Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Star Spangled Protest: The Verse You Missed!

It's time to Break It Down!

The challenges of living in and leveraging the dynamic opportunities of a multicultural society such as that found in the United States of America are many.  There are more reasons for that than I could ever address adequately in any single blog post.  Today I will take a brief look at our nation’s Anthem, and examine several “Key” related points, pun intended, including the man who penned it, the little known third verse, the antipathy toward black athletes who dare point out the inconsistencies and/or inequities related to the fundamentals of our Constitution, its Amendments, our Creed, and of course, the Anthem.

I cannot begin to recall how many times I have heard Conservatives remind us that ours is an exceptional nation.  This characterization implies an unimpeachable blessing bestowed upon us by no less than the almighty God, an inherent righteousness assigned to any and all causes that America deigns to endorse, as well as an irreducible validation of our systems and values, e.g., Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and the irresistible force that is the power of the United States Military Industrial Complex.

Since this past weekend we have engaged in a national dialogue, much if it digitally, about an NFL player opting not to stand for the National Anthem.  Colin Kaepernick is a member of the San Francisco 49’ers, in fact a quarterback who incidentally is currently not projected as a starter at his position.  Mr. Kaepernick cited his concern about blacks dying in the streets and officers getting paid leave, which is frequently the most onerous consequence to them, resulting from their actions.

Kaepernick is an African American, the son of a white mother and a black father.  He was adopted and raised by white parents.  Not surprisingly, as has come to be the norm, social media has erupted over this so-called controversy.  Many critics across racial lines have suggested that neither the timing, nor the venue in which he expressed his stated concerns was appropriate.  As you might imagine, he drew pointed ire from Veterans and Veterans’ groups.  Moreover, he attracted a spate of racial epithets from a number of white people.

It is also important to note that some Veterans supported him, and others at least supported his right to exercise his First Amendment rights; a point I will come back to later.  At least one veteran’s Group also extended it support, and it must be observed, not all whites thought he was wrong to express the sentiments he did.

America is an exceedingly complex society.  It has been that way since the outset, and when one looks back at our evolution and development as a nation state, it is fair to say at this juncture, our complexity increases almost daily.  We used to describe our country as a melting pot.  Subsequent metaphors many us adopted for a time included a tossed salad, and a quilt.  Today, we are comprised of a global consortium of interconnected communities representing every corner of the world.  We are rapidly approaching that magical moment when when white people will no longer represent the majority of the American population.  Undoubtedly, there are those who submit that when that barrier is crossed, we will no longer be great.  Sigh!

Consider that backdrop when you evaluate Kaepernick’s actions and comments.  The comments and the varied responses are a reflection of a broadening chasm between people who look at America and see an Empire receding rapidly from a glorious past, and those who view a burgeoning giant ready to rise triumphantly into a brilliant future marked by immeasurable contributions from our growing diverse communities.  The contrast is almost as stark as the distinction between isolationist Maoist China and the American society that boldly embraced the notion of E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one).

Colin Kaepernick’s battle is neither his alone, nor a new one.  As recently as two weeks ago during the 2016 Summer Olympics, American Gymnast Gabby Douglas was flayed because as she stood (and she did stand) on the Medal Stand with her four Olympic teammates, she did not place her hand over her heart, as her teammates did during the Anthem.  She did not announce any protest, before or after her appearance, and in fact later apologized for having been a distraction.  Nevertheless, her action, or lack thereof, became a huge issue.  By the same token, in those same Olympics, American Wrestlers similarly did not place their hands on their hearts, and (are you surprised) there was no furor.  Now if I note that Ms. Douglas was black and the Wrestlers were white, someone will ask, why does everything have to be racialized?  I not only agree, I would ask, why didn’t anyone think of that before singling out the black American Gymnast…but not the white American Wrestlers?  I’m just saying!

But this is bigger, much bigger than that.  When Muhammad Ali declared himself a conscientious objector in 1967 and refused to serve in the Vietnam War, he was effectively pilloried.  He lost his Title as the Heavyweight Boxing Champion, his boxing license, his passport, and three of what could have been the most productive years in his boxing career, spanning from ages 25 to nearly 29.  If only there had been the Internet and social media in that era, I can only imagine the fallout that would have resulted.

It did not take long for the next episode.  At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, American Track and Field Team members Tommie Smith, the fastest man in the world at the time, and John Carlos each wore a black glove and black socks as they raised their arms in a salute to unity with people fighting internationally for human rights around the world when received their Gold and Bronze Medals, respectively.  Smith actually set a World Record in the race (200 Meters) that would last for eleven years. The two were immediately sent home and faced significant fallout for the duration of their careers.  While many of us know this, a lesser known footnote about that race is Silver Medalist Peter Norman, of Australia, also felt moved by the two runners support of global human rights, and also wore a badge in support for the effort.  His career was also forever affected by that fateful act.  Australia had it’s own issues and operated a system similar to South African Apartheid that affected the country’s Aborigines.  Norman was never permitted to compete for Australia again.


Decades later, Ali, at his funeral earlier this year was honored and given a hero’s Rites.  His actions from 50 years ago are viewed through a different lens these days.  Even Smith and Carlos’ actions today generally receive favorable reviews by most Americans.  It’s difficult to predict if Kaepernick will be looked at similarly at some point in the future.

But there’s more.  The Anthem itself must be assessed in its fullness, rather than based on just the single verse that is sung as most events.  Francis Scott Key, wrote the Anthem during a battle at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, September 13-14, 1813. Like many of the notable Southern elites of his time, Key was a slave owner.  He was a Marylander, and yes, Maryland is a Southern State.  The infamous Mason-Dixon Line runs through the state. 

Most folks have no idea the Star Spangled Banner has four verses.  The song was originally a poem,  “The Defence of Fort McHenry.”  The third verse rather graphically and pointedly speaks to spilling the blood of slaves and sending them to their graves.  Yes, that was indeed a sign of the times, but now…is not then!  When I reflect upon it, I find it surprising that many more people, especially African Americans, do not stand or cover their heat during the Anthem…and I’m reasonably sure if more people knew the history, there would be less acquiescence with the rituals.  Here’s hoping this post spreads the word.  See verse three below, and after verse three the Anthem in its entirety:

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”           

The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics
By Francis Scott Key 1814

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

All things considered, there are many vexing issues related to this dust-up.  There is of course, the disparate treatment of America’s black and white athletes when they run afoul of Anthem Rituals.  It is also unfathomable how any person prone to a balanced perspective could ignore the implications of a slave owner’s theme song adopted as the country’s national standard.  Finally, there is the issue of honoring those who serve.

I did not serve, but I do have a number of Veterans in my family.  I love, honor and respect each and every one of them.  But let’s be clear, they and every man and woman who served and fought, did so for our freedoms…all of them.  Specifically, they did not fight just for the Second Amendment.  Yes, we have the right to bear arms.  But without question, they also fought for the First Amendment, which if you are counting, comes before the Second.  This means you; I, and Colin Kaepernick all have Freedom of Speech.  As such, he is not only able to sit during the National Anthem, he may do so knowing that those who serve do so in order to ensure that he can do just that.  So, the next time this issue arises, be mindful of the...Star Spangled Protest: The Verse You Missed!”

I’m done; holla back!

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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

"What The Aitch Do You Have To Lose?"

It's time to Break It Down!

Though it’s been three weeks since I’ve written about 2016 Presidential Politics, the Campaign has indeed continued apace.  Both Parties have held their respective Conventions and are gearing up to do battle for the next seventy days or so.

For her part, Team Clinton continues, and I would expect will for the duration of the campaign, to absorb hits about her use of email, this time involving the Clinton Foundation.  Mr. Trump has gone so far as to refer to emails that appear to connect the Foundation, Secretary Clinton, and wealthy donors seeking meetings as evidence of a Pay-to-Play scheme.  He has called for a Special Prosecutor to be named to investigate the matter.  Needless to say, that would be a very convenient outcome, from his perspective.

For his part, Team Trump has found itself in an interesting position.  After having an eventful, though largely positive (for him) Republican National Convention, he received a significant 6-point bounce the following week that saw him surpass Hillary in the Polls going into the week of the Democratic National Convention.  Then came the Democratic Convention, which brought its own 7-point bounce, which catapulted Mrs. Clinton back into a lead in most Polls.

Then things really got interesting.  The Trump Campaign hit a number of sour notes, including one with a Gold Star Family.  The offshoot in summary was many of the Polls were unkind to Mr. Trump.  He trailed by double digits in several, including in some states where Republicans are expecting to contend, or even to have a slight advantage, such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

It is clear the Trump Campaign found these developments unsettling.  So with roughly 80 days to go before Election Day, Team Trump undertook it’s second significant shake-up and installed it’s third new Leadership Team.  This time Paul Manafort, who in the spring replaced Corey Lewandowski as Campaign Chair, was displaced on August 17th, by the duo of Kellyanne Conway, Campaign Chair, and Stephen Bannon, Campaign CEO.  Conway is the head of her own Polling Firm, and Bannon is a former executive at Breitbart News.

I may be one of the few people who truly believes this is still genuinely a race.  I absolutely think Donald Trump continues to have a viable shot, no pun intended Second Amendment people, at becoming the 45th POTUS.  Let me be clear, I think Mrs. Clinton will win.  However, today anyway, I feel given the amount of time left, and the number of unknown variables that may still impact the outcome, Donald J. Trump still has a puncher’s chance.  And he’s obviously going to keep flailing away.

Today though, I want to take a moment to examine one of Mr. Trump’s most recent cavalier (in my opinion, anyway) premises.  This should not take long.  Last Thursday, Donald Trump came to Charlotte, NC and among other things launched his initial pitch to African Americans. The next day in Dimondale, Michigan, Trump continued to hone, refine, and embolden his pitch to the African American community.  Recent polls suggest he is polling 1 to 2 percent nationally among African Americans, and actually zero in a couple of swing states, Pennsylvania and Ohio.  With metrics like that, it is easy enough to understand why he would consider targeting, again, no pun intended Second Amendment people, African Americans as a group with whom he would like to expand his support.

With that disclaimer, it is important to note a couple of distinct issues:

·      The first is that Mr. Trump chose to issue his most passionate plea to date for African American support in, as I noted above, Dimondale, Michigan.  Dimondale, according to the 2010 Census is 93% white, and includes 9, as in one less than 10, African Americans, which translates into .73%.  To be clear, that is less than three quarters of one percent.
·      The second point I want to elevate is the language Mr. Trump chose to use to implore support among African Americans.  He said, and I quote, "What the hell do you have to lose?"  That is the more indelicate version of today’s title.  Fine, call the title politically correct, if you must.  But to be sure, the larger point here is, whether Donald Trump, his surrogates, his supporters, and his newly minted Campaign Leadership Team realize and appreciate, there are millions of African Americans who not only take great exception to the brazen temerity of the query, but who would be happy to respond…if only he would come to some location that actually presented him with an audience of living, breathing African Americans.

While I think the question is disrespectful, he upped the ante on the downright ludicrous by insisting if elected, in his 2020 reelection bid, he would actually garner more than 95% of the black vote.  OK, if, as Mr. Trump eventually claimed, his insistence that President Obama founded ISIS was sarcasm, his black vote assertion, on its face, is sheer hyperbole.  President Obama, in his reelection bid attracted 93% of the black vote.  For Mr. Trump to fix his mouth to say he would better that is laughable.  Hilarious in fact!

This has been a fairly popular discussion over the course of the past several days.  In winding down this conversation, I will leave you with three responses, including one of my own, to Mr. Trump’s presumptuous sounding question.  Before I get to the responses, let me expand on the meaning of “presumptuous sounding.”  It is a fairly common consensus that Mr. trump is really not seeking to expand or increase his support among African Americans.  Instead, he is executing a strategy to increase his level of palatability among white voters, many of whom have expressed the notion that he is not Presidential, that many of his rants are racist and or bigoted, and that his proposed Muslim ban and wall separating us from Mexico are in a word, contemptuous.

Now, here are responses from two of my friends and me regarding “what we have to lose:”

1.    JW said, ”Donald Trump paints a bleak picture of Black Americans and asks, "What the hell do you have to lose?" Join me in the self portrait of a Black man’s what's to lose challenge: This Black man is a comfortably retired Ph. D, all five kids college educated, two with advanced degrees, living in a country club community, multi-lingual, no arrest records, a registered Democrat and veteran.  What's to lose?  My standing as an intelligent individual with a full serving of political integrity. Chime in brothers...”
2.    KW said, ”Trump's assertion requires critical analysis.  Let's start with my immediate family: I am a product of Detroit public schools.  I have three college degrees including a Masters Degree in Organizational Management.  My wife is a product of public schools in her hometown.  She has two college degrees including a Bachelors of Science degree.  One of our daughters graduated from college at the age of 17!  She earned two more degrees from UCLA (a public university).  Our oldest daughter has three college degrees.  Our 22-year-old son has two college degrees and will earn a third degree in May 2017.  Our youngest daughter earns her first college degree in May 2017 and she will be 19 years old.  So: earned degrees in the Williams household: 13 to date with two more expected in May 2017.  Oh, I forgot. That's impossible because we are all Black.  I also forgot to mention all 13 degrees were conferred with honors ranging from Cum Laude to Summa Cum Laude.  Trump: Get away from me with that minutia. You embarrass Republicans and Americans. BTW: what college did your wife graduate from???  Feel free to share this. I wrote and approved this message.”
3.   I said, ”African American, two degrees, 34+ year career in public service, retired, blogger, with some definite ideas about what's at stake if African Americans and America gamble on Donald Trump.  I think Mr. Trump is simultaneously pandering to blacks while enflaming the white racist voting bloc, in an effort to offset the lack of support he is sure to garner from us.  Such racist and bigoted appeals are certain to harden the shell that already makes life challenging for black folks trying to navigate our society.  And then, there is this...  Of course you already know this, but you may not have seen it here.” http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/opinion/why-blacks-loathe-trump.html?_r=0

That sums it up pretty well, in my opinion, just in case you were wondering, “What The Aitch Do You Have To Lose?”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com.

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