“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
― Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia & Confession of Nat Turner
Until such time as a person who is…
White, hurts me
Or Black, hurts me
Or gay, hurts me
Or Muslim, hurts me
Or atheist, hurts me
Or had an abortion, hurts me
Or Catholic, hurts me
Or Jewish, hurts me
Or Non-English speaking, hurts me
Or says they are male or female or neither, hurts me
Or an illegal alien, hurts me
Or Republican, hurts me
Or Democrat, hurts me
Or carrying a gun, hurts me
Or conservative, hurts me
Or liberal, hurts me
Or spent time in prison, hurts me
Or in any way is different from me, hurts me
Or any other human hurts me or any innocent person
I will hurt them back in unequal and exponentially worse measure
But it will have nothing to do with who or what they are and everything to do with what they did
Until then… I, and we, should live and let live. As Jefferson said, “it is none of my concern.”
Please take a moment to share my work on social media. Agree or disagree, the more who read this the bigger the opportunity to share with others and promote meaningful dialog. It would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.) Langston Hughes, Let America Be America Again
The realities of American history trouble those willing to remove the blinders. We are a nation still divided by the artificial definitions we created to separate and segregate us from each other or to hold others in subjugation.
Black, white, brown, gay, straight, cis-gendered, non-binary, LGBTQ, all unnatural epithets that serve no purpose but the continuation of learned bigotry.
When Isabel Wilkerson, the author of Caste, gave a talk in London, a Nigerian-born playwright spoke to her after the lecture. Her words define the very essence of the problem in America.
“You know that there are no black people in Africa,” she said.
Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste (p. 77). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Wilkerson further described the encounter.
Most Americans, weaned on the myth of drawable lines between human beings, have to sit with that statement. It sounds nonsensical to our ears. Of course there are black people in Africa. There is a whole continent of black people in Africa. How could anyone not see that? “Africans are not black,” she (the Nigerian-born playwright) said. “They are Igbo and Yoruba, Ewe, Akan, Ndebele. They are not black. They are just themselves. They are humans on the land. That is how they see themselves, and that is who they are.
“They don’t become black until they go to America or come to the U.K.,” she said. “It is then that they become black.”
Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste (p. 77). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition
“This is how they see themselves…” Think about that for a moment. Their self-awareness arises from their ancestry, place of birth, language, culture, and history, not the color of their skin. Their being defined as “black” doesn’t even exist until they arrive in America. Their “blackness” was never an element of their being, just an untenable method of differentiation.
A fallacy which we still cling to today.
“Americans cling to race as the unschooled cling to superstition.”
Undertaking the effort of understanding these self-defined and false appellations implies the obligation to accept people for what they are, not what our learned prejudices or ignorance tell us we must fear or have dominion over.
And while the U.K. and other Western nations eventually outlawed slavery, the U.S. clung to it—and the attendant dependency on considering the “black” race of humans to be inferior—to the point of annihilating 450,000 fellow Americans and wounding millions in a failed attempt to preserve the unholy institution.
An action which some try to gloss over by twisting historical reality. The Confederate Flag may be a part of history, but it should no more be celebrated or displayed than the Nazi flag that once hung over Auschwitz, Sobibor, or Dacau.
This persistence of discrimination, bigotry, and inequities continues to drag us down. Until we learn to accept all humans for what they see themselves—as fellow humans of equal stature —the goal of Making America Great Again, of eliminating the America of Langston’s Letting America Be America Again, or of becoming that Bright Shining City on the Hill will remain elusive.
It would seem with almost every aspect of our lives, every form will fill in, somehow requires us to select our “race.” This is not only a self-sustaining segregation of people but is based on a false premise. The color of one’s skin—merely the level of melatonin—is a genetically determined characteristic. It is no more determinative of ability or intelligence than is the color of one’s eyes or height.
Yet we insist on using this to differentiate one person from the other. It is artificial and arbitrary. Merely serving to reinforce and preserve stereotypes.
The Confederate Flag may be a part of history, but it should no more be celebrated or displayed than the Nazi flag that once hung over Auschwitz, Sobibor, or Dacau.
Joe Broadmeadow
“We think we ‘see’ race when we encounter certain physical differences among people such as skin color, eye shape, and hair texture, What we actually ‘see’…are the learned social meanings, the stereotypes, that have been linked to those physical features by the ideology of race and the historical legacy it has left us.”” —
Smedley, Audrey, and Brian D. Smedley. Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2012.
And as historian Nell Irvin Painter wrote.
“Americans cling to race as the unschooled cling to superstition.”
Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People (New York: W.W. Norton, 2010), p. xi.
Humans are not born with innate prejudice; it is a learned behavior taught by those around them. Children see differences as intriguing and exciting. Those within their circle of influence teach them to fear, resent, despise, or believe themselves superior to these differences.
Discrimination is a by-product of ignorance, poor social upbringing, and fundamentally flawed education. And the result is a self-fulfilling prophecy of mistrust, anger, resentment, and revulsion of others based on a fallacy.
That many people in this country cling to the false premise that America was once greater than it is today is a troubling sign of a persistent ignorance of history. Until we are willing to openly accept that greatness eludes us because we choose to ignore our flaws, nothing will change.
When a Governor can classify murder victims by their immigration status—incorrectly—and people in the country do not universally condemn this, something is drastically wrong in America. While many spoke out against this idiocy, the fact that many, if not most, remained silent speaks volumes.
Langston Hughes, whose lines from Let America Be America Again opened this piece, defines the inherent differences between those who have lived the American dream and those who still suffer under an American nightmare.
This inherent “racial” prejudice is a uniquely American phenomenon. While discrimination permeates history, only in America has it become institutionalized. By any measure, the differences in education, economic opportunity, housing, and health among Americans of different backgrounds—particularly those we have identified as different than our perception of the majority —are startling.
One can see the inherent inequities using the census bureau data or a host of other sources. I invite you to look for yourselves.
This difficulty in understanding also serves to divide us. Those who never had anything to do with slavery—who would argue they have always found the practice abhorrent—cannot understand why they bear any responsibility for it. Those whose families suffered under the system, continued to suffer after abolition, and still bear the brunt of discrimination, both overt and unconscious bias, cannot comprehend how anyone can fail to see the connection.
This disparity of perception is preventing our moving forward.
Hughes says it best,
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
We have no hope of achieving greatness until the inequities faced by those like Langston Hughes are obliterated from our lives. The greatness of a country is not based on the perceptions of others but on the realities of the lives of all its citizens. When America offers equality to all by eliminating inequities based on fallacies, then and only then can we claim greatness.
For those of you who may have never read Langston Hughes poem, I have included it here at the end. His is a voice worth hearing.
Please take a moment to share my work on social media. Agree or disagree, the more who read this the bigger the opportunity to share with others and promote meaningful dialog. It would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
Let America Be America Again
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine—the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, M.E.—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
First, before I get inundated with offended country music lovers defending the genre, I like country music. Bearing this caution in mind, there is a commonality within these songs: God, Guns, and Whiskey, which I find both amusing and troubling.
My wife up and left me out of the blue. Some rich guy with a new car, but I know what to do. I got me a gun, and I got me a bottle And my old John Deere's faster than any electric model. And when I'm sitting in my trailer and sippin' my whiskey I'll just pray to heaven for God to forgive me... forgive me... forgive me.
Now that I think about it, God, Guns, and Whiskey is an excellent name for a country song. It has all the hallmarks of an Academy of Country Music hit. Put that Bud Light right in their place.
While I can appreciate the sentimental value of these songs, this religious fascination with these elements is disconcerting.
I can understand one of them. I mean, who doesn’t like a nice whiskey occasionally? But mixing whiskey and ammunition is downright dangerous. Add in that third element, and you’re just begging for trouble.
There used to be a saying that you don’t discuss politics or religion. Perhaps we should return to those practices. You embrace your faith however you like. Vote for whatever candidate you prefer. And leave others to theirs.
You can still hold onto your god, guns, and whiskey. But keep them within your castle, not out hunting down ex-wives, girlfriends, or boyfriends, to be inclusive. Or, the most dangerous of the native predators in America, those who turn around in your driveway or ring a doorbell.
And after every election, you can go to church, the shooting range, or a bar and talk about things that matter… like whether you drink whiskey on the rocks or neat. Perhaps a country song is the best place for God, Guns, and Whiskey. Well, not whiskey, but a pretty strong argument can be made for the other two.
Please take a moment to share my work on social media. Agree or disagree, the more who read this the bigger the opportunity to share with others, and promote meaningful dialog. It would be greatly appreciated.Thanks
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
If nature tells us anything about life, it’s that it is plentiful, varied, ingenious, while most often being short, brutal, violent, but mostly just plain strange.
The reality is most things die because something else consumes them. The food chain, from the bottom to the Apex, is a supermarket of death and digestion. Whether you are a single-celled amoeba, a multi-celled plant, a bee, a bird, a snake, a ferret, a coyote, a wolf, a bear, a lion, or a human, something more often than not benefits from your demise.
Even if “natural causes” adorns your death certificate, whatever the natural was still got you and, even if you are committed to the fire, be it on a conveyor belt in a crematorium or a Viking ship burned at sea, the ashes will feed some organic creature regardless of how you got there.
One might consider this a bit of a pessimistic outlook on things. I disagree. I think it shows us that life, at least the biological aspect of it, is a continuous cycle of creation, degeneration, and regeneration.
We humans like to consider our self-awareness evidence of something other than a mere biological reason for life. Cogito Ergo Sum as Descartes once said. We believe ourselves to be the only creature who contemplates the meaning of life, and this proves we are more than another variation of evolution.
I’m not certain our self-awareness is unique among all the living creatures on the planet, let alone the universe.
But back to the realities of the dog-eat-dog, or creature-eat-creature, world.
I came upon an article about a large fish called a Giant Trevally. This fish has developed the ability to hunt seabirds. Not just those placidly floating (marinating) on the surface, but also any bird foolish enough to be flying at a low altitude over the water. Watch here.
Then there is this gem of evolution, Toxoplasma gondi. A parasite that lives in the brain of mice. Here’s the twist, while it thrives in a mouse’s brain, it can only reproduce inside a cat.
So given a mice’s natural inclination to avoid cats, how can this be successful? Simple, the parasite alters the mouse’s brain. The mouse, which would naturally flee from the odor of cat urine, now runs toward the source of the aroma and is promptly consumed.
The parasite, now safely ensconced within the cat, gets all romantic and stuff, breeds away, and is promptly expelled out the other end of the cat where other mice, not yet crazy, consume the delicacy.
And just so you know, this parasite is successful at invading other hosts as well. Some scientists believe as many as three billion humans are hosts for the little bugger. And while it is mostly harmless, it does argue for the obvious deficiency of cats as compared to dogs. And, while the data is incomplete as to its effect on the human brain, it may actually explain the Q-Anon phenomenon and a few other political beliefs.
Think of it this way, almost every day sharks attack, kill, and consume fish which itself had consumed smaller fish which had consumed other living creatures. This pattern is repeated by every living creature on the planet.
Some of these creatures, through no fault of their own or any innate evilness to their existence, seem naturally repulsive. A rattlesnake for instance—snakes being the ultimate victim of religious persecution—instantly strike fear into anyone who encounters one.
Death is, among other things, relative.
Joe Broadmeadow
If one has ever seen a rattlesnake stalk and kill its victim, it can give one shivers. But it is not evil. It is not cruel. It is nature, which is neither cruel nor evil, just deliberate. A rattlesnake killing a mouse—mice seem to be a dangerous niche to occupy on this planet—is similar to a meat packing plant killing a cow and producing steaks. It’s just we humans have found a way to limit our personal exposure to death in the food cycle.
Snakes hunt in the wild, we hunt in supermarkets.
When you think about it—as I sometimes do—it is likely by the simple act of walking you accidently kill ants, spiders, or other crawly things. And you do this every day. There is even a religion, Jainism, whose practitioners go to extreme lengths to avoid killing anything including insects. They tread very carefully.
The existence of death is a necessity of life. Nothing can live unless something else dies, be it a cow, a chicken, a pepper, or a sliced tomato. What was once alive is now digested.
Even death offers a food source. A decaying body of some creature to us may seem grotesque and disgusting. To microbes and ravens it is a buffet of the most succulent kind.
Death is, among other things, relative.
So what can we learn from this? Two points.
First, death may be something we wish to defer as long as possible, but the world is full of the demise of creatures every moment of every day in violent and often bloody encounters.
Second, dogs are clearly superior to cats.
Please take a moment to share my work on social media. Agree or disagree, the more who read this the bigger the opportunity to share with others, and promote meaningful dialog. It would be greatly appreciated.Thanks
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
As we age, we sometimes look at life through the rear-view mirror, longing for a past often whitewashed by nostalgia. As a result, some of us fall into a funk, thinking the best days are what we can only experience by looking back.
I’m guilty of writing several pieces relating to stories of past events. Most tell of fond memories of an age of innocence, holidays gone by, meeting those who would become lifelong friends, or tales of those shared experiences that molded and shaped us.
While memories are important—and worth preserving for those moments when they can ease the pain of those trying times we also share—they are sanitized, exaggerated, or altered to fit our most essential desires. They are no more life than a photograph, a brief moment captured in time.
Such a backward-looking approach to life can blind us to the many opportunities to create new memories.
Time for us is linear, despite, as James Taylor sings in “The Secret of Life,”
“Now the thing about time is that time isn’t really real It’s just your point of view How does it feel for you? Einstein said he could never understand it all Planets a-spinning through space The smile upon your face”
James Taylor, Secret of Life
While quantum physics contends there is no difference between time and other universal forces, for us, the arrow of time only goes in one direction and, sadly, with increasing velocity.
As a wise man once said to me when describing his current situation in life, “Joe, monthly magazines come every three days.”
So, while we all wish time would elongate and slow down it is finite and fleeting for all of us.
Thus, the criticality of balancing the comfort of pleasant and important memories with our life as we continue to live it.
Over the past two years (or what will be two years on April 29th), we have been most fortunate to have our grandson Levi bringing joy and wreaking havoc of the most enjoyable kind into our lives. For him, his young mind is a sponge taking in all the world and, hopefully, creating memories that will last a lifetime. (Disclaimer: I take no credit or blame for some of his recent vocabulary acquisitions.)
At this tender and innocent age, the memories may only be fragments of his experiences, but his ability to recall such moments will grow as rapidly as he does each moment. I hope he holds fast to the memories but only enough to offer a smile or a tear, then gets on with living.
From what I can see, he has embraced my love of reading. While the realities of technology will continue to challenge the experience of holding a book and quiet moments of reading, I think we have planted the seed for a lifetime of intellectual exploration.
As you can see from his method of selecting books, not by title or name or main character but by dumping the entire content (which increases almost weekly) of his bookbag on the ground, carefully examining each one, then selecting anywhere from one to the whole bag as the book(s) of the day, he has a variety of interests.
It is these moments—particularly for me when he hands me a book or ten, climbs up next to me, and lets me read to him—I can recall with immense joy and look forward to more such experiences for as long as he will tolerate this old guy.
Whatever memories we create with Levi and his soon-to-join us brother, as precious as they are, pale compared to those I’ve yet to make.
Every once in a while, we all need a glance into life’s rear-view mirror. Of course it is essential to remember where we came from and the people who steered us along. But what is in front of us is the most precious aspect of life. Devote your moments to it.
Hold fast to your memories to inspire you to make new ones with whatever time life grants you on this planet.
Please take a moment to share my work on social media. Agree or disagree, the more who read this the bigger the opportunity to share with others. It would be greatly appreciated.Thanks
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
But I know a place where we can go That’s still untouched by men We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by And the tall grass waves in the wind You can lay your head back on the ground And let your hair fall all around me Offer up your best defense But this is the end This is the end of the innocence
Don Henley, The Age of Innocence
Ever since the phenomenon of Making America Great Again took root with many Americans, I’ve been trying to figure out when, exactly, America was “greater” than it is today, by what definition, and when the decline began.
For the first few years, we were a loosely affiliated collection of former colonies whose primary goal was subjugating or eliminating the indigenous people who were here long before anyone “discovered” America.
We’d fought a war for independence, assisted by the centuries old competition between France and Great Britain, then largely ignored by both. We fought another war with England in 1812-1814 that resulted in no significant territorial changes, contributed to the demise of the Napoleonic era, and yet, on a positive note, started two centuries of a strong partnership with England.
After the War of 1812, we committed on a grander scale what amounted to genocide of Native Americans and, tragically, continued our policy as a slave holding nation unlike most of the western world.
Not much greatness so far.
In 1860, the slavery issue reached a boiling point and plunged us into the most destructive war ever fought in this country. 450,000 Americans died in the war with over a million wounded. But this country was also the site of even more horrendous acts of violence. One almost never mentioned in high school history classes.
Depending on various sources—actual numbers are difficult to determine—somewhere between 10-114 million Native Americans died because of US Government action (note: most historians estimate between 6-11 million deaths during the Holocaust because of actions by the German Government, thus making the Nazi Holocaust the second largest mass murder in history. Let that sink in for a moment.)
Certainly not much greatness here, but at least there was a glimmer of hopeful things to come with the end of slavery. Although the road to freedom traveled the treacherous territory of Jim Crow Laws, the rise of the KKK, and almost universal discrimination against those of African descent. Yet it was a start.
We fought a war with Spain. “Remember the Maine” was the battle cry when the ship exploded in Havana, Cuba Harbor. But unlike the looming attack in Pearl Harbor some years later, questions arose as to the validity of the incident. While initially blamed on a mine or torpedo, and trumpeted by an outraged media deluge, subsequent investigation determined it was more likely a coal bunker fire aboard ship.
As a result of the war, Spain ceded the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the US (which many agree was the entire purpose of the zealous claim of attack even though evidence to the contrary was known to those in command.)
Geopolitics at its best, but I wonder if one can claim that as indices of greatness.
In 1941, the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor and thrust the US actively into the war, although we had been providing matériel to England since the war’s inception.
Here perhaps America took on the mantel of greatness. But the history taught to many of us, me included, gave the impression that the US won the war single-handedly. But if one examines the reality of the war and takes into consideration the number of dead resulting from it, it becomes clear that no one nation was responsible for victory.
History would show it took English Intelligence, American Steel, and Russian Blood to defeat the enemy. We certainly became the dominant power after the war, and if by greatness one uses military might as a measure, no country on earth could challenge us.
Then, with the Marshall Plan, America showed true greatness. Rather than harsh treatment of the Japanese or German people, we tried those responsible for the war and helped rebuild the infrastructure of the defeated countries.
Clearly, we showed signs of how great we could be. Yet the undercurrent of racial discrimination still pulled us down.
We stood firm in Korea against a communist invasion, albeit defending a section of a country arbitrarily divided after World War II, and fought to a stalemate that technically exists today. It would be just prior to this war that President Truman desegrated the military over the objections of many military commanders and public outcry.
It was another glimmer of hope,
In Vietnam, we attempted to recreate the Korean situation, failing to recognize the significant differences between the circumstances. In Korea, there was little local resistance supporting the communist aggression. In Vietnam, the Viet Cong, once known as the Viet Minh, with a long history of resistance to foreign invaders, offered significant military challenges throughout all of Vietnam.
The American military fought with bravery and determination but were left floundering because of the limitations of the US policy on the war (not directly invading the north) and the level of determination by the Viet Cong and their supporters.
Vietnam changed America, for many reasons. Draft deferments for those in college created a chasm between those drafted and sent to Vietnam and those who could avoid it. While significant numbers of those who could avoid service volunteered, there remained a divide within American society. And during this war, simmering racism contributed to tensions among the troops.
On the home front, riots rocked major cities as racial tensions flared.
The 1990s saw the first Iraq War. We liberated Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion and ended the war when it turned into a massacre. Some would argue we should have kept going, but the UN mandate deemed otherwise and we showed great restraint in following it (as we would expect all UN nations to do.)
With 9/11, America was again challenged and rose to the occasion. Afghanistan was both justified and necessary under any measure of international law.
But then the wheels came off with our misadventure into Iraq. Once again, the American military performed flawlessly. While incidents of prisoner mistreatment tarnished our reputation, it was not representative of the overall actions of our men and women in uniform.
Using torture to extract information, however, was more than a blemish. It contradicted everything this country represents. Despite many more rational people calling for abandoning such practice—one that anyone with any common sense will realize is the least effective way of obtaining information—the reality was we as a nation forgot the moral standards we demanded from everyone else because we could.
More has been written in the last few days about some picture on a beer can than about two people shot—one fatally and one seriously wounded—for going to the wrong address or innocently getting into the wrong car. That is hardly an indication of a great nation.
Joe Broadmeadow
Along with the troubling international escapades came a new antagonism and abandonment of compromise in the political world. We were no longer a people of different opinions working toward a common goal. We demanded absolute loyalty to one perspective and ignored, or actively thwarted, any who disagreed.
If one looks at history just from this perspective, it is difficult to see exactly when America was great and when the decline began.
Yet it is important to remember we also put humans on the moon and made enormous strides in science and medicine. All examples of America’s greatest asset, its people.
What I think our problem has always been is that we forget the details of history, particularly the horrors and tragedy of warfare, and embrace the elements that place us in the best light. Our memory is like an old war movie, devoid of the blood-drenched horrors of lost limbs, horrendous wounds, and the screams of dying soldiers calling for their mother.
In school, much of the history I learned about colonization of the US and the western expansion ignored what amounted to a genocide on a scale that exceeded the Nazi Holocaust.
Not Making America Great
What they taught about slavery amounted to a few Lincoln speeches, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Reconstruction told in a Cliff Notes manner.
The Civil War brought an end to slavery and replaced it with the shackles of discrimination.
Time and reading more developed studies of history have put things in a better perspective. The Civil Rights Act happened in my lifetime. Brown v Board of Education was only two years before I was born. Integrating Boston schools happened the year I graduated from high school. The last school desegregation case, in Mississippi, happened in 2019. 2019!
One cannot claim to be a great country when such inequality exists. What one can claim is these same examples are signs of our great potential. We have risen to the occasion in times of war. We need to do the same when we can focus on domestic issues.
Now we face another crisis. One of violence, particularly gun violence. It is not just a question of bad people with guns, or simply a mental health issue. It is infinitely more complex than that.
Thus, even if one argues guns don’t kill people, people kill people, people are still dead in the end because of violence. Nobody is better at killing Americans than their fellow Americans, with guns or otherwise. But the comparison to other nations should still shock everyone. We are an inherently violent nation for reasons we refuse to even try to investigate.
We went to war when terrorists killed 3000+ Americans on 9/11. Yet we are willing to ignore the senseless violence within the country that takes almost eight times that number on an annual basis. We wring our hands, wrap ourselves in the Second Amendment like some security blanket, and sigh.
We may learn that placing more controls on who has weapons may not make any difference, or we might discover the opposite is true. But in either case, ignorance just allows this senseless violence to continue. If America seeks to be a great country, wouldn’t determining a solution be a sign of such a goal?
Yet our focus is on matters with little potential for harm to others.
More has been written in the last few days about some picture on a beer can than about two people shot—one fatally and one seriously wounded—for going to the wrong address or innocently getting into the wrong car.
That is hardly an indication of a great nation.
This is a public health crisis of the most significant kind and one which, until we resolve it or at least dedicate ourselves to finding solutions, will forever taint any claim to greatness, past or future. That Congress refuses to even fund research into the fundamental reasons behind the level of violence in such an advanced society is beyond me.
It casts an enormous shadow over any claim to greatness. It is almost as if we don’t want to know the answer.
What we suffer from is a longing for the innocence of our past, albeit a nostalgic past whitewashed of reality. It is time we end the innocence of our ignorance and seek a lasting legacy of greatness that is well within our grasp if we only open our eyes, dig deeper into ourselves, and listen to each other.
Please take a moment to share my work on social media. The more who read this, the bigger the opportunity to share with others. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
There is no doubt everyone has heard of this case. A young man was shot while at the wrong address to pick up his siblings. (Link to story)
And there will be a deluge of words arguing the issue. But, as Occam’s Razor illustrates, the simplest explanation, and the one we must confront if we are to survive as a free and equal society, is the best explanation.
This young man was shot because he was…
Armed
Attempting to break in
Acting in a threatening manner
Exhibiting violent behavior
BLACK
Simple, tragic, and in direct opposition to what (should) Make America Great…
We can hope the blatant nature of this incident will serve to move the country to action. But, from its mythical creation rising from Pandora’s Box, hope must overcome all that preceded it into the world.
Hope is not enough.
I look forward to the contortionist explanations of how this is precisely why the Second Amendment is unalterable and gun manufacturers immune from litigation (If this had been a car accident, the deep-pocket theory would kick in and everyone from the car company and tire company to whoever installed the red light to the heirs of the guy’s driving instructor would be sued.)
If we really want to protect kids, we have a long way to go. Why stop at the statue of David by Michelangelo with the prominent rock-solid dangling dong? (I’m surprised Viagra hasn’t used the figure in an ad, it seems a perfect fit. And I bet a few of the people supporting the ban could use it.)
What about museums showing exposed breasts, oh the horror. Close them all.
And what of DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man? What happens if children are exposed to such an image? What kind of example does DaVinci set for our youth when he creates illustrations of a naked man?
I have my own personal example of agenda-driven schools run amok.
I recall a class trip to Trinity Square Repertory Company in Providence, RI, when I was a freshman or sophomore in high school. I don’t remember the play’s name, but it had something to do with slavery and the interaction between black slaves used as surrogate caregivers for white children. Unfortunately, I only recall one line from one scene.
The actor, a black woman, was consoling a now grown man and said, “When you were young, I gave you titty.” This exposure to such pornographic trash is likely responsible for everything wrong I have ever done since then. What was the teacher thinking? Where were the guardians of morality when I needed to be saved?
Did they think it might stimulate me to consider the horrors and injustice of humans holding other humans in bondage—and the contradictions of some personal relationships fostered despite the circumstances—simply because of a characteristic skin color beyond the slave and masters’ control?
Or just focus on the “titty?”
The world is full of representations and writing about genitalia. What happens if they get a look at a vag… I can’t even say the word. They might start asking questions. And then there are other examples of what these heathens claim as art being used to groom our children with (glancing around to make sure no one hears the word) S. E. X. or other bodily functions.
And there were even more egregious examples of such filth they subjected me to as a child.
I mean, is there anything more clearly obscene than Woody Woodpecker? The very name sounds like the title of a porno film. We have to shield the children, or they might start asking questions.
And what about all those other programs one sees on T.V. or movies, or everywhere else in the world? I mean, Charlie Brown’s Christmas is obviously a recruitment vehicle for believing in imaginary beings, Linus’s speech about the meaning of Christmas aside. And what about Roadrunner and Wyle. E. Coyote? Glorifying violence. Pepe` Le Pew, obviously sexual aggression.
Sesame Street, teaching kids that inclusivity is important? Who wants that? And Mr. Rogers? A man in a sweater who wears slippers during the day. Come on, he’s a grooming machine.
And to point out something more contemporary, what about Disney’s Moana with its references to Maui as a Demi-God? Clearly, anti-Christian. Maybe the Gov of FL is onto something.
We should replace all of them with reruns of good old WWE well-choreographed blood and violence. You know, like when America was great. Bring back Chief Jay Strongbow and Classy Freddie Blassie.
Good parents monitor what their children read and encourage age-appropriate choices (or even better, read to their children.) Negligent parents try to block that which they cannot or will not understand and shift the burden of responsibility to others.
Joe Broadmeadow
We can ignore the daily gun violence, we can turn a blind eye to agenda-driven court decisions that chip away at a woman’s right to control her own body, we can deny the existential threat of fundamental religiosity fomenting violent racial segregation, but (insert your personal deity here) forbid we let a child read Freddy the Farting Leprechaun or, even more dangerously, try to instill an appreciation for art and the rise of rationalism in the Renaissance.
Or, (personal deity) forbid, a sense of humor.
Where does it end?
In Llano, TX, (you just knew something would come from Texas about this), the Library Commission threatened to close the library because a Judge ordered certain books returned to the shelves. The library commission said they removed them as part of a “normal weeding” process.
The judge called bullshit.
Here’s a quote from the CNN story.
“Reading a prepared statement, Cunningham said the books were taken from the shelves “for reasons unrelated to their content or viewpoints,” stating they were selected as part of a normal “weeding” process. The federal judge who issued the order had disputed this claim, noting that current members of the library board had previously called them “pornographic filth” and “C.R.T.* and LGBTQ books. (* Author’s note: Critical Race Theory)
Books ordered to return to shelves included “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson, “They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and “Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen” by Jazz Jennings.”
Perhaps these books are not appropriate level reading for kindergarten or lower schools. But, if any children were reading these books at that age level, that might be a good indication of the quality of the school. At least they are excelling in reading. In my experience, many high school graduates have difficulty reading See Spot Run, if they can even read beyond a short tweet of acronyms for words, lol, omfg.
Now, books need to be appropriate for the child’s age. That’s what librarians are for, to monitor the books a child might check out. But using that excuse to ban books is just that, an excuse. Some prissy adults with obvious social development issues trying to validate their own beliefs by blocking anything they find distasteful or challenging to their concept of the world are the last thing we need.
Good parents monitor what their children read and encourage age-appropriate choices (or even better, read to their children.) Negligent parents try to block that which they cannot or will not understand and shift the burden of responsibility to others.
Some prissy adults with obvious social development issues trying to validate their own beliefs by blocking anything they find distasteful or challenging to their concept of the world are the last thing we need.
Joe Broadmeadow
Two of the books the library commission wanted to ban are very intriguing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson and They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
I am rereading Caste since the material is shocking to the senses and challenging to digest. I haven’t read the other—but I added it to my Kindle list since I am cursed with the ease of buying a book with the mere click of a thumb—but it doesn’t take a deep understanding of history to know the K.K.K. meets every criterion as a deadly terrorist group and is entirely devoid of social conscience or human value.
That the commission wanted to remove these two books seems like an unwillingness to acknowledge the fact that white people, regardless of their distance from the historical period of slavery, benefit from the racial gap slavery created. They find this distasteful to their rose-colored glasses’ perspective on history.
If the solution to our problems is banning books, where do we draw the line? That some places have removed The Diary of Anne Frank because of some “sexual” content they find offensive is the first step in whitewashing history and allowing such horrors as Nazism to rise again. While age-appropriate is a consideration, a 10-year-old is allowed into the Holocaust Museum where sexuality is about as far removed from the point as one could get. If a 10-year-old, a fourth grader, can handle depictions of the horrible treatment, murder of millions, and the attempted extermination of an entire group of people because of who they were, I think they can handle depictions of human sexuality by a similarly aged young girl.
The other target, perhaps the real target, of these attempts to ban items are books about trans-sexuals and the LGBTQ community. And just to put it in perspective. The estimates are there are 1.6 million individuals 13+ who identify as transgender. Not exactly an overwhelming invasion. Another point, only 1% of identified pedophiles are gay. The overwhelming majority are heterosexual. If you looking to protect kids from sexual predators the LGBTQ community is the least likely to commit such acts. https://stopabusecampaign.org/2017/03/10/are-most-sex-abusers-heterosexual/
The very idea that reading books about LGBTQ people can act as a recruitment mechanism promulgates the false premise that sexuality is a choice. This is idiocy. It is ignorance of the highest (or lowest) order. One’s sexual orientation is no more a choice than is eye color or height. It is genetically determined. Sometimes, nature makes a mistake and places a psychologically male or female person in a body that does not match physiologically. That individual didn’t choose to be born that way. Genetics defined it. We need to understand a phenomenon and learn to accept it, not reflexively and irrationally act against it.
I find it hypocritical that “religious” people, so willing to believe souls occupy humans, cannot or will not accept the fact that sometimes there is a mismatch between the biology and this “soul.”
This dichotomy of beliefs, that a soul exists but a person chooses their sexuality or can be compelled by a book or exposed genitalia to do so, is a sad commentary on the rationality and humanity of many Americans.
I’ll tell you one thing for certain. My grandson will not be checking out Freddy the Farting Leprechaun when he goes to school. He will already have read it, along with a host of others across a spectrum of topics.
Choose whatever book you like for your children and leave others to choose theirs. Perhaps, someday, we will all learn to accept things we may not understand and not feel compelled to eradicate them with either bans or concentration camps .
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
I came upon this story recently and, after I finished convulsing in both hysterics and horror, I reread it again to make sure I wasn’t suffering from some monumental (the operative part being mental) psychosis.
Here’s the jist of the story, please sit down and surround yourself with soft pillows in case you seize up after reading this.
A teacher was fired because she gave a grade of 0 (Zero) to students who didn’t turn in their homework. I will give you a moment to digest this.
Here’s a quote from the story.
“A middle school teacher was promptly let go after she was told by school administrators that she failed to follow the school guidelines when it came to grading her students.
“Diana Tirado, who taught U.S. History at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, Florida was forced to say goodbye to her students after she was fired from her job for not giving the students any credit for their homework.
Tirado defended her decision after she was fired for giving her students all zeroes for not turning in their homework.”
The school has a “No Zero” policy which is listed in the student and parent handbook as “no zeroes – lowest possible grade is 50%.” I didn’t think anyone ever read these things and, had I known they may have contained such idiotic loopholes, I might have read them.
The students who suffered this life altering ignominy complained of this grievous violation, bringing it to the teacher’s attention and then complaining up the chain of command until she was fired. Apparently they couldn’t do the homework but did read the book.
Are you f&^%ng kidding me.
Let me get this straight. If a student turns in nothing for a homework assignment, they get a score of 50%. For DoingNothing.
I suppose if they had submitted a blank piece of paper on time they’d get maybe 70% under this logic. What exactly is this policy designed to teach? Ignoring assignments carries no serious consequences?
And what about the students who actually did the work? Do they get a bonus for following instructions? Do they get a free pass on the next assignment? Probably not. What they get is a life lesson on the inherent unfairness of the world.
As to the nitwits who can’t even be bothered to make an attempt at doing their schoolwork, when these geniuses hit the real world, not completing assignments won’t be worth 50%, it will be worth a termination letter and unemployment. Of course, unemployment compensation may be their crowning achievement in their earning history. Either that or they should at least study for their Walmart Shopping Cart Retriever Driver’s License. I hear the driving test is a bear.
And has for the teacher who stood her ground, I hope some sensible school district will recruit her. We need more teachers like that.
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
Over the course of my life, I’ve held several jobs. My first one, at 15, was washing dishes at the Admiral Inn in Cumberland, Rhode Island. My aunt, Katherine Szpila, was the hostess. Almost all my cousins and a couple of uncles worked there at some point, and I got to eat all the boneless fried chicken I could handle.
I then moved on to the Almacs grocery store. In 1972, Almacs was a great place to work. As a unionized shop, it gave me an appreciation of how important having an organization supporting workers could be. Not that most managers were difficult, but there were a few.
And I will admit to a bit of payback I exacted when I started my next serious job at the East Providence Police Department. Almacs corporate offices were in East Providence, in the Rumford section. Back then, that area was one of the quietest areas to work and I hated being assigned there.
But there was a small benefit. I would position myself on Roger Williams Ave and stop any cars leaving the Almacs facility. (Nobody stopped for the stop sign or drove the speed limit.). When I was fortunate enough to snag one of the more cruel bastards who took pleasure in wreaking havoc whenever they visited the store I worked at, they got an autographed ticket from me.
While I let most of them go, I didn’t let them all go. It made it tolerable to work the slow area and gave me a great deal of satisfaction.
After EPPD, where twenty years flew by in a flash, I moved on to other careers. While each of these had their moments, particularly my time as a Police Officer, none can measure up to my latest job.
Now, my job is to make memories with my grandson, Levi, and his soon to arrive brother.
We make memories I hope he (they) will carry their whole life. And, in those trying moments everyone faces in life, I hope those memories will bring a smile to their face and a moment of hope, even for the briefest of moments.
Of all the things I’ve done in my life, making memories that last is, without a doubt, the most important. There is never a better moment to make memories then now. Seize that moment, or all that will remain are memories never made.
JEBWizard Publishing (www.jebwizardpublishing.com) is a hybrid publishing company focusing on new and emerging authors. We offer a full range of customized publishing services.
Everyone has a story to tell, let us help you share it with the world. We turn publishing dreams into a reality. For more information and manuscript submission guidelines contact us at info@jebwizardpublishing.com or 401-533-3988.
