Quote:
Originally posted by RedHot
That's why Liberia was founded. If you are so ashamed of being an American I am sure Libera would be glad to have you. My great great grandmother was a slave, but you know what? If her family hadn't been brought over here against their will I may be in the mother continent dying of AIDS, getting my labia sown up, or hungry with flies buzzing around my frail body. There are dark spots on our history, but so much has been done to rectify the past. We must maintain a positive outlook to continue rising. Negitivity is only an anchor that brings you down.
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Do you think you have told me something I don't know? Do you? Are you spitting knowledge? You talk about the mother continent and all of its problems, but do you have any idea how it got that way? Do you think it's always been that way? Do you know what colonization and decolonization are? Do you know what some of these countries went through for their independence? Do you know that some of them are still suffering the effects of colonization? Do you know anything about the continent? Have you been there? Or do you only know what you read and/or see on the news? Do you know what type of influence America has on international trade? And do you have any idea how that affects the economy of these countries? And do you have any idea how the economy directly affects war, wages, education, politics, etc.? Do you know why you feel the way you do about the continent? Do you know what propaganda is? Do you know who Willie Lynch is? Do you?
You are in a continent that is dying of AIDS. There are Black women in America that are getting their labia sown up. And don't think that there aren't hungry people here; the only thing missing is the flies. I know because I walk past them every day. How dare you make America into a utopia where everything is perfect and no problems exist. And then condemn me for doing the very thing that supposedly makes this country so great: exercising a freedom, the one that allows me to speak my mind. There are much darker spots in our history and our present than the ones you present.
You talk about where you COULD be living, but what about where you LIVE? You live in a country where women earn less money in the same jobs as men. You live in a country where affirmative action had to be created so that there could be some semblance of balance. You live in a country that wants to get rid of the system it created to get rid of the balance. You live in a country where people die because they lack health insurance. You live in a country that cuts funding for education to fund a war. You live in a country that creates prisons instead of jobs. You live in a country where minorities make up the majority of prison inmates. You live in a country where people die daily of cancer, heart disease, diabetes,etc. You live in a country that is richer than all others, but still has homeless children on the streets. You live in a country that boasts its greatness while ignoring its shortcomings. You live in a country where the police are allowed to beat its citizens. You live in a country where you lock your doors because you are afraid of other citizens. You live in a country where distrust is expected. You live in a country where citizens are desensitized to violence. You live in a country where the justice system only works for some of the citizens.
You live in a country where everyone expresses pride in their nationality. You live in a country where people are able to sit around a table and discuss where they come from. You live in a country where everyone is not able to participate in that conversation. You live in a country where Blacks, in particular, cannot because that part of their history was kept from them by the "fathers" of this "great country." You live in a country that thinks it's ok that it happened, get over it, move on. You live in a country that does not believe the past has any effect on the present or the future.
I have no more pride in America than I do of any other armed robbers. If I leave, it will be by choice, since that is my right as a natural born citizen. Yes, I will take advantage of my "freedoms." And as far as I'm concerned, it is no different than white people benefiting from white privilege, whether they know it or are proud of it or not.