Opus 2023-139: Rejection

I think it is a miracle that I am not a raging racist today.  Why, or, why not?

First, I don’t remember any input from my parents that would imply that people are inferior because of the color of their skin.  That foundation was important.

Second, my contacts with people with Mexican or black backgrounds was with the working class, proud poor that were just like us.  When I worked with my dad I remember that his goto mason when he had a big job was Manny whose ancestors came from Mexico.  In junior high and high school I never came in contact with anyone with an attitude of victimhood.  

Then I was drafted into the army.  Basic training had no racial stress.  Our platoon leader was black.  One of four squad leaders was black.  There were more in the ranks.  There was no tension, maybe because we all came from the pre-woke Southern California.  It was not until the next stage, when I was sent to New Jersey that I had my first experience with the ghetto.  We were ordered not to go out after dark in groups of less than four because of the black gangs that were roaming the base at night.  This was on an army base.  

By the time I got to Vietnam it seemed like a black power rally.  Uniforms were very individualized.  Military courtesy was sporadic.  There was a definite sense of tension.  If my opinion of other ethnic groups were based on those experiences I would have felt like the Klan was a legitmate organization.

That was balanced by people like Thomas Sowell and Clarence Thomas.  Categorizing people based on superficial traits was totally contrary to the equality statement in the Declaration of Independence.  You didn’t need to spend much time reading the New Testament to find it was not the way things were supposed to be.

A mature mind recognizes that there are all kinds of people in any demographic you want to choose.  Anal orifices come in all colors.  Fools do not correlate with gender.  Income does not determine how you treat others.

So reject the woke nonsense and lets get back to being Americans.

homo unius libri