The Standard

Those of us who pay attention to such things are constantly bombarded with the allegation of how racist this country is. Supposedly, no non-white man or woman in today’s society can make it without a hand up or a hand-out. Examples to the contrary are ignored by those making the allegation. And when someone who knows what he’s talking about--who actually lived through real racism and came out on top—who’s actually experienced the horrifying murder of his child at the hands of a racist—has the nerve to explicitly says that the “victims” of today’s “racism” actually have some responsibility in pulling themselves up out of the mire of poverty, the “Soul Patrol,” as Michael King so eloquently refers to the black racialists, is up in arms.

With this state of affairs in mind, I am constantly astonished by love that older black people have for this country. If I walk outside my home, I might see a flag or two flying in front of a house. Generally, there are three types of people here in the hood that will display the flag: Americans of Mexican descent, veterans and black Americans over sixty (in this house, there are people who fit into two of those categories).

For black Americans who’ve experienced explicit racism up close and personal, their love of this country is nothing short of a miracle.

We all know about December 7, 1941. In its wake, nearly the entire adult male population of the USA was mobilized in defense of this country and most of those who were able, answered the call.

As many may have forgotten, the American military wasn’t desegregated until after the end of WWII, under the direction of President Harry S. Truman. So my grandfather and uncles served this nation and did so proudly, when it still legally considered them second-class citizens.

With the exception of my step-father’s father—a crazy, fun, cigar-smoking, whiskey-drinking, gravelly-voiced old coot--all the World War Two vets in my family are gone (Grandpa is retired Air Force, too). I blogged about the one I was closest to here. (I always pick the flimsiest of pretexts to link to that post again. I love that portrait and want to share it all the time. Additionally, I'm constantly reminded of how much I love and miss the man portrayed in it.)

My great-aunt had a boyfriend—before she met and married the man described above--who served as an officer in one of those segregated units. He died in a fire fight on French soil and was buried there for years, until his family brought his body home to rest in the same cemetery as the one in which my great-grandmother’s body is buried.

*****

This country isn’t perfect, but its citizens constantly review its values and its culture. The changes have often been painful, however, the blueprint for change is part of our cultural mindset. That mindset was set in motion upon the founding of this country. I fly a flag proudly on this blog and in front of my home to show my love for that idea and, yes, my pride in having served. The flag in front of the house is so large that my neighbor, who flies a smaller flag in front of his home, jokingly said that he’s got to get a larger one to compete. He’s a black man in his seventies--I’m actually not sure of his age, but I think he’s too young to have been a WWII vet--undoubtedly possessing living memory of having not been allowed to buy the house in which he now lives; and he proudly displays his love of our country. How cool is that?

Those who have actually had to go to separate restrooms—or behind trees—know what real malice looks like. Those who have had shotguns and fire-hoses brandished at them know how much things have changed in this country. Those who have had the bodies of their loved ones turn up mutilated in bodies of water, can hold the rest of us—their younger family members—to a higher standard than they were able to meet. It would be understandable if most of them held a grudge. However, I think that long life has many benefits, the chief of which are being able to observe patterns, having perspective and being able to forgive.

Comments

[Dex]

Amen.

[JC]

Juliette,

I am glad to read this from you. I have an uncle who thinks like the "soul patrol crowd," who's all about the hating whitey, America is so racist, blah blah blah, and that furthermore black people aren't real Americans, citizens. Tiresome crap. I had actually associated that attitude with "old" people (my uncle would have been born in the 50's, but he acts so much like an old man I keep forgetting he's technically not). I'm glad it's different where you live.

For what it's worth, it isn't unusual for me to see younger black Americans wearing images of the flag, and those "proud to be an American" shirts...without irony.

[Mrs. du Toit]

Sharing a little family stuff here (I don't think he'll mind), but Kim witnessed unbelievable horrors in South Africa. What he knew came from rumors or personal telling (the media was government controlled then).

Seeing brutal racism makes him all the more sensitive to the use of the term. He'll go off on a tangent when someone cries "Racism!" here. "They don't know racism" he'll say. "They can't even being to describe the meaning of 'oppression'."

That doesn't excuse any remainders of it here, but perspective is so important.

If we're so casual about describing rudeness as racism, what word do have have to describe what those than came before (and in other places) went through? I hate to describe it as "Real Racism" but what other qualifier fits?

Only the government could fly the flag in South Africa, in many other places that is also true.

We live in a very mixed neighborhood--many immigrants, too. There were flags in front of every house this morning. We're all Americans (if we choose to be).

[Helen]

Ah, sing it, Juliette!

Thanks for posting that link to your deceased Uncle, God rest his soul.

[Sharps Shooter]

Ma'am, it is our turn to step into the breach, to hold the line. Mrs du Toit and others point out the WIDE disparity between some small, perceived slight or faux pas, or even racist slur... and the bat-wielding, officially-ignored, race-baiting killers and thugs who used to walk among us, and would still today if they could yet find support for their poisonous ideologies!

My Army roommate was black, his heart gold, his mind sharp and platinum! He ran the top-secret communications van, while I just interpreted and intercepted Korean... that hilltop, on that island, on that DMZ, trained me to see the parallels in today's world, where every blogger, every ordinary citizen can stand and show up racism as the corrosive, ugly stuff it is, when and where we find it!

Takes courage, but that's why we're Americans!

[ibejo]

What a great post! You are a wonderful writer.

[og]

I used to think, what a great place is the internet! People can learn to get along with one another without regard to their race.

Then I discovered, it equally often works more like this: People learn to hate one another without any regard to their race.

I have little tolerance for fools, the lazy, the deliberately ignorant. So, am I prejudiced? Sure, I suppose I am, but it crosses boundaries of race or creed, I'm an equal opportunity SOB. Here's the difference: I don't actively seek the opression of those people I disdain. And I try to help people in need of help regardless of my personal feelings for them.

A great post as usual. Happy memorial day to you and yours.

[Ruth H]

Ah Juliette, what a blessed gift of knowledge he gave you. Not just reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic, but the understanding. Are you passing it on? I worked with illiterate adults for 10 years, in Louisiana. I preach teaching phonics to anyone who will listen. There are so many children out there who have no adult in their life who reads, if you have time please give this gift you have to another little one. If not, and this is for all your readers, help a group who does. Buy books for them to share. You are such a wonderful storyteller. Keep it up.

[La Shawn Barber]

I'm always astonished and dismayed at the way blacks in my age cohort (18-40) complain about "racism" without having experienced the real thing. The only people who've ever called them "nigger" are other blacks, and the only "colored only" signs they've seen are in museums. This is why I write: to point out sloppy thinking and weak-mindedness in the black community.

[Rae]

And, I have very much appreciated what you (La Shawn) and Julietter write. Thank you ladies.

[Rae]

(erm) Sorry for the British "pronunciation" of your name up there, Juliette. (Must watch less A &E).

[Jeffersonian]

Thanks for the story and report, J. It's a humbling thing to see someone who was so put-upon by his fellow countrymen still as impassioned about his nation as these fine folks. We were bastards once, but we're trying.

[Alice]

Very thought provoking and well written. As a white woman with an American family tree that goes back a good 375 years, and as a person who has taught urban black kids, I have thought about this issue a great deal. The only times I had trouble with race in my classroom were when black adults (Soul Patrol- thanks for the expression) put crazy ideas in the minds of my students. And fortunately those times were infrequent. Economics have presented far more barriers than race, in my experience. To my mind focusing on victimhood, no matter what the cause - Jew, female, gay, black, poor - just doesn't pay off if taken too far. It's scary to relax about it because you think things might go back to the bad old days, but I don't think we have to worry too much about that. Things have gotten so much better in my short life I can't help but be optimistic.

And I do think that it's a miracle that people of color in past decades have been willing to serve our country with such valor and dignity. They are true Americans and are the great stuff of which this nation is made! God bless them and this great country.

Sorry for taking so much space.

[mhking]

Thanks for the compliment, Juliette, but the eloquence is most certainly yours!

I'm more like the proverbial bull in a elocutionary china shop. ;)

[Gayle Miller]

As a small child, I was taken on a lengthy car trip by my parents. During that trip we traveled through parts of Virginia, Alabama and Georgia (probably other states as well - I just don't remember) and I was horrified to see "Whites Only" signs on buildings. In my innocence, I inquired if we had enough white clothing to go into any of those places and I watched my father struggle to explain this situation to me. His final comment was that "Some people are just stupid!" which ended the conversation. I have never forgotten that trip, or my father's explanation. He was a Southern white man who didn't support or condone the segregation policies of that time and he taught me well to reject those policies as well. I cannot and do not believe that he was an exception.

[The Commissar]

I'm quite certain that Gary's comment related to my original cut-and-past of your post, which had replaced all the quotes with several gibberish characters. (The MT "QuickPost" thingie does that sometimes.) Then I cleaned it up.

I might even apply a little editorial license to your comment. :)

[Scott]

Wow, you really said it all.

thanks

[joel]

I never cease to be amazed that black people, who by and large were not forced into combat in WWII, feel that this was unfair to them.

About those separate facilities, you can still see separate but equal bathroom facilities, based on gender, not race. Even out in the woods (outhouses.)

Joel

[baldilocks]

Joel: I'm not quite sure that I understand the first part of your comment.

Second part: different equipment is something other than different 'race.'

[Mac Diva]

(Scratching head.) So people who have observed racism in the South or South Africa are patting themselves on the back because their sensibilities were offended. Hello? If you or your parents did not do anything to actively oppose racism, spare me the story. Offended sensibilities. People were being killed and you want props for offended sensibilities? The fact that the persons mentioned did nothing to oppose the racism means they were complicit in it. That's right. Went along with it. Benefitted from it. But, one is supposed to be distracted from the truth by their offended sensibilities.

And, then there's 'Jeffersonian' (but not nearly as much as Sally Hemings' descendants), whose family has probably been oppressing people of color for 375 years. Yet, the only race problem she sees is that black adults 'put crazy ideas in the minds of my students.' Those black adults have experienced life in the skin she is so pleased to distance herself from. Furthermore, the children she refers to will grow up to be black adults, therefore becoming persona non grata to her themselves.

Baldilocks, I enjoy reading your blog entries when I drop in. But, I do not understand how you tolerate some of your commenters. I simply would not be able to put up with having my intelligence insulted by a du Toit, King or 'Jeffersonian.'