I don't even know what to say to you

I don't even know what to say to Black people.  I can say I'm sorry and I'm so ashamed of what happened.  But those words are so inadequate and seem quite meaningless when these murders keep happening.

I do know what to say to my fellow White people.  We own this.  We created this and we must stop this.  I can already hear the chorus of voices rising up and saying "not all White people" to which I say "not enough White people."  Not enough White people are outraged enough to speak out.  Not enough White people are saying these murders must end.

George Floyd, Breonna Tayler, Ahmed Aubrey and too many others have been killed.  We White people must do something.  No, we cannot always change the hearts and minds of those whose hatred is based on the color of a person's skin.  Racism has been a part of our country since the first colonists arrived.  But what we can do is say loudly and clearly that we do not and will not tolerate racist behavior.  We can demand that people are held accountable for what they do.  We can demand that our local, state and federal attorneys prosecute these crimes.  We can be allies.  We can say enough and finally mean enough and not rest until something is done.  But my fellow White people, that will never happen and change will not come until enough of us make it happen.  So don't say '"not all White people." Let's join together so there will be enough White people.

Memorial Day 2020

Today is Monday, May 25, 2020.  Today is also Memorial Day.  A day set aside to honor and remember the men and women of the Armed Forces who, as President Abraham Lincoln so eloquently said on November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg Pennsylvania, "gave the last full measure of devotion."  In years past, there have been parades.  I remember attending parades as a child then going to the cemetery.  The graves of the fallen members of the Armed Forces were in the front.  The tombstones were small and white.  Each grave had an American Flag on the side of the tombstone. Flags were flown at half-staff until noon and then raised to full staff.  The men and women of the Armed forces who are honored on Memorial Day lost their lives serving their country.  Some died in combat.  Some died as a result of suicide bombers, landmines, surprise attacks.  Some died after they completed their duty and were unable to cope with horrors they saw during their military service.  Some died from the indifference of a country that should have been grateful for their service, but wasn't and neglected them.  Whether their lives were lost during or after their service, they are all deserving of our gratitude, respect and honor.  For the families they left behind, this day must be difficult and they, too, deserve our gratitude, respect and honor.

This year is different.  This year the United States, like so many countries, is dealing with COVID-19, more commonly known as Coronavirus.  The flags have flown at half-staff through Memorial Day weekend per order of the President of the United States.  There were no parades.  This year, unlike past years, the flags flying at half-staff not only honor the fallen men and women of the Armed Forces, they also honor the lives lost to Coronavirus.  As of today, nearly 98,000 lives have been lost.  Among the lives lost as a result of this pandemic, are the essential workers.  The doctors, nurses, and other hospital employees, the police officers firefighters and paramedics, the grocery store workers and all other workers who did their jobs despite the risk they faced.  Like the brave men and women of the armed forces, they, too, "gave the last full measure of devotion."  They are all deserving of our gratitude, respect and honor.  For the families they left behind, this day must be difficult, especially since it comes so soon after the losses as well as while the losses are still happening and they, too, deserve our gratitude, respect and honor.

On November 21, 1864, a little over a year after delivering his speech at Gettysburg, President Lincoln wrote a letter to Mrs. Bixby.  He had been told she had lost five sons.  Although she not lost five sons, perhaps those who have lost loved ones as a result of military service or essential workers as a result of coronavirus can find some bit of solace in these words from President Lincoln.  "I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save."  At Gettysburg, President Lincoln called on the citizens of the United States to "take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion" and to "highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."  Are we not called to do the same?

And then I wept.

I have been recording episodes of Designing Women since they began airing on Antenna TV.  I recently watched a two-part episode entiled "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Twentieth-Century" and parts one and two both originally aired January 1, 1990.  Part one ended with Julia, Suzanne, Mary Jo, Anthony, Bernice and Anthony's girlfriend Vanessa counting down and then celebrating the New Year in the hospital waiting for Charlene to give birth.
During Part two, Julia introduced Suzanne, Mary Jo, Anthony, Bernice and Anthony's girlfriend Vanessa to Miss Minnie Bell Ward, an African-American woman who was 103 years old, having been born in 1887.  The following is what Miss Minnie said:
"Oh, I'm just a thread, a little thread in the tapestry, but I had a good time. Everybody has troubles, and as the saying goes: ain't nobody nowhere living no dream life. I thought as I got older, the bold outlines of truth would be revealed to me, but it hasn't happened. When I was young, I was in such a hurry, and now I've been here a hundred years. And, it seems like only yesterday I held my babies in my arms. I'm glad to be going home, its been a long time since I've seen my family. And I wish for all of you all the love and happiness I had in my life. And I hope the world keeps going toward freedom. And I hope that people everywhere can learn to live together in peace. As my papa used to say, 'We ain't what we should be, we ain't what we gonna be, but at least we ain't what we was.'"
After she finished speaking, Miss Minnie rested her head on the pillow, closed her eyes and passed away and I wept.  The tears had been falling from my eyes as Miss Minnie spoke, but after her passing I wept.
I did not weep for Miss Minnie.  I wept for my country.  I wept because on January 1, 1990, Miss Minnie spoke about her "hope the world keeps going toward freedom" and her "hope that people everywhere can learn to live together in peace."  I wept because her "papa used to say 'we ain't what we should be, we ain't what we're gonna be, but at least we ain't what we was.'"  I wept because since 2015 our country has taken so many steps backward that "we are what we was" and "what we was" is not something of which we should be proud.

Six minutes and twenty-four seconds

Twenty-four seconds.  According to the Mayor of Dayton, Ohio, that is how long it took to kill nine people and injure fourteen people early Sunday morning, August 4, 2019.  Just twenty-four seconds, less than half a minute.  Thirteen hours earlier, on Saturday morning, August 3, 2019, in El Paso, Texas, a gunman killed twenty people and injured twenty-six people before police arrived six minutes after the shooting started. In six minutes (El Paso) and twenty-four seconds (Dayton) twenty-nine people died and fifty-three people were injured.  On Monday, the death toll from the El Paso shooting increased to twenty-two when two of the wounded died at the hospital.  Just one week earlier, three people were killed and thirteen people were injured early Sunday evening, July 28, 2019, in Gilroy, California.

The El Paso shooter was taken alive.  The Dayton shooter was killed.  The Gilroy shooter killed himself.  The El Paso shooter posted what many are referring to as a manifesto to explain his reasons for his actions before he started shooting.  The Dayton shooter and the Gilroy shooter did post anything before they started shooting. One was driven by hate and bigotry.  No one knows for certain what drove the other two.  What all three have in common is that they legally obtained the guns and ammunition they used.  This will be one of the arguments used to oppose stronger gun regulations.  Another argument will be the Second Amendment guarantee that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." However, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, in delivering the majority opinion in DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ET AL. v. HELLER, stated that

"It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Miller’s holding that the sorts of weapons protected are those 'in common use at the time' finds support in the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons. Pp. 54–56."

Assault weapons, while "in common use," now, are clearly "dangerous."  A weapon that can be modified, as the Dayton shooter's was, to kill nine people and injure twenty-seven people in twenty-four seconds cannot possibly be considered a gun for "common use."  Assault weapons are designed for one purpose and that purpose is to kill and injure as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.  In Dayton, Ohio, that amount of time was twenty-four seconds.  Why does any civilian need a weapon which can kill nine people and injure twenty-seven people in twenty-four seconds?  That is not a weapon for personal protection or hunting.  That is a weapon for killing people.

Those against gun control are quick to blame mental health issues as the reason for mass shootings.  But as many have pointed out, the United States is not the only country with people who have mental health issues.  Nor, for that matter, is the United States the only country with people exposed to violent video games and movies.  Other countries do not have the number of mass shootings that the United States does.  The problem is easy access to assault weapons, ammunition and modifications to make those weapons even more deadly.  The Dayton shooter modified his weapon so that he could shoot one hundred rounds of ammunition without reloading.  He was not in a combat situation.  He was not under attack.  He was in Dayton, Ohio.

Celebrating Abraham Lincoln on President's Day 2019

Today is Monday, February 19, 2019.  Today, here in the United States, we celebrate President's Day.  The current president has called the press the enemy of the people.  The current president has suggested that Saturday Night Live should "looked into" because he did not like the way he was portrayed on the show this past weekend.  The current president declared a national emergency because Congress refused to let him use taxpayer money to build an unnecessary wall.  Forty percent of those living in the United States are celebrating the current president today.  I am not one of those people.

Today I am celebrating President Abraham Lincoln who presided over not just a national emergency, but a threat to the very idea that a democratic-republic, a country without a monarchy or dictator or emperor, could actually survive.   President Lincoln ended his First Inaugural Address with the words "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." 

President Lincoln ended his Second Annual Message to Congress with the words "Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just . . ."

President Lincoln ended the Gettysburg Address with the words "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

President Lincoln ended his Second Inaugural Address with the words "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Those words either spoken or written by the Sixteenth President of the United States are familiar to many people.  What is perhaps less familiar are these words which President Lincoln, addressing those citizens in the States which had seceded from the Union, also said in his First Inaugural Address "You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it.'"

Abraham Lincoln believed that to "preserve, protect, and defend" the Constitution of the United States also meant to "preserve, protect, and defend" the Union, the United States, to not allow the country to be torn apart and the Union dissolved.  President Lincoln understood that this new experiment in self-government was worth preserving not just for the moment, but for future generations and not just for the United States but for the world.

Today, February 19, 2019, as we in the United States celebrate Presidents Day and I celebrate Abraham Lincoln, I also celebrate the steps we have taken and progress we have made, slow though it may be, to becoming that "more perfect Union."

The deadliest mass shooting again . . .

What can I say to you who have just suffered such a tragic loss?  I can say "my thoughts are with you."  Or I can add my voice to the those who have sent their "thoughts and prayers."  I could join with those who are saying "enough is enough."  So what?  What good will that do?  "Thoughts and prayers" after Columbine did not prevent the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, an outdoor concert venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, a movie theater in Colorado, Virginia Tech University, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Mother Emmanuel AME Church,  Umpqua Community College, a movie theater in Louisiana, or a parking lot where United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords met with her constituents.

So here we are, once again, mourning a tragic shooting.  Once again, we are told that now is not the time to talk about enacting reasonable gun control laws.  Once again, we hear that the problem is not too many guns, but not enough guns.  "If only there had been armed security guards . . . "  "If only some of the people inside had guns . . ."  Why is the response that we need to turn public and private places into armed fortresses?  Why is it that we are told we must return to the "wild, wild, West" mentality of everyone carrying a gun and engaging in shootouts? How is encouraging us to go backwards instead of forward either helpful or reasonable?  How does that resolve the problem?  How does that help all who have lost loved ones?

How many times will we hear the the words "the deadliest mass shooting . . ." before we decide that we can respect and honor the Second Amendment right to bear arms and still create reasonable gun control laws?  When will we stop adding to the pain of all who have been touched by such tragedies because once again we failed to act and they relive their own pain while others experience such indescribable pain for the first time?  When will we finally honor those who have died and not continue to let their deaths be in vain?

So what do you care about?

In the 2016 elections,you did not vote is because you did not like either presidential candidate.  You might not vote in the midterm elections this.  Why not?
 
Do you care about the environment?  Does it matter to you that scientists, yes actual scientists, have stated that we will cause irreversible harm to our planet within thirty years if we do not take active measures now to save our planet?  No?  Why not?  You might not be here in thirty years?  You do not care about those who will be here?  You do not care about the planet?
 
Women's rights, particularly the right to choose, are in danger of being eradicated.  Does that matter to you?  No? Why not?  You are not a woman?  You are a woman but you do not care about what happens to other women because it does not affect you?
 
The United States which has long tried to be the defender of democracy throughout the world, albeit imperfectly, now turns its back on its allies as its president embraces dictators and jokes about serving more than two terms and that one day our country may have a president for life.  Do you care about our Constitution?  Our democracy?  The very foundations of our government?  No?  Why not?  Do you think authoritarian all powerful rulers are better?
 
Free speech is under attack daily.  Do you care about that?  No?  Why not?  You really want to end free speech?  You really believe that having a press controlled by the government is what is best?

Social Security and Medicare are in danger, as they have been off and on, for many years.  Do you care?  No?  Why not?  You will never need Social Security and Medicare?  You believe that somehow, someway, your Social Security and Medicare will be okay.  It will just be taken away from "those people", you know, the ones who abuse the system.  Sorry to be the one to break the news to you, but when the cuts happen, they will happen to everyone, not the select few you think do not deserve it.

Social service programs will be cut.  Do you care?  No? Why not?  You do not need them?  You do not care about those who do?  So it is okay for people to starve?  That is not your problem?

Immigration is not your problem either, right?  Your ancestors came here, but others should be prevented, right?  Should we extinguish the light in Statue of Liberty's torch?  Or just remove her from the harbor?  Do you understand that people walking two thousand miles are not looking for a handout?  Do you understand that they are willing to risk their lives on a difficult journey because life in their own countries is too dangerous and too deadly?  I guess you do not care about that either.

So what do you care about?

July 4, 2018

Fourth of July has been my favorite holiday for decades.  Celebrating the birth of the United States has always been a joyous occasion.  But this year is different.  This year I find celebrating that day when, as President Lincoln said at Gettysburg, "our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" a little difficult.  In 1986, this nation celebrated the Statue of Liberty's centennial.  Claire Cloninger wrote an additional stanza for the National Anthem for the re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty.  I think about her words "and the lantern of hope in harbor still shines, those who seek freedom's dream, to its light are still turning. . . . and this is our star-spangled banner unfurled as a sign to the free and a hope to the world" 

What happened to us in the thirty-two years since that July Fourth?  No, our country has never been perfect and to believe it ever was is foolish.  We have over come obstacles since this country declared independence, including surviving a civil war.  In the past when I reflected on July Fourth, I did so with pride at what we had overcome on our way to moving forward toward that "more perfect Union."  But as I have already written, this year is different.  Those who want to return our country to its fabled past glory days, which in fact were not filled with glory for everyone, are instead returning this country to its shameful days.     

How do I joyfully celebrate freedom and independence in a country whose current president and his administration have emboldened racism?  While racism has always a part of our country, it is once again very vocal and very visible.  Athletes who protest the inexplicable and indefensible loss of African American lives at the hands of police are vilified by the president of the United States.  White women have called the police on African Americans who were having a BBQ in a park, playing golf too slowly at a golf club, sleeping in the common area of a dormitory, sitting in a Starbucks waiting for a friend, selling water on the sidewalk and mowing the lawn.  Think about that for a moment on this day the United States celebrates freedom and independence.

How do I joyfully celebrate freedom and independence in a country whose current president and his administration separated children from parents and locked those children in cages? People fleeing with their children from life-threatening violence in their own countries are not met with welcome and comfort, but with separation and cages.  Parents and children separated from another because they were seeking asylum in the country that has the Lady in the Harbor whose torch burns day and night as reminder that all are welcome here.  Children were put in cages.  Think about that for a moment on this day the United States celebrates freedom and independence.

This is not who we will be . . .

One hundred thirty-three years ago on June 17, 1885, the pieces of the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor.  The gift from the people of France to the people of the United States of America. She was named"Liberty Enlightening the World" by her creator, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi.  At her dedication ceremony on October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland said, "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home."  Yes, Liberty had made her home here in the United States just twenty years after the end of a civil war that nearly destroyed our country.  Just twenty years after the assassination of President Lincoln.  Just twenty-three years after President Lincoln called on his fellow Americans to join with him to ensure "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

She also became know as the "Mother of Exiles."  For immigrants sailing into New York harbor, she stood, torch lit, guiding them to a new land.  She held their hopes and dreams just as surely as she held her torch.  She held the promise of liberty and freedom just as surely as she held the tablet inscribed July 4, 1776.  The broken chains at her feet echoed the words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence that all are created equal and Abraham Lincoln's call at Gettysburg for "a new birth of freedom."  She gave light and form to this illusive concept of liberty and freedom.

One hundred thirty-three years and one day later, on June 18, 2018, we must ask ourselves, is it time to extinguish Lady Liberty's torch?  If she could, Lady Liberty would extinguish the flame with her own tears as she weeps for the children being separated from their parents.  What is happening on the Southern border of the United States is inhumane, unconscionable and American.  We cannot continue to say "this is not who we are" because this is exactly who we are.  We are a country who declared independence from Great Britain with the words "all men are created equal" while enslaving a group of people based on the color of their skin.  We are a country who created a new form of government "in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."  But still kept a group of people enslaved because of the color of their skin and took their children from them to sell to the highest bidder.

We are a country who called a group of people savages, then forced them off their lands and on to reservations because of the color of their skin.  We are a country who imprisoned a group of people in concentration camps because of their ethnicity.  We are country whose people have committed horrendous atrocities to others just because of the color of their skin or their ethnicity.  That is our legacy.  It is shameful, but it is one we must own and accept as part of our nation's past.  So we must stop saying "this is not who are."  We can only say "this is not who we will be."  And say it we must or we shall lose any hope we have of ever becoming that "more perfect Union."

How Many More Tears Will We Have To Shed?

I have wept for lives lost from Columbine High School to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and every mass shooting in between.  I have wept for the families, friends, and school faculty of those who were killed as they tried to find the words to express what must be indescribable grief.  I have wept for all those who survived the horror and especially those who witnessed the horror in schools, colleges, universities, movie theaters, churches, parking lots and a nightclub as they tried to find the words to express what those moments of terror and tragedy were like.  I have wept in sadness and in anger and in frustration.

How many more tears will we have to shed before we stop the madness?  How many more families will be shattered?  How many more will witness a horror that they cannot forget?  How many more lives will be taken before we really do something?  How many more times will we hear or read the same words from politicians sending their thoughts and prayers?  How many more times will we hear or read that this is not the time to talk about gun control?  That we should focus on the families of those who were killed?  What better way to honor the families and friends of those who died as well as those who survived but must live with the physical and emotional scars of the shootings than by doing something to at least try to stop this from happening over and over?  

Make no mistake, those who lost their lives did not do so because this is the price we pay for freedom. They did not willingly give their lives defending freedom. Churches, schools, colleges, universities, movie theaters, outdoor concerts, outdoor meetings between a Congressional Representative and constituents, or a nightclub were not battlegrounds where people were fighting to defend freedoms. The lives lost in these mass shootings were not lost because they were "fighting the good fight" so that all might be free.  Their lives were stolen from them. There is no reason for assault-style weapons to be sold. That is not a second amendment issue. That is a common sense issue and banning assault-style weapons will not lead to the erosion of our rights.  But it just might save lives.

Dr. King, I'm sorry . . .

Dear Dr. King,

I am a white woman.  I was born and raised in Massachusetts.  I was four years old when you made your "I Have A Dream" speech and eight years old when a bullet from a white supremacist ended your life.  I have no memories of you from my childhood.  What I know about you, I learned in history books.  Today the United States commemorates your birthday as a holiday.  I don't know what you would have thought of that.  Whether you would have been surprised, honored or dismayed because people continue to struggle for the rights and equality for which you ultimately gave your life.

Dr. King, I am sorry that nearly one hundred fifty-three years after the end of the Civil War, a little more than one hundred fifty-two years after ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, nearly one hundred fifty years after ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, nearly one hundred forty-eight years after ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, a little more than fifty-three years since you gave your "I have A Dream" speech, nearly fifty-four years since the enactment of the 1965 Civil Rights Act and nearly fifty years after you were assassinated, we, as a country, have not made very much progress at all and we white people are to blame.

Racism has always been a part of the United States from its beginnings as thirteen British colonies, to its birth as as a nation and every year since then.  Often we are able to keep racism simmering beneath the surface.  Sometimes it boils over and explodes in violence.  But always it is with us and to deny that is to deny the reality we white Americans must accept and acknowledge if we are ever to really make progress.  Dr. King, I am sorry that not only has racism boiled over once again, but that it has also found a friend, a voice and support in the Office of the President.  This is not the first time we have had a President who espoused racist values.  Nor is this the first time that racism has found friends, voices and support within Congress as well as state and local governments.  We can surely hope this will be the last time that racism is welcomed and used to stir up people to vote for candidates who divide us.   In the end, whether we once again choose to send the message that racism is not welcome in our country will be up to all of us and that can only happen if and when we stand together as one, not divided.

Most of all, Dr. King, I am sorry that we, as a country, have not moved closer to that beautiful dream that you had, that so many still have, that equality will no longer be based on skin color, race, gender sexual orientation, religion or anything else which separates people in to "us" and "them" and allows anyone to believe that anyone who is different, in any way, from us is the "other" who does not and never will be worthy of the same rights we have.

President Lincoln' Gettysburg Address

One hundred fifty-four years ago on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln stood up to say a few words on a battlefield in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. He said “the world would little note nor long remember what we say here.” But that is not true. President Lincoln’s speech is still studied not only in history books but in literature books. He also said that “we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground.”

He was right, of course. Mere words can never really dedicate or consecrate any place which has already been dedicated and consecrated by the blood and sweat of those who gave their lives there and those who fought there did. So President Lincoln called upon his fellow Americans to honor the living and dead soldiers by “being dedicated here to the unfinished work… that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Today let us take some time to reflect on what those words meant on a blood-soaked battlefield to a young country torn apart with its young experiment in government teetering on the brink of failure. The war had been waging for over two years with no end in sight. A war President Lincoln accepted on behalf of the United States because he believed that the country must remain whole. he asked his fellow Americans to hold on and to fight on to preserve that “noble experiment” the founders dared to create.

Let us ponder what those words continued to mean to the United States in the years after the Civil War as the country tried to come back together though forever changed by the bloody battles and division. Reconstruction was not easy nor was the struggle for equal rights. Fights for equal rights have continued throughout all these years.

Let us then ask ourselves, do the words of the Gettysburg Address mean anything to us today?

Honor, dishonor and patriotism

I consider myself to be very patriotic. But no one has to take my word for it. Family and friends know how I feel about the United States and can easily provide "references" should anyone want proof. I love the United States. I love studying the history of the United States, particularly early American political and constitutional history and President Abraham Lincoln, which is why I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and why I am currently in graduate school pursuing a Master of Arts degree in American History. I love the American Flag, the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. I love the Statue of Liberty. I really do stand up in my living room and put my hand over my heart when the National Anthem is played on television. 

Given my feelings about the United States and its symbols, one might expect that I would be against taking a knee during the National Anthem. That would be the patriotic response, wouldn't it? After all, taking a knee is disrespectful to the American Flag, the National Anthem, the country and the military, right? Well, many veterans have stated that they served this country to ensure that everyone's rights were protected, whether or not we agree with them. They do not feel disrespected.

Think about the first twenty words in the Pledge of Allegiance "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands". What does "allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands" mean? Merriam-Webster defines allegiance as "devotion or loyalty". Promising to be devoted and/or loyal to the Flag "and the republic for which it stands" means promising to be devoted and/or loyal to the Constitution and the freedoms enshrined in Bill of Rights. The First Amendment guarantees "freedom of speech" which has also been defined as "freedom of expression". Taking a knee is freedom of expression. Taking a knee is saying that "liberty and justice for all", the words which end the Pledge of Allegiance, have not been applied equally to all and we must come together to talk about what we can do to ensure that "liberty and justice for all" really does mean all people.

I cannot profess patriotism, love of country and its symbols, nor devotion or loyalty unless I am willing to defend its Constitution and Bill of Rights. I cannot do that unless I support all who take a knee. That is how I honor the Flag and the National Anthem. That is how I honor the Pledge of Allegiance. That is how I honor all the men and women who served and those who lost their lives, defending our country and the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights. To refuse to do so would be dishonorable.

Yes, I am still angry about the 2016 presidential election

Nearly ten months after the 2016 presidential election, I am still angry.  Not only am I angry that the most qualified, best prepared candidate lost, but I am still angry with third party voters who could not bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton.  I am angry with everyone who could not be bothered to vote.  Of course, I am still angry with those who voted for the Republican candidate.  But my anger with them is different than with those who voted third party or did not vote.

This weekend eight hundred thousand people who are DACA recipients do not know whether they will be allowed to remain in the United States or be deported to the country of their birth.  A country they have little, if any, memory of because they have lived in the United States since they were children.  This is their home.  This is their country.  This is their life.  With one signature from the current president, the life they have known will be ripped from them.  They will be sent back to a place they do not know.  For what?  To make America great again?  How could destroying peoples' lives possibly make America great?  Did the lives of the DACA recipients not matter enough to vote to protect them?  Obviously not.

We have already heard the stories of ICE agents tearing families apart as they round up all those "bad hombres", some of whom are not really bad, after all.  So how does this make America great?  How does destroying peoples' lives make America great again?  What has happened and what might happen are not surprising to anyone who understood what the current president said during the 2016 campaign.  He said he would do this.  Did the lives of these people and their families not matter enough to vote to protect them?  Obviously not.

The current president has rolled back protections for women, LGBT people, the environment, and wage-earners while promoting the interests of business and the wealthy.  Did women, LGBT people, the environment and wage-earners not matter enough to vote to protect them?  Obviously not.

The Affordable Care Act has been under attack since it was passed.  The most recent attempt to destroy it failed.  The current president remains undeterred in his quest to destroy the ACA one way or another.  His latest tactic is to cut the advertising budget for ACA open enrollment as well as shorten the enrollment period.   Again, this is not surprising.  One of his campaign promises was to repeal the ACA "on day one."  The ACA is not a perfect system.  But it has provided life-saving insurance for millions who had been uninsured.  Millions of people are able to go to a doctor on a regular basis and afford medications that help them control medical problems that would otherwise kill them.  Did protecting accessibility to healthcare insurance for millions of people not matter enough to vote to protect it?  Obviously not.

The current president has not merely lifted the lid on the simmering undercurrent of racism that has always pervaded the United States, he ripped that lid off and made racist speech and acts acceptable again.  This is not surprising to anyone who understood what he said as candidate during his rallies.  Was working to continue to keep racism from becoming acceptable enough to vote to prevent it?  Obviously not.

So what did matter?  What would have been the one issue that would have mattered enough for people to vote to protect it?  If the answer is that the Democratic party should have picked a different candidate and/or another candidate would have won, then that is poor excuse for all the damage that has been done and will continue to be done by the current administration and the Republican controlled Congress.

Yes, that angers me because it did not have to happen, and yes, I am angry at the people who could have prevented it with a vote and chose not to stop it.

What makes America great?

The current president, during his campaign, used the slogan "make America great again."  Those of us who opposed him knew the slogan was intended to appeal to white voters, especially men, who felt they were losing power and longed for "the good old days".  Katy Tur, MSNBC reporter and host of her own hour-long show on the cable news network, covered the current president's campaign and recently said that some of his supporters talked about the 1950s being a time when America was great.

The United States of America was flawed in its conception.  After having declared independence in a document which stated that "all men are created equal" and "they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", the country not only continued to engage in slavery, but wrote and ratified a constitution which protected slavery.  The constitution also limited citizenship to white men, leaving out women, African Americans who had gained freedom and Native Americans.

With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866,  ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 and ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, African Americans were guaranteed citizenship as well as the right to vote.  Then came the Jim Crow laws which were enacted by white Southerners after returning to power in Southern states.  The laws were designed to severely limit the rights of African Americans and every attempt was made to impeded their right to vote.  Murders and lynching took place on a regular basis.  White supremacy reigned in the South, while many whites in Northern were ambivalent at best.

Although women finally won the right to vote with ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, the fight for equal rights continues into the present as does the fight for equality for many groups.  While some white Americans may think the 1950s were a time when America was great, that was not the case for non-whites, women or gays and lesbians.  African Americans were still engaged in fighting for equal rights in 1950s.  That fight continued into the 1960s and while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made great strides, the fight for equality continues.

So was America ever great?  Is America great now?  Can America ever be great?  The answer is a resounding "yes" because greatness and perfection are not the same!  When the Declaration of Independence was issued, there were people who understood that slavery could no longer exist in a country that declared all men equal.  During the convention in Philadelphia which produced the United States Constitution, there were men who argued that slavery should be abolished. During the 1850s, abolitionists argued forcefully against slavery and Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle' Tom's Cabin which disputed the Southern myth of "happy slaves" and added fuel to the calls to end slavery.  In 1860, when eleven Southern states seceded from the Union to protect slavery, men fought and women served in whatever capacity they could to initially save the Union and ultimately end slavery because President Abraham Lincoln understood that slavery had to end and guided the Union in achieving that outcome.

When the war ended, as African Americans began their fight for equal rights, they did not fight alone.  They were joined by whites who understood that they could not sit back in silence.  When women fought for equality, they did not fight alone.  They were joined by men who understood that they could not sit back in silence.  When gays, lesbians and transgender people fought for equal rights, they were joined by heterosexual men and women who understood that they could not sit back in silence.  When people did not have enough food to eat, people joined together to find ways to help them get food because they understood that they could not sit back in silence.

There are countless numbers of examples of times when people stood up, stood together and spoke out because they understood that they could not sit back in silence.  Each and every time they did is what always has and always will make America great!

Removing Confederate monuments.

Some States have begun the process of removing Confederate statues and monuments.  Other States are still debating and Alabama passed a law to protect Confederate monuments from removal.  One of the arguments for preserving those monuments is that they represent part of history.  After all, there have been countless numbers of statues and monuments erected throughout our country to commemorate a person, a people and/or a significant event.  So what is the problem with the Confederate monuments and why do people want them removed?

Statues and monuments are erected to honor a person, people and/or events or to remember something tragic.  So what's wrong with having Confederate statues and monuments to honor those who fought for the Confederacy?  There is no honor in fighting a war to keep a race enslaved.  There is no honor in fighting a war to destroy a country.  There is no honor in erecting statues and monuments as testaments to white power and white superiority.  There is no honor in erecting statues and monuments as a way to remind a race of people that they are former slaves or the descendants of former slaves and will always be inferior.  There is nothing brave, courageous or righteous about fighting for, shedding blood for or dying for the right to own another human being. 

So what is the history that these statues and monuments represent that deserves to be protected, preserved and honored?  A history of enslaving a race of people.  A history of fighting for the right to own another human being.  A history of fighting to tear apart the world's first democratic form of government.  A history of fighting to say that all people are not created equal?  A history of fighting for white superiority and power.  Is that really a history worth honoring and preserving?

Hillary Clinton's supporters will not be silenced or dismissed

The media has featured various stories about those who voted for the current President.  The focus of the stories tends to be about the fact that those who voted for the current President still support him even though his policies and those of the Republican controlled Congress will likely hurt them.  Once in awhile the media will talk to people who now regret their choice.  But those are few and far between.  The media also focuses on the most progressive members of the Democratic party and have come to the conclusion that not only should Hillary Clinton be silent, but that her own party wants her to be silent.  She no longer has a reason to speak unless she is finally willing to accept complete and total blame for her loss.  After which she must be forever silent.  But Hillary Clinton is not the only one the media as well as those on the right and some on the left want to silence.  They also want to silence those of us who support her.  How many times has the media interviewed or written about Hillary Clinton's supporters?  Maybe a story or two, but other than that, Hillary Clinton's supporters have been dismissed as no longer important, not worth talking to or listening to any more.

Perhaps the lack of media coverage of Hillary Clinton's supporters gives the impression that her supporters have dispersed, are no longer engaged, just do not care any more, have accepted their fate and moved on to other things.  Such suppositions might seem quite right, but are in fact quite wrong.  We are alive and well and very vocal on social media, particularly Twitter.  We care about what is going on our country.  We are angry because we know that much of what is happening could have or would have been prevented by the election of Hillary Clinton.  Oh yes, there is always that specter of the unending investigations and stalled legislation if she had been victorious and the Republicans maintained control of Congress.  But there would not have been executive orders undoing what President Obama had done.  There would not have been families torn apart by ICE agents.  There would not have been a travel ban.  There would not been a withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.  The Republican "repeal and replace" healthcare plan would have been vetoed.  The list goes on and on.

But we are not merely rehashing the election and lamenting what could have been.  We are raising our voices and using social media to speak truth to power.  We are calling out the leaders of the Democratic party who seek to silence us and reminding those leaders that we will not be silenced nor dismissed.  We are not some little group who can be dismissed as unimportant.  We are a big diverse group and we vote.  Yes, we are still with Hillary Clinton.  We are still listening to her because she has the wisdom, knowledge and experience to guide us through these difficult times as one of the Democratic party's leaders.  She was not a weak candidate and the media and others saying that over and over again will never make it true.  Hillary Clinton has withstood an onslaught of lies and rumors that has lasted over thirty years.  She chose Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" as one of her main campaign anthems because that is what she has always done: continue the fight for the voiceless.   She will never be silenced or dismissed and neither will those of us who stand with her.

The American Flag

 In a column published July 6, 1970 and then included in her book, I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression, Erma Bombeck wrote about the American Flag.  She wrote because of something she had seen on television.  A group students and New York construction workers had an altercation and part of it involved the American flag.  The students referred to the American Flag as the construction workers' Flag and symbol.  What struck Erma Bombeck most was the students did not think of the flag as their flag or symbol.
    As a parent, I guess I always thought respect for the flag was congenital. Is it possible I was so busy teaching the basics, I never took the time to teach “flag.”

     She included in her column a few well known quotes along with her own words about what she was saying to her children instead of teaching "flag".

“Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light.…”

(Don’t slouch. Pick up your feet. Don’t talk with food in your mouth. Stop squinting. Turn that radio down. Get off the phone. Tie that shoestring before you trip on it.”)

     She then ended with these words:

Did I forget to tell them it was their flag they hoisted over Mount Suribachi? Their flag that flies over champions at the Olympics? Their flag that draped the coffin of John F. Kennedy? Their flag that was planted in the windless atmosphere of the moon? It’s pride. It’s love. It’s goose bumps. It’s tears. It’s determination. It’s a torch that is passed from one generation to another.

I defy you to look at it and tell me you feel nothing.

On July 4, 2017 I watched the end of the Boston Pops concert.  As they played and sang "You're a Grand Ole Flag" an American Flag unfurled behind the orchestra.  I thought about the Flag, what it means and what is has endured throughout the years.  It is more than just a decorated piece of cloth.  The Flag has been stepped on and burned by people to protest inequality and discrimination and it it has been revered by people who seek to deny equality to and discriminate against others. It has been a source of controversy as people argue over whether pledging allegiance to the Flag is a form of indoctrination or an act of patriotism.  It has draped the coffins of those selfless men and women who served in our military and been derided by those who oppose democracy.  The American Flag is given to new citizens when they take the citizenship oath and the American Flag is waved by nativists who want immigrants to go back to their countries.  It represents the best the United States of America can be and the worst the United States of America can be.  But through it all, just as it did during the battle Francis Scott Key witnessed, the American Flag has endured, just as the the country has and just as the Constitution has.  We can let the conservatives continue to claim the American Flag as their own or we can take it back, wave it proudly, and let it lead us forward as we continue to move toward that "more perfect union".


 

(The link is to the online text of Erma Bombeck's book.  Scroll down toward the end to read Flag)

July 4, 2017

July Fourth has always been one of my favorite holidays.  As a patriotic. flag-waving democrat who loves her country (yes, we Democrats do LOVE our country and our flag) and its history and studies early American political history, early American Constitutional history and President Lincoln, I celebrate the birth of our country and the very beginnings of our republic.  Many people tend to think of the War for Independence in terms of the issue of taxation.  While that is true, that is not the only grievance the colonists had against King George III..  They also listed among their grievances that the King "refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good" and "excited domestic insurrections amongst us."  Once the colonists signed the Declaration and publicly declared independence, they were, of course, guilty of treason for renouncing the authority of the King.  The outcome of the war was not certain.  They faced a Royal military that was well armed and well trained.  If they were defeated, they could very well lose their lives.  As Benjamin Franklin wrote before signing the Declaration of Independence "We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." 

Two hundred forty-one years later, we are nation questioning whether our Federal government and whether our Constitution are still strong enough to withstand the events taking place now.  There is an assault of the press from the office of the Presidency.  What are we to do about that?  Can that really happen?  Perhaps the answer can be found in the past, in the attempt by President John Adams to silence the press as well as any opposition to the Adams administration through the Alien and Sedition Acts which made any public negative commentary on the the Federal government illegal.   The Acts also made immigration and naturalization more difficult.  The Acts were enforced during Adams presidency, but effectively ended with the election of Thomas Jefferson.

Are we facing a moment in time when we, like the colonists, must form a new government through revolution?  No, despite how dire the situation may be or even seem to be, our Constitution, will continue to be strong enough to survive. We must remember that the Constitution is a document. a blueprint, for the way government ought to work.  But as we know all too well from our country's history, and from its Civil War, making government work as well as protecting and preserving the Union requires everyone's participation.  Members of Congress must understand that their oath of office to defend the Constitution must take prority over their allegiance to their party.  As Joan Walsh noted during her appearance on the Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on July 3, 2017, the framers of the Constitution never thought members of Congress would not do their job.  Anyone who might doubt Joan's assessment can read the James Madison authored Federalist number 10 in which Madison  wrote "When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens."  When that does not happen, then the voters must use the power they have been given to elect members of Congress who will do what is best for the country.

Two hundred forty-one years ago, a group of men were willing to risk their lives to give birth to our country.  One hundred fifty-six years ago President Abraham Lincoln accepted war to preserve our country, our Constitution and our Federal government.  On July 4, 2017, let us honor those who gave their lives and those who risked everything to create and preserve our country by holding our members of Congress accountable by demanding they protect and defend our Constitution, work together to pass laws which will do the most good for the most people and use our power to vote them out of office if they refuse.

Weeping for my country...

I have cried many times since the Republican Senators released their heath care bill.  I have cried for myself and what might happen to me.  I have diabetes and may not be able to get coverage.  I have cried for the brave people who showed up at Senator Mitch McConnell's office in Washington D.C., most of whom where in wheelchairs, and some of whom were actually removed from their wheelchairs by Capital police.  What a heartbreaking and utterly heartless moment.  This is who we are now?  This is what we do now?  We forcibly remove people in wheelchairs even if it means removing them from their wheelchairs to do that?

I have avoided watching the video of the young boy clinging to his mother as ICE agents took her into custody because she is undocumented.  I could not watch.  Is this who we are now?  Is this what we do now?  Rip families apart to satisfy some false fantasy that by doing so we will make our country great again or safe again?

How heartless do people have to be to think what is happening to undocumented immigrants and their families is acceptable?  How heartless do people have to be to believe that people do not deserve to have access to affordable healthcare and help to afford it if they cannot?  How divided have we become that we believe only certain groups deserve rights?  Only the rich deserve breaks?  How did we arrive at this moment in time and not have learned anything from our past?  From the struggles?  From the fights for equality?  From the people who fought to protect our country at any cost, even their lives?

The Civil War ended May 9, 1865.  The steps we have taken to move forward have been difficult, slow and filled with setbacks.  Yet people persisted and made strides and kept moving toward that "more perfect Union" the Constitution was written to create.  The Constitution was the beginning and each generation has been given the responsibility to continue on that path.  Some generations succeeded in moving toward that "more perfect Union" while other generations, determined to push the country back to some mythical past that never really was, gained control.  But eventually, those obstacles were overcome and we moved sometimes a step, sometimes only half a step, but still forward.

I weep for my country.  Just as I am certain others in generations before me also wept for this country.  I tried to find some solace in knowing the past, knowing what we have overcome and what we can overcome.  But it will take something we have not seen yet in this present Congress.  It will require members of Congress to stand up and say that they will not accept what is happening in our country.  I weep because I am not certain that there are enough members of Congress with the courage to do that.