet to purchase the book Caste, this should do it. Wilkerson teaches us in her book that, "Throughout human history three caste systems stand out. The tragically accelerated, chilling, and officially vanquished caste system of Nazi Germany, the lingering millennia-long caste system of India, and the shape-shifting, unspoken, race-based caste pyramid in the United States. Each version relied on stigmatising those deemed inferior to justify the dehumanisation necessary to keep the lowest-ranked people at the bottom in order to rationalise the protocols of enforcement." I love with this writer.
Step back for a moment and re-examine the last three years of the Trump administration in America. It has been a presidency based on massive lies to create hate and anger within a group of people, motivating them to go out and commit crimes. He has encouraged racism and destroyed the reputation of a once great country to be a laughing stock by every other country in the world. If that was his plan then he has been successful. He is without a doubt, as First Lady Michelle Obama stated in her speech, the wrong person to be President of the United States. It has been an administration of greed, lies, destruction and inspiration to hate all people of colour. The botched job of handling the Coronavirus should be a clear enough message to cause his supporters to run for the hills, but after reading Caste, you will have a better understanding why they continue to believe and support his lies. With the election happening soon, he will do whatever is necessary, including cheating, as before, to win the election. It's important that everyone, makes an effort and commit to voting him out of office. This year will be challenging with his attack of the United States Postal Service (USPS) and trying to control mail in ballots. I strongly feel that this is our last chance to take control of America and it's probably the last chance to do so. If he is re-elected, his first term will feel like a walk in the park because everything will be destroyed. Trump is a narcissist that supports no one, don't be fooled.
Now tell me, is it better when you escape a horrible relationship and land somewhere safe? Or, are you always looking over your shoulder and living in fear? Would it have been better to have secretly gotten rid of the spouse or partner as part of a well thought out plan with the perfect alibi? I would have to toss a coin in the air to decide. My decision is to divorce the country that I love because of the many years of hatred and negativity for no apparent reason can have a major impact on your health. It can also turn you into a true warrior with a look that can stop anyone in their tracks. I am happy with my decision and have started my divorce and my new marriage to Melbourne, Australia.
What steps do you think should be taken to end the bad leadership of a once great country?
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