American timidity

We must overcome our timidity and fears of appearing weak because we simply do what’s right.

American timidity

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming convictions that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day. Abraham Lincoln

America the great has become America the timid. Over the last several generations we’ve turned our backs wearily from the governance of our personal involvement with government to the point we have no real say in that governance. Americans regularly proclaim the organized, liberal pap and propaganda they’ve learned in schools now designed to advance curricula antithetical to American exceptionalism and leadership in the world.

When was the last time you saw anybody of any race being segregated and forced to sit at the back of the bus? When have you ever experienced the ignominy of being refused service at a lunch counter or McDonald’s or other fast food joint simply because of the color of your skin? When have you suffered organizational, widespread state sponsor racism that could be shown through true evidence of the plot to dehumanize any segment of society?

Pull out the emotion and show the facts. Stop dropping everybody to the lowest common denominator and start elevating yourself and your brother to a higher plane.

Yes. Recently there have been horrible acts of homicide alleged to have been a major part of the action protocols and use of force spectrum of police agencies. Now we have video of a cop killing a man and possibly contaminating the crime scene by moving evidence to conceal his wrongful act. If this is the case then he should be charged, tried and if convicted, imprisoned for the rest of his life if he did this as a hate crime. But, did his compatriots show the same alleged callousness? Wasn’t a police officer seen trying to do CPR at the scene? Are all cops evil because one may be?

I’d say no more so than all members of any race are guilty of the heinous acts of violence against society, individual and the police. Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted and sentenced to death in July 1982 for the December 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Does that make ALL black people bad or wrong simply for the color of their skin?

Of course not but, does a six-month old child resting in a crib in a high crime neighborhood deserve to be killed by a drive-by shooter simply because a gang initiation must be accomplished or an older member of the child’s family is hated by the shooter? Is that a justification for death?

Humanity’s history is as diverse and covertly damaged as the far side of the moon. Our history is pock-marked with craters of injustice, greed and the need for ascension above those seen as lesser beings. People of ALL races have battled, stolen and enslaved their brothers in race and those of other races so they may profit from the toil and labors of people only working to avoid a whiplash. That is historical truth.

But, it’s also history, which is: a continuous narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person usually written as a chronological account or chronicle: acts, ideas or events that will or can shape the course of the future (Dictionary.com)

This is where the despicable timidity of the American character has come to be recognized. We accept our history and give it to the next generation as being their future. We never add the caveat: UNLESS.

UNLESS suggests we have the ability to direct the course of our future. UNLESS suggests we can choose the direction and success of our lives. UNLESS suggests we DO NOT have to accept past treatments and indignities as being our lot. We mustn’t pollute the next generation with our resistance to injustice by applying injustice toward others we were told were the enemy a hundred years ago.

America’s timidity has been noted in our refusal to take responsibility of our lives and actions now. We must take the righteous stand that we’ll move forward and change our personal, individual behaviors in sufficient numbers of people so we create societal changes. This will show we’re better than our pasts but nowhere near experiencing the exceptional possibilities of our future.

We’ve gotten lazy and expect the state, the government, the latest legislative mandate to cure what’s wrong within us.

Years ago I was having a problem with feelings of anger toward people closest to me who’d hurt me as a child. I couldn’t let it go. It was destroying me from the internal rot of hatred. Then, a man told me the best way to resolve my issues were two-fold: first I should always smile and say as little as possible and always address everybody as sir or ma’am. Second, I should pray for those who hurt me, even though I didn’t mean it.

The idea was if I prayed for them I showed the Christian charity I’d turned my back on years ago and it would turn to a sincere plea for their forgiveness. I could gain absolution in time by giving it now. I don’t know if it works as much as I was told but I sleep better now.

The first one was simply if you call people by reasonable and polite names they can never say you called them anything else. Then because you’re smiling all the time you drive them nuts wondering what’s going on with you. But they can’t say you hurt them with a smile and a pleasant demeanor.

We must overcome our timidity and fears of appearing weak because we simply do what’s right.

By Sarge