statueman's Blog

When I was growing up in small town southern Illinois I found out that I was the first black man in a lot of things in that town… all before the age of 10.  I was the first black man in many white folk’s houses.  I was the first black friend of many boys my age and by default the first black to ever sit down to dinner with their families.  As I grew up I was constantly asked if I considered myself white or black and it took me quite some time to understand the question.  Oh I had plenty of black friends and was soon known for getting the black friends and the white friends together though that was easier said than done.

It’s sad because the town I lived in hasn’t changed much.  The same racial tensions my age group experienced has been conveniently but decisively passed on to the next generation.  Also my area is still the victim of much false Christian teaching equating color with character and interracial marriage with national security issues.  Now I am a Christian and a conservative republican fundamentalist style one at that but I reserve prophecy for future and not past events.  So to say that the mongrel hordes are coming is well… too late… might want to start heading back to Europe.

You see I was born with the civil rights amendment in 64 and at the age of 3 in 1967 the law against inter-racial marriage was taken off the books and of course Sidney showed up for dinner.  Soon after a charming but not too educated white couple started sing “Those were the Days” and were quickly followed by a black couple singing “Moving on Up”.  But before that Uhura kissed Captain Kirk and TV stations got bomb threats and I tried to write myself into the Star Trek plot but Gene told me it was too soon.

So here we are… one grown up mixed kids impressions of very mercies of God at work in a country he was blessed to be born in.  God Bless America land that I love stand beside her and guide her with the light from the lamp up above!  So now we hold these truths to be self evident that people can and should change in order to form a more perfect union and insure domestic tranquility.  But how can we re-habilitate what was never habilitated to begin with?  We gotta learn to be crazy about one another and not just go crazy on one another.  Do we really need a book to tell us God is Love?  Do we really need laws to make us a civilized society?  Do we really need churches to show us how we de-segregated but never integrated?  Well… yes, yes and no.

What the next step is I don’t know…  But we better find out… Cause we can’t go on pretending to be color blind when the big pink elephant in our living room is more than just a drug and alcohol problem.  We can’t keep pretending to know the answers when they present no solutions.  We can’t keep on doing the same things the same way and expecting different results.   We can’t keep on shaking our heads and throwing our hands up in despair when bowing our heads and holding hands in hope and prayer might just get us the help we need.

Philadelphia you are the birth place of my… of “our” freedom and the apple of the eye of each and every American Citizen and peace and freedom loving folks everywhere on planet earth.  Rocky Balboa perhaps said it best after his fight in Russia (Rocky VI) when the crowd went from booing him to cheering him on…“If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change.” 

Richard Pryor did alot through his humor to promote understanding between us... I laughed so hard at some of his humor that it hurts me to remember the pain his humor hid sometimes.  What a wonderful gift he shared with us all... Especially, and correct me if I'm wrong, when the old man at the picnic in the park in "Which Way is Up" was looking around from his lawn chair complaining that someone had stolen his piece of chicken.

These racial issues are going to stop when we start to honestly look at why things are the way they are. Enough with the color blind song and dance routine... enough with the Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton, Rev Wright nonsense.  When did we all get to be such experts on the issue?  Did you notice there's no shortage of us who think we know why things are the way the are?  Some of us are all that and a bucket of chicken.

When we look at the area's in our own sphere of influence what do we see that we are or aren't doing that keeps this problem alive?  I think that one reason may be the patronizing know it all statementst like I'm reading alot in these blogs can be an indicator of why Philly is the way it is. A closet racist is still a racist even though they don't see it in themselves. If you're one of those prone to accusing black folks of reverse racism then own up to being a double reverse racist because it's insanely circular to keep looking for the racist.  If you're one of those black folks who's consistent in looking for the closet racist then you probably are the reverse. 

Do you want to know one reason why affirmative action didn't and will never work?  The closet racist is told they must higher the minority so they found the most unqualified candidates they could and then made the case that these unqualified candidates only got the position because they were a minority.  Want to know why minorities from other nations do so much better than American slave descendants?  Because they actually brought suitcases and bank accounts with them and lend heavily to those of their own that didn't.

But here we sit... us US Americans complaining like an old man in the park that "somebody stole my piece of chicken!"  But the fact is we have no idea who stole our  piece of chicken we just know that the only ones in the park is us.  And it's time we all came together and stopped complaining and accusing and started taking up a collection and frying up some more chicken.  Then we come together an organize some games for the kids and  letting them know... as if they didn't already... what fools we've all been acting like and promising to give them all equal treatment and no more Romeo and Juliet scenarios or genetic excuses for hating one another.

So here we go... cops may go to jail and I hope that the judge and the jury are given wisdom to find out not just who but why.   I pray that the city of Brotherly Love would have a revelation, an awakening that will spread through out the country.  Mostly though I plead with all extremist thinkers to rethink their positions on these issues and look more closely at what they are calling facts.  The earth is not flat... so let's go get some more chicken and see if we can get our grand fathers to sit down and talk.

You ever want to write something or do something that would change the world for the better?

I was sitting outside getting some fresh air and thinking of all the problems we have in this country with our legal justice system.  Then I thought of how incredibly effective the integration of the Uniformed Military Services are... I thought of some of the wonderful articles on Military History I read while I was working in a training and doctrines command and then I thought of the one thing that stuck in my head as being one of the main reasons why ours is the best military on the face of the earth.  That one reason is that military historians interviewed everyone within the scope of a mission to see what went wrong and what went right.  So the officers could not hide from the observations of mere privates.  No prestige is taken into account... just hard cold overall facts that show how, from top to bottom, to increase operational effectiveness.

Then I got to thinking about those Philly cops who beat those suspects... about that man who spent time in jail and wanted a lying prosecutor to go to jail because he claims the man lied... about the other lawyer who said that no one would want to work in our justice system if that prosecutor is sent to jail.  I got to thinking how wonderful it would be if we approached our justice system the way the military historians approach operational procedures.

It dawned on me that what is legal needs to line up with what is just and that in so many instances we have operational procedures in our legal system that don't allow that.  What if we approached our legal system with blanket amenesty inorder to take a more accurate historical record of what we are doing that is working and what we are doing that is not working?

So that's my psuedo educated theory...  Justice is no easy word to define and illegal may not necessarily mean unjust.   The domestic foot soldiers we have in our police forces need our suppot.  And lately I've been very saddened by the fact that I cannot support the unjust actions of police officers who beat three young men they believed shot and killed one their fellow officers.  But isn't this just the sort of behavior we've come to accept and even expect in this country?  We can make movies about the problem but can't seem to find any solution.  For my part I submit that there is a solution already there that we simply refuse to implement.  And that solution I say with pride can be found in how our own military historians go about the task of improving our war making abitlities.

Remember the movie "Glory"?  It fills me with pride to think of a unit of African American Federal giving their lives for this country... the movie I'm sure filled many people with pride.  We fight for a greater cause in this country.  One of the only sentences I remember from basic training when I was in the Army was when my black captain and company commander said, "Welcome to the United States Army... The most successfully integrated organization on the face of this earth."  And I believe that there is alot to be learned from our Military that would translate well into our legal system to create a more Just and integrated American society where  what is illegal is so because it is unjust.

For those of you who are in support of police who beat criminal suspects.  For those of you who are in support of torture of terrorist suspects.  For those of you who are in support of corporal punishment to stop violence.

I have some questions.  

1. Are criminal suspects guilty before proven innocent or innocent before proven guilty? 
2. Should we bring back corporal punishment in this country and administer beatings for some convicted criminals instead of jail time?  
3. Should we allow police to beat suspects as a deterrent to further criminal behavior?  

If you have answered yes to any of these questions please do not vote for Senator John Mc Cain for President.  Back in 2005 or so I was watching Senator John Mc Cain take on President Bush about torture.  It had come out that we were using torture in our quest to stop terrorism.  Senator Mc Cain was and is adamantly against torture. 

Many Americans, it would seem, support the use of torture.  From a November 2006 article in the National Catholic Reporter “Americans, especially Catholics, approve of torture” I find out that only 32% of Americans totally disapprove of torture.   As a Christian I am not surprised that in the polls breakdown more secular humanist are against torture than evangelicals.  In a 2004 NBC poll the 63% of Americans said torture of terror suspects is never acceptable.  

We are making a mistake in this country when we support torture.  I believe with all my heart and intellect that more police will stare death in the face this year because of the type of behavior we have recently witnessed.  I believe that more soldiers will die overseas this year because we as Americans are asking for more and more violence instead of living up to the ideals of freedom on which our country was founded. 

Now I know that many folks believe it is ok sometimes to torture.  Fox’s O’ Reilly had to disagree with Senator Mc Cain in an interview on the subject.   That’s one reason why I’m voting for Senator Mc Cain.  If we are going to act like terrorists in this country… then we are going to continue to be victims of terrorism.  I believe there should be an automatic death penalty for murdering a police officer but I do not believe we should in any way support police officers beating restrained suspects.  That is torture... that is terrorism... and there is no way we as Americans should support it.

I want to remember that name.  He was assasinated today for serving his country.  He is a hero in my book. 

A Mexican patriot who died serving the country he loves by trying to save it from drug dealers.   To me our biggest mistake in thins is trying to fight a war with police agencies.  With an Army your higher ranking soldiers are harder to get to and the mission has a much better chance of getting accomplished.

But at any rate Edgar Millan Gomez worked on peace missions with the United Nations and served 19 years starting as an investigative agent and working his way up to the number 3 spot in the chain of command as the acting commander of  the Federal Police of Mexico. 

You know... I don't know if the man was a good man, a just man, but I think that when he was a boy with his eye's on becoming a police man in his country and serving his country that he had the right reasons in his heart for wanting to. 

For some reason his picture reminded me of a soldier I met while working as a clerk for the National Guard taking part in a California wide personnel records review.  A very mild mannered Mexican American Sergeant First Class sat in front of me and as I read his awards they stopped just short of a congressional medal of honor.  We need more pictures of people like these in the news and in these blogs.

When the first Gulf War was going on alot of talk was made about making a Flag Burning Amendmant to the Constitution of the United States and I was whole heartedly against it.  In a bar in Seoul Korea I had a heated debate with a Korean bar owner friend of mine and several of my fellow soldiers who questioned my patriotism because of my point of view.  At one point I loudly exclaimed that "I will not sacrifice the Constitution for the Flag... when I swore into this mans Army I swore to protect the Constitution of the United States of America and that includes the Bill of Rights."  That statement stopped the debate which had turned nearly violent.  The Korean bar owner I believe started the conversation by mentioning laws in other countries that prohibit un-patriotic acts and asked why America doesn't have such laws.  Later I remember reading that Senator Danforth of Missouri withdrew his support of the Flag Burning Amendmant calling his support of it "A mistake of the heart."

Isn't that what makes this country so great?  We are different... we let the Wrights speak and are given a basis to judge them. 

Now as to the fact that many of my fellow bloggers and folks in other forums are ademantly opposed to Reverend Wright and what the man says and /or how he says it I have to admit to havin made a mistake of the heart.  I've known many hard working Christian Ministers who on the surface do much good by helping the poor and the elderly but use that as a liscense to put forth opinions that are not grounded in truth but in pride.  Many of my fellow American bloggers have expressed that Reverend Wright is teaching a gospel of victimization and well...

I agree.

In my heart I believe the good Reverend Wright means well.  But I think that he has let the pride of his great work in the Lord become a stumbling block to his presentation of the Gospel.  But I whole heartedly warn that the patronizing influences of those who think they know better then Reverend Wright how to do the things he and his church have been doing through out the years should look and see that it is exactly that same sort of patronizing influence that causes such ministries to flourish.  The chant "No Justice No Peace" is not just protected by the constitution it is a mandate to act when destructive policies and negligent procedures are the standard.

So are some white's right about Wright?  In one very important way yes... Reverend Wright has made a mistake of the heart and in his pride has done harm to those he tried to help with his life.  Haven't we all done good for a period of time only to turn and realize that our motivations weren't pure?  Haven't we all come to the aid of those we love only to find ourselves enabling them to please ourselves?  Haven't we all made the mistake of attaching to much importance to our being right?

Would've thought Obama's Malcomb X would be Kings Wright?  In recent interviews Barack Obama shows how one can be dissappointed with their pastor.  I had a white pastor who used to always make a big deal when ever a black family would show up at one of his sermons.  Folks are polarizing Obama for putting up with his pastor like most if not all christians usually do simply put up with their pastor cause guess what they're human.

This is too good for the media to let go of... first they show a black pastor numerous times saying GD America.   I sincerely think folks in the media tried to get the man killed because they's a black man running for president and let's face it... some folks in this country are very afraid of black people.  I think it's cause some black people aren't afraid to tell the truth and they aren't on welfare...  now admittedly I don't believe that our government invented aids to kill black people.  But our government did watch men die of syphillys as an experiment, our government did and does do some really evil things because it seems like the best course of action to those in power.  Well... so I personnally don't have anything against folks who believe things like that.  Alot of folks think 9/11 was an inside job.  I remember thinking the same thing when I watched how the towers fell... but at the time I was in the National Guard and couldn't afford to think then and don't want to think now without proof that  9/11 was pulled off by anything but Middle East Terrorists. 

So now we have a choice... we can throw the baby out witht the bath water and I can assure you that the bath water ain't going no where.   All this has happened for a very telling reason.  Watch that bath water don't turn into a burning Bush.  We have Obama's Thesis and Wright's Anti-Thesis.  We had Kings Thesis and Malcomb X's Anti-Thesis.  In the end... who was justified?  Sometimes as Americans we got to fight the war so that burning gossip wood will finally burn itself out.  Sometimes there are no peaceful solutions for those caught up in the hurricane of human events.  I pray Wright will take his meds and settle down to non-media public speaking engagements so he can afford to live in that mansion.  After all "he that is kind to the poor lendeth to his maker."

When I was in Missouri Military Academy in the 70's I heard a speech given by and Iranian student explaining why Iran was so angry with US policy.  If you remember the shaw of Iran used torture and bought alot of cadillacs.  We supported this man.  This morning I must say that when Reverend Wright said the things he said I find it hard to totally disagree with him.  CIA covert operations led to alot of horrible circumstances in the lives of millions of people.  That was our government at work.

Wright pointed out that we sold Iraq weapons of mass destruction and then got mad when they used them.  People will argue that we didn't sell those biological weapons to Iraq but then Coca Cola didn't sell Coke in Nazi Germany... they sold Fanta... but oh well.  Our mistakes and war like activities are justifiable cause we did them all for the right reason right?  Even Bush senior has said in the past (1990?) that we suffer from a white adult male dominated intelligence community.  If anything else 9/11 bears that out... we need to broaden our scope.

Th Wright Press conference has changed my opinion of the man slightly.  I think he may very well be suffering from a mental illness which prevents him from seeing how dangerous it is to say what he is saying.  To that all I can say is thank God for mental illness.

Wright served in the military and ran a domestic mission style church for years and now he's got the floor and some folks are cheering... wanna know why?  Cause we're glad somebodies saying it... How popular do you really think Dr. Martin Luther King was when he was going around preaching against injustices? 

Now press people are saying Rev Wright should get off the world stage.  They put the man there in the first place and now they want to say Wright is using this for personal gain.  Yup!  I know I sure as hell would use it for personal gain if the media dragged my name through the dirt and ran sound bites countless times calling me and my church racist.

Well... cats out of the bag now.  Uncle Tom got his pink slip.

One of my fondest memories in life was my 3 years 6 months that I lived and worked in Seoul Korea with the US Army.  I was the luckiest of soldiers getting assigned as the unit clerk at the Armed Forces Korea Network in February 1988 just before the summer Olympics in Seoul.  Apparently a good haircut and spit shined shoes counted for something.

Anywho...

China will be hit with one of the greatest weapons of the American 'Arsenal of Freedom, the American News Media.  While they are there our wonderfully courageous and sometimes seriously manic news people will research and pry and investigate and go places where angels fear to tread.  Our thirst for freedom for those we see being oppressed may even spark all kinds of unstoppable grass roots movements as news stories of all kinds come from behind the bamboo curtain.

We like to think that it's somehow wrong to criticize our own country too much don't we?  But I think that's what sets us apart in the world.  Even while in the Army I remember having folks say all the accolades about the service member being the embodiment of freedom.  And I believe it.  But there are soldiers of freedom from all walks of life… doctors, lawyers, plumbers, bitter gun toting bible thumpers (couldn’t resist) and Journalists.

But it’s the News folks who make freedom work from the inside out.  People do evil things and if folks don’t know about it then no one can address the evil that men do.  Look at the embarrassing revelation of children being held against their will and made to have sexual relations and even bear children to men much older than themselves.  We’re finding out about whole townships supporting a way of life that even makes undercover police work nearly impossible.  Who would want to take the job?  (Don’t answer that!)

Last anywho…

I think that our presence in China will plant the virus of democracy and freedom in a part of the world where it is definitely needed.  From our athletes to our news folks the unpredictable persona of us “Ugly Americans” and our incredible love for smiling will cause a small ripple effect that I sincerely believe will infect a communist nation with something wonderful.  Like the old Vulcan proverb that Spock told Captain Kirk, “Only Nixon could go to China.”

On April 9th President Bush signed a new "piece of legislation that will help give prisoners across America a second chance for a better life."  I was reminded about the article I read about Governor Bush in the late 90's telling about his struggles with Alcohol and his time in the National Guard.  I liked him immediately and hoped he would become our next president and of course... he did.

In his speech before signing the Second Chance Act of 2007 President Bush points out that though the government has a responsibity to help prisoners return to being "contributing members of society"  that the most important work is done "in faith-based communities and community-based groups. It's done on streets and small town community centers. It's done in churches and synagogues and temples and mosques."

I was very happy to see the report on Fox News Network and to hear the President talk about what he likes to call "members of the armies of compassion".  President Bush said,

"They help addicts and users break the chains of addiction. They help former prisoners find a ride to work and a meal to eat and place to stay. These men and women are answering the call to love their neighbors as they'd like to be loved themselves. And in the process, they're helping prisoners replace anger and suffering and despair with faith and hope and love."

But mostly as I read the transcript I was most appreciative when George Bush talked about his own struggle and redemption, "I was a product of a faith-based program. I quit drinking -- and it wasn't because of a government program. It required a little more powerful force than a government program in my case."

Now I don't care too much for "faith based" government grants merging with religious organizations but in some cases it's a good thing as long as it's services are used voluntarily.  The best programs out there need to be sought out and helped with long handled spoons so that the last phase... or the housing and re-entry stage is what needs the most attention.  Faith based organizations for ex-convicts are often weakest when it comes to helping a reformed prisoner get housing, family counseling and medical attention that  reflect the time and dedication they've put into the programs they are a part of.

This is indeed where the donut shop meets the soup kitchen.  Or as President Bush states, "the Second Chance Act will live up to its name; will help ensure that where the prisoner's spirit is willing, the community's resources are available."

"Where the prisoners spirit is willing."

I like that... We are indeed a nation with an Army of Compassion.  Would that this were an Army we could send overseas in the same way we send our Armed Forces.  Perhaps things like the Second Chance Act will provide for that one day.

OK so it’s not just about race is it?  Cause if it is then let’s have a re-segregation movement.  It’s really all about money and who’s got it and how much they want to keep it… right?  Or is it all about power and who’s got it and how’re they going to keep it… right?  I mean what’s it all about Alfie?  I had a dog named Alfie… it always looked like it was going to tell me the answer but of course it died and I was stuck with dog food and memories.

I liked Bill Murray a lot when I was growing up you know?  He was and is the kind of comedien who makes you forget that we’re any different… I mean who didn’t cry when ‘Old Yeller’ died and don’t we all get’ Lost in Translation’ sometimes?

 I loved Richard Pryor’s movies and comedy albums growing up… on the 1976 album “Bicentennial N-word” Richard reminded us that “We are here… To Celebrate 200 Years… Of H-words kicking A!”  In an interview after filming “Stir Crazy” Richard was asked what he thought of the penal system and all he could say way “Thank God we have prisons!  Cause some of them M*(&%^ are crazy!”  And lastly when the tax man came and took away his possessions as he sat in a wheelchair suffering from a chronic ailment Richard told News Reporters close by “I’d invite y’all in for some cool-aide but they took it!”

Charlton Heston ran the NRA for god and let us know that religion doesn’t kill people… people kill people and then pry the gun out of their cold dead hands.  Remember when the soldiers went to haul off John the Baptist and old Heston tried to dunk them yelling “Repent!”?  Heston supported Civil Rights and didn’t care much for Affirmative Action…  Like Moses he proclaimed “Let my people Go!” but once in the desert Heston got a little miffed and yelled ““Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”  Yup some of us are pretty sure god looks a lot like Charlton Heston… unless of course you’re pro choice… then god looks like Alanis Morissette.  And then you might be a liberal leaning toward pro life cause Morgan Freeman made a good god too.  Thank the real God that Planned Parenthood wasn’t in the hood when ole Morgan was born huh?

Yes… let’s re-segregate for a century or so.  Perhaps we should allow for monitored all one ethnic group townships with property rights so folks can feel more comfortable who need to be around their own kind.  Maybe we should allow for race and folks who feel that their own race is all they want in their lives… then we could all have reservations and casinos.  Cause you know… it’s just not all about race.  Sometimes it’s about religion, preference, comfort zones and family.  Sometimes it’s about knowing someone is judging us because we’re being a jerk and not because we’re purple.  Sometimes it’s about something that makes us think and not about who wrote it or why.  Sometimes it’s all about listening to the old folks argue at the donut shop on a Sunday morning solving the worlds problems and lamenting that they have to go outside to smoke.  Yes... let's re-segregate so our senior citizens can enjoy a smoke with their coffee and donuts.

I've been to all kinds of Christian Churches in America.  One idea that came into my mind as I sat in an all (or mostly) 'white' church and then in an all (or mostly) 'black' church is that wouldn't it be great if one Sunday they switched Choirs?

I don't know how to bring Americans closer together but I do know that music sung by the human voice is one of the most shared and positive human experiences we all can relate to on a spiritual or hear felt level.

In my travels I've also been to Asian and Latino Christian Churches and thought it best not to finish this without mentioning them.  I've never been to an Islamic Temple or a Jewish Synagogue but they too are Americans and I think it best to mention them as well.  Oddly enough I remember the idea today as I watched a PBS broadcast of 'Celtic Women'.

Perhaps it's one idea that might bring us all closer together.  Not a time of politics, race or even religion but a time of celebrating life through song and gratitude for what we all share no matter what... a beating heart.

The Choir Exchange Program.

You know... when I was a mixed kid in the USA in the 60's and 70's like Barak was... some folks asked you too pick a side.  Are you white or are you black.

And if you didn't pick a side these same folks accused us of having an identity crisis.
I was asked many times by folks "What do you consider yourself to be, White or Black?"  Lately this and other common phrases I heard as a kid growing up in the mid west have been coming to the surface like repressed memories as I read all the opposition to Barak Obama's presidential campaingn.

"It's the children of a mixed marriage who suffer the most", is another one of many cliche' statements heard by someone like me who grows up in the mid western US.

Barak chose law and politics... I chose soldiering...  we suffered many of the same things but if you ask me he turned out a heck of alot better than I did and I trust him.  I trust him and I want folks to know that if anyone is prepared to judge him I am.  I have a point of reference that goes with the shared experience of being a mixed American. 

You might say I'm putting to much on this whole mixed thing... but I'm speaking of the spiritual side of the sufferings we all face in this country due to our shared history.  Mixed Americans are a way to solutions and evolutions away from the mixed inheritance of religious and ethnic prejudices.  I believe it is the next step in this country towards a greater understanding of what freedom means to each and every human individual.

Will electing a man like Barack Hussein Obama as President mean great stride in racial understanding and an expansion in the understanding of human freedom?  That is for every voter to decide?  Surely the plain idea of it is a threat to some... a solution to others.