Monday, September 5, 2016

A Tee Shirt worn by a true "American"

My wife and I were at a restaurant buffet last week when I caught a glimpse of an older European American male wearing a T shirt with the caption "If this flag offends you I'll help you pack".  His shirt of course was his response to Colin Kaepernick's recent actions to protest the abuses suffered by black males at the hands of policemen.

I took the shirt for what it was.  It was the view of a European American who chose not to acknowledge or even give any thought to the underlying reasons for Kaepernick's statements.  It was the view of a European American who only wanted to believe that European American culture is based on correctness and doing what European Americans were designed to do.

In his world, Native Americans were caretakers of a land intended to be taken over by European Americans.  In his world Black Africans were designed to be slaves to help build early America and relieve European Americans of the arduous tasks that needed to be performed.  In his world the police can do no wrong.

This is the America I find my self living in.  I'm sure I have neighbors who think the same way as this tee shirt wearing "patriot",  This is the America where 40% and more of those polled say they would vote for the Republican Presidential candidate who is a throwback to George Wallace the former racist governor of Alabama.  I am glad European Americans are being honest about who they plan to vote for.  Well, maybe not 100% honest.  I'm sure there are some European Americans who will not tell you they plan to vote for the Republican candidate because they cannot reveal their true feelings for business reasons.  Making money over truth any day.

I understand the true American I saw would rather have a country where only people like him exist.  It would make his world so much simpler and pure.  But, that's not going to happen.  This is a multi cultural world.  People like this gentlemen need to understand that the pains of the past do not just go away and disappear.  The Unites States of American has not gone all in to correct the mistakes of the past.  Until that happens we will see more protests and statements about conditions that have not been corrected.  So that gentlemen I encountered needs to keep his tee shirt vendor on speed dial.  He will need many tee shirts as more dialogue about issues occurs.

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