memorial day 2005...repost

this is a repost from last year to commemorate memorial day. it's applicable to independence day, too.

one friend suggested i not get racial or political today while another one reiterated the fact that this is my blog and my voice. why the fuck am i even wondering about whether or not to censure myself? that shit won't happen again. thanks for reminding me of that, luv :).

i figure today's as good a day as any to give folk a clue as to why black folk aren't all that trusting of the american government and are cynical when it comes to celebrating "independence day" and other federal holidays.

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i wonder how those negros felt.

you know, the ones who ran away from their slavemasters to fight for the british so they could gain the freedom that was supposed to come as a result of the outlaw of slavery in england. surely if england deemed it illegal, the british colonies in america would follow suit, right? it must have pissed those negroes off when they found out america had no plans to outlaw slavery. that's where it began, you know. that's where black folk in america first felt the stinging betrayal of a government that was supposed to watch out for them.

so what did those negroes do? well after they petitioned for their freedom to no avail, many of them ran away from the plantations and signed up with the british army. see, it was better to die fighting for freedom than it was to live resigned to enslavement. let's not get it twisted, though. england didn't give a fuck about the enslaved blacks and the enslaved blacks didn't give a fuck about england. it was about rights. nothing more, nothing less. must have been a shock to the negroes when they realized that despite their fight, their freedom would remain beyond their reach. almost makes a sista wish england had won the fucking war.

i wonder how those other free negros felt. you know, the ones who were drafted to fight in the revolutionary war for the continental army. must have made them madder than shit that they were the first ones to get called up although they weren't trusted enough to actually be given guns. they were made to fight for a country that was fighting to keep them enslaved. i don't think the word "irony" can adequately describe that situation right there. funny, but that situation cropped up again later...

so later, when the civil war began and it was again folks fighting to keep black folks enslaved, more black folk were signing up to fight for their freedom. they suffered through the racism that put them in the worst conditions, segregated from their white counterparts. they put their fear aside and ran eagerly into battle, dying in hope that the spilling of their blood meant their children would live free and equal on american soil. one-third of those who went to war would die and their kids would remain enslaved until the emancipation proclamation was signed.

so now folks is free but ain't nowhere near equal.

by the time world war one was upon us, black folks had been "free" for a half century. now it was about the fight for equality. thousands of black folks signed up for the war, hoping yet again their display of patriotism would be rewarded with equality in the eyes of the american government. i wonder how they felt when they were turned away or better yet, signed up and then relegated to "cooking and cleaning duties". one can never have enough cooks i guess.

i can't help but wonder why da hell black folk would continue to demand to see action on the front lines. as was evident from previous wars, dying for america didn't mean shit, really. proving that one can defend american didn't mean shit either, cuz when they got back, they still were made to ride on the back of the bus, if they let their asses on it at all. when they got back home, their necks were just as vulnerable for a lynching, if not moreso cuz they had the audacity to actually think they were good enough to fight in the war.

so why do it? they had their reasons, and they found a way to get to the front lines and fight for 'democracy' in a segregated society against the democracy hating germans.

world war two wasn't any better really. more black folk dying in defense of a country that would have spit on them before acknowledging how it mistreated them. more black veterans coming home and getting lynched cuz they had the nerve to wear a military uniform. better yet, they came home to find they still couldn't get a job because they were black, still couldn't get a quality education cuz they were black, still couldn't find justice if they were unjustly treated. there were still laws on the books that confirmed their inferiority. i wonder how that made them feel. i know it pisses me the fuck off just thinking about it.

see the pattern here? black folks been fighting for their equality for centuries. been trying to gain freedom and then equality by proving to the american government that they loved this fucking country as much as anybody else. proved they were just as smart, just as courageous, just as willing to die for america as anybody else.

and it didn't matter then and it don't matter now. we're still just able bodies that can be sacrificed at the drop of a bomb.

america the beautiful. i love you, but you can kiss my fucking ass.