Stalking the Shadows: Thank you America for freeing me from slavery

[shadowknows69]

An absurd statement coming from a thirty-nine year old white male perhaps but until November 4th, 2008 I have felt like a slave. I was a slave to the guilt of the sins of my fathers, a sentiment I’m sure my friends of all backgrounds might find silly and unnecessary on my part, but it’s been a guilt that has shackled my soul as sure as any chain.

So a self loathing white man I am. Personally, I have tried to live my life as part of the global family of humanity and though surrounded by much bigotry in my life I’ve never been infected by it. I’ve had my bouts of immaturity in my distant youth I’m sure, laughing at an insensitive joke or not speaking out where I should, but since early adulthood I’ve made a conscious effort to right any of those wrongs and truly be a better person. One who stands up for rights and speaks truth to power.

Of course atrocity to one’s fellow man is not an exclusive curse of Caucasians but as I dug deeper into history it became clear that my European/Germanic kin were the purveyors of and profiteers from the misery of millions and the guilt of that haunted me. We certainly didn’t invent hatred and death dealing but we seemed to be better at it than most. I wondered at times if I was a member of a truly evil race of human, as if the European races that formed in the early days of man were actually an aberration of our species, unfit to be a part of a civilized world by the horror of our potential for destruction.

Again, of course there have been barbarians and monsters of every color and creed throughout history and there still are, but my race owned the misery of our most immediate universe and lately it seems that we’ve reverted to a more vicious version of ourselves. Old white men in seats of power still dealing death at their whim, primarily upon people who don’t look or think like them. .

Did the election absolve my ancestors of hundreds of years of oppression and inequality? Of course not, and I do agree while one person is not free then none of us truly are, but electing President Obama has freed my soul from the sins of my fathers to an extent and I’m still struggling to believe it has actually happened.

As I said, many of you would tell me my guilt has been unwarranted and what has given me comfort through the years is my belief in our Constitution. That it was written by guided hands. That it set down ideals that even though at the time our country didn’t live up to them all, that someday it was possible we would. That comfort eroded significantly in the last eight years and I truly thought our country was poised to jump backwards about 150 years if an increasingly bigoted and powerful Republican party retained control of our White House.

There are not words that can properly describe how honored I am to have been able to take part in this historic event. Obama wasn’t my first choice, but as the field of candidates thinned out it was clear he was the best choice. He made it to the final two because he earned it, his campaign was a well oiled machine that never broke down or wavered from its path even with obstacles being hurled into the road from all sides. Whether the pundits will admit it was a “mandate” or not according to the numbers, what was mandated is that America is going to be a little closer to its ideals than it has been since it started. The tears I have seen streaming from the eyes of black men and women when they say they can finally tell their children that there are no limitations and they can mean it, fills me with indescribable joy and yet sadness that it has taken this long and we still aren’t at the end of the road. I know now my niece can grow up in a little better world, despite the fact she still encounters hatred for having a black father and white mother. The hatred still stings but does less damage because we are still climbing the mountain and the summit may actually be in sight finally.

So I feel freed from the slavery of my own guilt just a little bit now and I thank my fellow Americans for helping that to happen. I feel like some of us have atoned in some small part for the sins of the past that must never be forgotten but hopefully now are a little easier forgiven. I finally have faith that people who still live in eras of hatred in their own mind, if not changed, will finally be shown as the pariahs they should be in a “free” society. The struggle hasn’t ended, in fact a new one has just begun, and in all likelihood it could still get worse as it gets better. The important thing is that President Obama will put this country on a new path, just by virtue of what he represents if not by any specific action. For the first time in a long time the road is clearer ahead, and hopefully our past is a lot farther behind us.
-S

[lostnfound]

1. Hitaji Aziz, a Houston radio host, often says that white people are

enslaved or trapped or damaged by racism, or that she wants to save white children from the terrible pain of racism. She sees that white children growing up in racist environment are stripped of their innocence and left damaged as human beings. She gives examples of white children in earlier decades being intentionally exposed by their parents to brutality and shocking treatment of blacks, in order to intentionally rob them of their natural innocence.

To a lesser or greater extent, racist American society has distorted us all.

I am thrilled with this election for many, many reasons, one of which is that my (white) little boy will have a (black) president in the White House during his formative years.

[JDwho]

2. Well written and expressed,

It's not easy to admit the guilt of what our ancestors have done, esp. when you and I have rejected racism and bigotry. Whether we like it or not, its there; Slavery is America's great shame, while the Holocaust is Germany's. I agree with the first post as well, we are all damaged as children due to bigotry. If you live in the Southern US, quadruple that damage. However, a new page has turned, racism exists still; yet, now it is an archaic way of thinking and the future children of America will not only see it as such, but wonder how such ignorance ever existed among intelligent life at all. Thanks for your post.
JD

[BabbaTam]

3. free to begin

As a white male raised in the back woods of Texas, I grew up right in the middle of the of the fight to stop racist thinking. Some of the towns around me were more than 50% black. My mama stood up one night at supper and yelled at my granny because she said nigger at the table. She said, "we don't use that word in this house!" Yet when I wandered down to the creek one day to play, she quickly ran down and scooped me up because some little black children had waded across and were playing with me. I thought I had done something wrong and was glad I didn't get whipped. My father, a stoic southerner who lived by the letter of the law, one day said, "nigger, nigger, nigger! There! I said it!" Later on when one of his black tenants stole everything out of the house that he was renting to her (even the doorknobs off the doors),he said, "now that's a nigger for you!" I said, "no daddy, that's a black thief." On integration sunday I was home from college visiting my folks and a man peeped into our sunday school class and said, "Don't worry now, if any of 'them' try to come to church, we have a pew reserved in the back just for them." I thought, "Doesn't he realize that the back of the bus started this? Is this a joke?" I didn't go back home for a long time. I marched, I sang, I did everything I could to end the insanity. Then I was kicked to the curb by my black friends when black power became fashionable. It was sad, but all part of the long road we have all traveled. Look where we are now! Right smack dab at the start of a new road. I'm ready to pitch in a do what I can do to keep this ball rolling. Maybe there is something to that 'hundredth monkey' effect. May the God that watches over all of us, no matter what you call him/her, protect Barack Obama and his family and bless this great nation of ours.
:patriot:

[NOLALady]

4. Do you feel better now

that you wrote a post on DU that's quite sprinkled with the N word and the reference to the 'hundreth monkey'?

[shadowknows69]

5. I saw no ill will in that post

Sometimes you have to use the words of hate to properly express their context. The "hundreth monkey" was a reference to this <http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Hundredth+Monkey> I presume.

[I Have A Dream]

6. Nor did I. nt

[JDwho]

10. I saw no ill will, either.

Sometimes candid speach is necessary to make a point. Anyway, it's now time to unite and this guy obviously did what he could (marched, sang, etc.) at the time to get involved and begin. I applaud him for doing what many whites were to afraid to do.

[Hekate]

8. It is indeed a long road--& we all have to start from someplace. Glad you made it to this new one...

It sounds like your mother had a good instinct, and passed it along to you to do with what you could, and you did.

For 8 years I've been saying "We shall live to see better days" and finally we have.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

Hekate

[I Have A Dream]

7. I completely understand how you feel.

I'm a white woman whose ancestors never came close to owning slaves, yet I still am ashamed of what my "race" has done to so many people in the world.

I guess that we're here at this time to try to fix things like this. We're no longer waiting for the world to change...

[tom_paine]

9. We have had our disagreements. But I reach out and clasp your hand, sir.

On this day of days where all of us share the joy and hope for the future, each for our own reasons.

We are indeed united by our agreements and hopes and shared dreams than we are disunited by our single-issue conflicts.

It is something ALL Americans should come to remember, after 28 years and more under the yoke of Corporatizing Media and Bushiganda.

You know what? I came here to rec this thread and you know what happened?

Error: You have already recommended that thread.

Nice post.

:toast: :party:

[shadowknows69]

11. One bump for the night crew