Being in America

[dweller]

By Frank Pitz

October 6, 2005—Being black, being poor, being female, being gay, trying to
be free, being expendable, being anyone but white-Republican-Christian-
corporate-rich-behind the gates of Bush's America. The past few weeks have
been especially tough for blacks in America, not to say that it has ever been
anything but dangerous being black in America. However . . .

I have not seen this much overt (political) racism—aided and abetted by the
news media—since the Reagan administration. William Bennett (the
gambling czar) takes to the airwaves and opines as to how if we just had
more abortions performed on blacks "the crime rate would go down." Not to
be overshadowed, the "Uncle Tom" who heads HUD states that New Orleans
"will not be as black as it was." With all of this implied lynching rhetoric
flowing from Washington and over the airwaves one cannot help but wonder
when the literal lynching begins; though it has never stopped, has it?

A photo—one among many—has been circulating on the web and the theme
has to do with the ubiquitous looting bullshit the media had been giving much
credence to recently. This photo ostensibly comes from Texas (where else)
and it shows 13 Neanderthals standing and grinning in back of a sheet of
plywood on which is painted the words "drunks with guns, u loot we shoot."
Now every one of these rejects from the gene pool are standing proudly
displaying their various weapons from handguns, to semi-automatics, to a
shotgun or two, as well as the requisite cans of beer. The rather macabre
scene was enhanced by the fact that they were standing by a utility pole with
a downed wire very prominent in the photo looking much like a hanging rope
waiting to be utilized. The very least one could have hoped for would have
been a sudden surge of power through the downed line and we would have
had "crispy drunks with guns."

These types of images, along with the racist tenor of the rhetoric which now
seems to be such a more pronounced part of the national discourse these
days illustrate two very succinct points which we progressives need to view
and discuss; with an end towards changing the discourse and taking this
country back from the bastards who took it.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/100605Pitz/100605pitz.html

dp

(Onlinejournal is taking a short break and will resume publishing on or about October 17)