On Presidents Day this week I went to Mt Vernon since I hadn’t
been there in decades. With this being a Presidential election year as well I thought it
might assist me in forming a more accurate assessment in regards to the political
rhetoric of our time and America’s possible future from whence we have come.
I forgot how vast George’s wealth was, built on the backs
and labor of his enslaved staff. These people were not the ignorant savages depicted
then but intelligent and creative craft persons who wove beautiful cloth for
clothes, talented blacksmiths, leather workers, carpenters, fishermen, food
preservers (smokers, Salter’s, canners), chef’s, farmers, brewers, whiskey
makers, and sanitary workers.
Sound familiar? Working for “the man”, not even livable
wages, lucky to have a non-leaking roof over their heads, energy (wood) to heat their domiciles, let alone enough food to eat for their labor intensive efforts? Yet George and his kind had the hypocrisy of
stating noble words of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” while enslaving
“beasts of muddy brains” for greed.
As I walked these “hallowed” grounds with the throngs of predominately
white visitors, I noticed there were very few people of color in attendance. And I understood why, rightly so, painful to
go and see how your ancestry were so horribly treated. But as I was leaving, I noticed a van pull up
to the entrance, with a gaggle of women dressed in burka’s and children in
strollers spilling out, all laughing and speaking English, excited at the opportunity
to visit America’s first President’s home. As I smiled at the sight, I gleefully thought "Now THAT'S what America is about."
Unfortunately, a couple of days later while surfing the net, I found the
following article: http://news.yahoo.com/newark-mayor-nypd-misled-us-muslim-spying-204218537.html. Greed-fear as a business model -, racism, bigotry
- all alive and well in the so-called land of the free and home of the brave. If I were a citizen of NYC I’d be rather pissed that my hard
earned tax dollars – if I had a job – were going to illegally spy on people of color in other jurisdictions.
How times have NOT
changed. Again Tribe, it’s time “to be the
change you wish to see in the world.”
That includes the local, state, and national Peace Keepers of The Tribe. Time to step up and put an end to this
vile and UnAmerican behavior. If not now, when?
