Saturday, August 12, 2017

When the Klan marches

I wake to the news of a rally at the University of Virginia. The "Unite the Right" rally of white nationalists and other right-wing groups. All under the guise of protecting history. The chants included, "Blood and Soil" and "You will not replace us." Jason Kessler, an organizer of the rally had this to say, "We're going to start standing up for our history." And more importantly he does not consider himself to be a white nationalist.

In February, the city voted to rename two parks and to remove other Confederate symbols. A move that is occurring across the South in response to the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel which took 9 lives. But, in Charlottsville, Virginia folks marched against such actions with torches (only the white hoods were missing). The mayor released the following statement describing the rally as a, "cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry, racism, and intolerance march down the lawns of the architect of our Bill of Rights." Who was also a slave owner until his death. So I believe that it is not an accident that the home of Thomas Jefferson was the place that this incident happened. Why not?!

The truth is that Amerikka will continue to have these outbursts of racial division because she has never truly admitted her role; the good, the bad and the ugly, in the perverse racism that permeates across the United States. I wrote a blog titled the "Chickens coming home to roost," shortly after the election. It stated how Amerikka will never come into the light of her greatest potential until the complete truth is aired for everyone to see. We cannot afford to continue to teach half truths and sanitized history. We can tear down flags and rename statues and parks, but it will never eliminate their purpose or their truth. When you are going to therapy, there is a moment when you not only recognize the truth of your demons but begin to accept them as truth, and then you begin the arduous journey of forgiveness and healing, which then leads to your sanity and wholeness. America has never completed this process.

When you truly want change and not to simply layer some sugar over bullshit, you commit yourself to a painful truth telling session. You commit yourself to understanding your role in this racist bullshit that we call the American Dream. Because every bad choice and symptom that we endured or continue to endure is directly related to that ugly truth. Racism is deep in the DNA of the United States and when you want to kill a virus you must make a calculated effort to do so. You must be willing to rearrange the power dynamic and you must be willing to risk your privilege in order for EVERYONE to benefit. And that is the rub. When Natzi Germany came into power, it took a World War to end their rampage. But, in order for it to not be repeated, they were tried in a public court. And Germany committed itself to teaching generation after generation about the good, the bad, and the ugly. They did not sanitize the truth and they did not erase their involvement. They embraced their responsibility in order to never return to their past. South African apartheid was solely based on American slavery and Jim Crow laws of the United States. These concentrated efforts created an environment that was only safe for the smallest percentage of the population. This just proves that the American Legacy has erupted in death and destruction, not only here, but elsewhere too.

So I can only believe that we continue this fuckery on purpose. Because there are examples all around us of how and what should be done to lead us out of the Dark Ages. But, Amerikka continues to only be great for a few and hell for the majority. This rally is like the skip on a broken record. And the outrage is exhausting because it continues to happen over and over again. Maybe if we weren't so worried about telling an incomplete history, we could finally get to what James Baldwin said, "American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it."

While the words. "All men are created equal" was being written and argued over, treaties with native tribes were being broken; flesh was being sold, raped, and killed; native tribes were sent to die; and the leaders of our young United States participated and benefitted from slavery. Shortly after that. Brown vs. Board of Education, Voting Rights Act, Housing Act, and the Civil Rights Act were expected to right the wrongs without the necessary work needed to change hearts. This is where we fail and fail, time and time again.

So as you read the news and make comments on social media. Or stand in the face of bigotry and rally for good. Remember that we will continue to make no step forward if we are not ALL committed to change. In the words of the prophetic Mr. Baldwin, "What white people  have to do, is try and find out in their own hearts why it was necessary to have a nigger in the first place, because I'm not a nigger, I'm a man, but if you think I'm a nigger, it means you need it."