Color Me Naïve
When I was a little fundamentalist in training, I went to a college that could be called a little right of the PTL Club, without any sense of irony whatsoever. During my junior year, as I studied to complete my much sought after degree in Political Science, I took a course called Argumentation and Debate. At this time, apartheid and the world’s responsibility toward those in power in South Africa was a topic of heavy debate. Since the class was about debate, we were given the proclamation that the US should impose economic sanctions against the apartheid government in an effort to force some equity in the region to discuss.
Not surprisingly, when it came time to divide who would argue each side, all my little Republican clones wanted to argue against the imposition of sanctions, and no one would step up for the position. So I raised my hand and said I would take the pro-sanctions position.
The day of the debate came, and the opposition laid out the talking points like good little lemmings. Then I got the green light. I approached the podium, turned around and grabbed a white board marker and wrote the word ‘nigger’ in big black letters. I turned around and asked the audience who was offended by that word. I then gave an explanation of our own countries struggles with civil rights and our government’s responsibility to ultimately do what is the moral and just thing by not providing support to any system that would victimize its people, especially when it is based on race or ethnicity. Ultimately, the US has a moral obligation to be the good guy.
Almost twenty years later, my naiveté is just now becoming apparent.
I occasionally have a lapse in judgment and read the Austin American-Statesman during lunch, just to get some local flava. Yesterday was one of those days and the 3/4 of the front page was dominated by Micheal’s (Mr. Jackson if you’re nasty) acquittal. Meanwhile, in the lower left hand of the page is a one column article detailing the Supreme Court’s continued rebuke of Texas for convicting a man and sentencing him to death in a process that is blatantly and obviously racist. In a state that prides itself in offing more people than anyone else, I think it is fair to ask that at a minimum we can make sure that whoever is being queued up for the big sleep is not there because some redneck is still upset over the war of northern aggression. But more than that, I was disturbed by the obvious, demonstrable public priorities that were on display on that front page.
The night before, I had watched an excellent documentary called Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda about the genocide of the Rwandan people in the early 90’s. By the way, I would say that if you ever watch Hotel Rwanda, you would do yourself a favor to watch this doc afterward, as a geopolitical double feature. Anyway, during this time, as one tribe of Rwandans were hacking up hundreds of thousands of their own people, under the ever watchful eye of the UN and the international community, Pres. Clinton said that he would not commit any American forces to any region unless there is a clear, distinct American interest at stake. There is essentially a holocaust occurring in front of television cameras and our position was that there was no American interest, so good luck and thanks for all the fish.
There are so many other examples running through my head right now that I won't bother with ranting about. Between the arbitrary imprisonment of people at Guantanimo Bay without due process, or turning the other way while itinerate workers are taken advantage of, or the troubling ratio of minority vs. non-minority criminal convictions for the same offense, or the continued erosion of our inaliable rights via the Patriot Act, it is hard to stand by and state with any seriousness that we as a country are any more enlightened than we were when there were separate water fountains.
The point is that my naiveté ran deep and has only turned to a certain sense of enlightenment recently. I was under the mistaken impression that my country, for all its faults and problems, ultimately stood for something. We were certainly a product of our own evolution and enlightenment comes slowly, but when our back is against the wall, we as a people will make a stand and say to those that oppress that even if we are standing alone, we will do the right thing. As the days on the wall calendar flip by, I am not so sure anymore. That makes me sad.
Not surprisingly, when it came time to divide who would argue each side, all my little Republican clones wanted to argue against the imposition of sanctions, and no one would step up for the position. So I raised my hand and said I would take the pro-sanctions position.
The day of the debate came, and the opposition laid out the talking points like good little lemmings. Then I got the green light. I approached the podium, turned around and grabbed a white board marker and wrote the word ‘nigger’ in big black letters. I turned around and asked the audience who was offended by that word. I then gave an explanation of our own countries struggles with civil rights and our government’s responsibility to ultimately do what is the moral and just thing by not providing support to any system that would victimize its people, especially when it is based on race or ethnicity. Ultimately, the US has a moral obligation to be the good guy.
Almost twenty years later, my naiveté is just now becoming apparent.
I occasionally have a lapse in judgment and read the Austin American-Statesman during lunch, just to get some local flava. Yesterday was one of those days and the 3/4 of the front page was dominated by Micheal’s (Mr. Jackson if you’re nasty) acquittal. Meanwhile, in the lower left hand of the page is a one column article detailing the Supreme Court’s continued rebuke of Texas for convicting a man and sentencing him to death in a process that is blatantly and obviously racist. In a state that prides itself in offing more people than anyone else, I think it is fair to ask that at a minimum we can make sure that whoever is being queued up for the big sleep is not there because some redneck is still upset over the war of northern aggression. But more than that, I was disturbed by the obvious, demonstrable public priorities that were on display on that front page.
The night before, I had watched an excellent documentary called Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda about the genocide of the Rwandan people in the early 90’s. By the way, I would say that if you ever watch Hotel Rwanda, you would do yourself a favor to watch this doc afterward, as a geopolitical double feature. Anyway, during this time, as one tribe of Rwandans were hacking up hundreds of thousands of their own people, under the ever watchful eye of the UN and the international community, Pres. Clinton said that he would not commit any American forces to any region unless there is a clear, distinct American interest at stake. There is essentially a holocaust occurring in front of television cameras and our position was that there was no American interest, so good luck and thanks for all the fish.
There are so many other examples running through my head right now that I won't bother with ranting about. Between the arbitrary imprisonment of people at Guantanimo Bay without due process, or turning the other way while itinerate workers are taken advantage of, or the troubling ratio of minority vs. non-minority criminal convictions for the same offense, or the continued erosion of our inaliable rights via the Patriot Act, it is hard to stand by and state with any seriousness that we as a country are any more enlightened than we were when there were separate water fountains.
The point is that my naiveté ran deep and has only turned to a certain sense of enlightenment recently. I was under the mistaken impression that my country, for all its faults and problems, ultimately stood for something. We were certainly a product of our own evolution and enlightenment comes slowly, but when our back is against the wall, we as a people will make a stand and say to those that oppress that even if we are standing alone, we will do the right thing. As the days on the wall calendar flip by, I am not so sure anymore. That makes me sad.
2 Comments:
When I was a little fundamentalist in training, I went to a college that could be called a little right of the PTL Club, without any sense of irony whatsoever.
Hmmm, ORU?
I think not a day goes by that I don't Thank God under my breath, and sometimes out loud over a margarita or my newly acquired taste for dry red, that I am no longer a fundie.
I have thought about this, too, Greg. I consider myself a moderate, but then probably so do most rightwingers. We are all quite liberal with ourselves and conservative with others when examining ourselves.
Thanks for the recommend
Sadly it was Liberty University (www.liberty.edu)
Post a Comment
<< Home