Upcoming Section on "Patriotism"

"Patriotism" will be the new and final section that will be coming within the next few weeks; which may be the heart of my entire blog in its book form. It will be on the current state of our political parties and their use of this subject in their attempts to control the American population as a whole. As always, these will be my views as to what I perceive their motivations to be. Like I have said in the past, please feel free to leave comments based on what you have read on my blog. Thank you to those who have already done so, whether it be negative or positive. Sincerely, Randy

Family

For me, I would say this is the most important section of this book. This is where change has to start. This is where ideas are formed. This is where values are taught. This is where character is shaped. This is where vision is developed. Family is where Americans are made.

I thought long and hard about this section: about what it means to be an American and how my family helped to shape my life. For me the two are so closely related. It’s a combination of what you see on television and what your parents taught you. When I say parents, I mean: mother, father, aunt, uncle as well as other adults in my family and neighborhood.

Being in the military has allowed me to travel to a few countries and meet lots of people. In talking to other people from other countries the thing that separates us from them is pride. I am not saying that others are not proud of their country. I believe most people are proud of their country to some level. As Americans we take pride to new levels. There was a time when I used to think that everyone wanted to live here.

In my travels I have found that everyone doesn’t want to live here. Many have told me that they love to visit America but would never want to live here. Some told me they wished their country was like America in term of freedom but they would never want to live here. I also found that other countries have trouble with illegal immigration. This means that people want to get into counties to find work just like the Mexican people want into this country. When I found out other countries had illegal immigrant trouble that meant America was not special in that regard. Even knowing that other countries have the same problem we have, in terms of people wanting to go there. That still does not diminish my pride for this country. We have the best country, the best looking flag, the most generous people and I would not want to live anywhere else. Even with all the bad things this country has done to people of my race I still love it. I’m talking about things that were done to them only because they were different. We live in a country where the people are quick to point out the difference of any group of people, and the government is slow to intervene on their behalf. Some countries are better in some areas but as a whole this is the best place to call home, at least for me.

Chapter 1

In order for me to talk about family I need you to understand where I am coming from. I will tell you my family story. I was born in Birmingham Alabama in 1962. Fortunately for me, the worst in terms of open racism in the city was over by the time I came of age. I have two sisters, Sharon and Donna. No brother. A wife Shannon and a daughter Karissa (from a previous relationship). Both of my parents are still together and still alive (my father passed away on 15 Oct 08). I have lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. I would say that I had a good childhood. I didn’t get in much trouble. I was an okay student in school. I could have been much better but I did okay. I come from a very close family. When I have told people about my family in the past; many did not believe what I told them. My sisters and I never had a fight. My sisters are six and seven years older than I am. One sister, Donna, likes to say that I am her son. We argued a lot but never had a fight. To this day I have never heard talk of anyone in my family fighting. We have family reunions every two years and when we all get together; we laugh and talk about what’s been going on over the last couple of years: never any fighting. My mother always told us never to fight each other. Fighting was never the answer to any problem. She led by example.

To this day, I have never heard her say an unkind word about her sisters or brothers or any other family member. That’s not to say we never criticize each other when we feel they are wrong. We can criticize each other without being mean and nasty about it. I was taught to treat all people that way. She used to tell us to be good to people even when they are not being good to us. We went to church (Baptist) almost every Sunday. The things I learned in church and home are still with me today. My parents are still in Alabama and I live in Las Vegas. We talk at least once a week, usually on Sunday afternoon but sometimes we talk several times a week. I could not begin to explain the level of love and respect I have for my family. I would not trade them for anything and I feel truly blessed to be a part of this family. I wish that everyone had a family like mine. That love and respect has kept me out of trouble. I have never wanted to do anything that would hurt or embarrass my family.

My mother is the one who did most of the raising and discipline. My dad was a long distance truck driver and was gone most of the time. He would be home most weekends and spent most of his time with us. When he was home I would be on my best behavior. The last thing I wanted was to get a whipping from him. It didn’t happen often, but when it did you did not forget it. Most of my whippings came from my mother. I can remember her making me go get a switch from a bush outside so she could whip me. You knew not to get one too small. If you did you would only make her mad and the whipping would be worse. Going to get that switch would be that longest walk of your life, crying all the way. When I look back on my life, those whippings were the best things that happened to me. I didn’t like them then, but I appreciate them now. If you whip children now either they or other people will call the police. I see children talk back to their parents, saying things that I was afraid to think about mine.

There is no fear. When I was growing up I can honestly say I was afraid of my parents. When I say afraid, I don’t mean I was afraid to talk or be near them. I was just afraid of getting a whipping. I can also say I never got a whipping because I went out and intentionally did something wrong. All of mine was because I didn’t think my actions through. That was just a lack of maturity. It taught me that my action have consequences. When I look at children today too many are not being taught that lesson. People are too quick to call child protective services because a child is being disciplined. The government will step in to stop the parent but when the child grows up and don’t follow the rules the parent was not allowed to teach. The government will do much worse to them. It is as if the government wants to keep the prisons full.

Chapter 2

My mother and I often talk about how children think they know more than the parents do. An example of that is when I was around nine years old. I had been climbing trees with a friend. I went home to get some water and was in a hurry to get back to my tree climbing. As I was about to leave the house, my mother stopped me. She told me that there would come a time, in just a few years, that I would not enjoy climbing trees anymore. I can remember this like it was yesterday. When she told me that, I thought she must be out of her mind. I am having too much fun climbing trees with my friend. There was no way I was not going to want to do this. I stood there and listened to her nonsense. I just wanted her to get to the end of her story so I could get back to my tree climbing. A few years after that story I was about to leave to go riding my bike and she asked me why I was not going to be climbing trees? I then remembered what she had told me years ago. I don’t remember what my response was but I do remember thinking that she had been right. I was not climbing trees anymore. If she was right about that then she might be right about other things. I believe that is when I really started to listen to what she had to say and the advice she would give me. Now I’m not going to lie and say I always did what she said. When I look back on my life, I can honestly say that I wish I had.

I know even if I had listened, my life would not be perfect. Even she is not always right – my wife thinks she is. She just saw things from a maturity that I was yet to obtain. In my adult years there are times when I listened and now I wish I had not. Like I said, she was not always right. I will say that had I listened to her from the start, on the occasions that I think she was wrong those decisions never would have needed to be made. There is no way for me to know. Maybe if I had done things my way on the occasions that I think she was wrong, things may have turned out worse. To this day I thank God that I still have her around to give me advice when I ask and need it.

My mother and I often talk about how we as children thought we knew everything. We thought we knew more than our parents. We thought we knew more than other adults. We thought adults were too old to understand how things are today. We thought adults were out of touch. We wanted to make all of our own decisions. When the real truth was we are not mature enough to understand that it is the youth that does not understand. It is the youth that should not be making decisions. It is the youth that is lacking enough maturity to be in touch. If only there was a way to make them understand. If they understood, life would be a much better for them. Unfortunately that is not the way life works. The very things we rebelled against when we were young are the things we long for when we become adults.

When I was growing up I didn’t get into much trouble. I knew if I did something wrong and my parents found out about it, I would get a whipping. I also knew that if I did something wrong and if any adult in the neighborhood saw me or found out about it, they would tell my parents. If it came down to my word against an adult, I would lose. Back then the rule was children lie. Things have changed a lot. I hear people all the time say, "children don’t lie." When I hear that I always wonder what children are they around. Children do lie, I will say that they don’t do it very well but they do lie. I remember when I was a child. I know for a fact that I lied about things. That’s not to say that I always lied but sometime I did. My parents would not take my word over that of an adult and they were right.

Times have changed. I hear so-called professionals on television all the time saying “children don’t lie”. When I hear this I sometime wonder if there are new types of children out there now. Now they are all perfect little angels and the adults are devils. These are not the type of children I grew up with. The children I grew up with were basically good kids. We would lie to get out of trouble. We would lie to get what we wanted. That’s not to say we were bad kids. We just were not perfect. We didn’t break into houses. We were not out fighting. We were not hurting anyone. We were just having fun with the immaturity of children and sometime we would do the wrong thing.

Like I said earlier, if I did something wrong the adults would tell my parents. When I was a kid, I could tell you the names of all the people that lived on the street where I lived: the people on both sides of the street as well as the street behind our house. I knew most of the people by last name in the entire neighborhood. The adults close to our house knew my parents well enough that they knew where I was allowed to go and whose house I was allowed to go into. If they saw me somewhere I was not supposed to be or if they saw me go into someone’s house I was not supposed to go into They would let me know that saw me and would also tell my parents. It was as if I had parents everywhere. When as a child you know you have all those eyes on you at all times it makes it much easier to stay in line. You know that you can’t really get away with anything. When I was growing up I didn’t like that many people watching me. I used to wish that they would mind their own business. Now as an adult when I look back I know that was the best thing they could have done for me. All children should have neighbors like I had. I hated it at the time but God knows I appreciate it now. This goes back to what my mother and I were saying. When we are children we think we know much more than we really do.

Chapter 3

I am very proud of my family and don’t know if I would have made it this far without them. Now I know many people have done much better than I have with no family at all. There are people who have done much better than I have who come from very abusive and dysfunctional families. I do understand that. Because of the family I have I can not imagine my family not being around me. They are more important to me than anything I could ever own. As I sit here writing this I am searching my mind trying to find the words to truly express their importance. The words don’t exist. To make it simple and to the point Nothing is more important to me than family, with the exception of God. After meeting other people and hearing about their families, I found out how special my family really is. God only know how thankful I am for every one of them. This includes the people who at the time I thought they were just nosey neighbors now I know it was because they cared. It is nice to know that I had so many people who cared about me and still do to this day. That knowledge continues to help me do the right thing. I don’t want to disappoint any of the people who took the time to watch over me.

I have a family reunion coming up and I am very much looking forward to it. When we get together we have such a good time. There are never any arguments, fussing or fighting. We talk about what has been going on over the past two years. We laugh, eat, play games and just have a good time. We remember those who may have passed on since we last got together. We are happy for those who have done well. Most of all we are happy that we are all together again. We realize that at the next reunion someone may not be with us. We must treasure the time we have together. We can not take anything for granted.

All the troubles of world and country can be traced back to the same place, family. Family means up bringing. If the family does the right thing and brings a child up the right way, many of the problems we have today would not exist. I was taught to respect others. No matter how right I think I am. The possibility still exist that I am wrong. We all need to understand that we are one people: one people on one planet that we all must share. If we would all respect each other we would do so much better. No matter how I look at it. It always comes back to family. Politicians like to talk about their family values. More and more we are finding out that they have none. If they have any values at all it is money and power that they value. They don’t value any families outside of their own. I really can’t be sure they value their own family. I say that because of some of the things they say on television. There is no way I would get on a nationally broadcast show and lie like some of them do. They are willing to do what ever it takes to support their party. They will say and do anything. I don’t believe they ever think about their family or their country. This is not a Republican problem. This is a bipartisan problem. It seems that if a person is to be an effective politician in present day, that person must be willing to lie, cheat, distort the truth and put party above all else. They wear flag pins on their suits and that is supposed to show patriotism.

Then they go behind closed doors and wipe their butts with the constitution because it helps their party. I tend to criticize the Republicans more because of the far right, like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. They seem to be evolving into an evil group similar to that of the Ku Klux Klan. Not to say that they will go out and try to lynch people. By that I mean the hate speech they use. It makes me wonder about their family. They ask their listeners to go out and try to disrupt the election process; the Klan did the same thing. They call the Democratic Party the “Democrat part’ because they believe it will upset them. That is disrespectful. Something Klan used to do and still does. They call the people who don’t agree or refuse to go along with their war, traitors or unpatriotic: another Klan tactic.

Sean Hannity likes to call refer to his callers as great Americans. I find that odd because he doesn’t know anything about his callers. As far as he knows the caller could be a rapist or murder. That doesn’t matter to him. His listeners are great Americans because in his mind he is a great American and they listen to him. He strokes their egos by telling them that they are great Americans, implying non listeners are not great Americans, to lift them up and make them feel better about themselves. Klan like. The call Democrats the enemy and the enemy need to be defeated. These are all Klan tactics. These are things that separate us as a people. The Klan tried to separate and dominate. The far right tries to dominate by controlling speech. If the left tries to speak out against the right, they are called derogatory names by all of the right as a group. When you are attacked by so many people, most people will back down. The Republican’s and the right work very well together. They get their talking points out to everyone and they all stick to them. Now I’m not saying the far right and the Republican Party is as bad as the Ku Klux Klan.

What I am saying is that they have some of the same tactics. They are dividing the country, suppressing the voice of the opposition, all the while giving praise and support to those who share their views. What kind of family do these people come from? Is this what they were taught as children? Is this what they are teaching their children?

Chapter 4

Maybe I am wrong in my way of thinking. My actions and beliefs in many ways reflect the type of family, friends, and neighborhood I come from and have. I would want them to be proud of what I am doing and what I have done. It seems that present day politicians and some of the people on the far right feel they will be proud of them because of the position they hold. If the power of influence or the amount of money you are making is the source of your pride, then I would say that they are justified. If this book sells lots of copies and I make lots of money from it. I would be very happy. I would be happy to pay off bills and to help family and friends. If someone reads this book and they move away from the far right and the far left, that would be a great accomplishment. If a politician decides they are no longer for sale after reading something that I have written it would be a dream come true. I know that one is not realistic but what is a man without a dream. If just one person told me that this book made a difference in their life, then I would feel proud. I can’t understand how someone can be proud of manipulation and distortion. When you are proud of that, then the question is who taught you that? Are parents proud of their children when they make lots of money illegally and dishonestly? What kind of values do those people teach their children? How long do they have to lie to themselves before they start believing it? Do they ever believe it?

This is why I could never run for public office. I respect people. I like people. I love my family and friends. Those things would handcuff me. My family and neighbors taught me to respect all people. That all people should have a voice and that voice needs to be heard. Even when I think someone is wrong; I should still listen with an open mind because I could be the one that is wrong. My mom used to tell me”The biggest fool in the world has something they can teach you, even if it is what not to do”. This is not the way in government. It is as if a person has to sell their soul before entering politics. If they don’t sell it before, it is gone soon after they enter office. They don’t like and respect people.

We are all the same, in general. By that I mean we all have someone who loves us. We all have someone we love. That was taught to me by my family. I can’t say truthfully that I understood it when it was told to me, but I understand it now. When you are walking around town or driving on the freeway. Anywhere you see people. Look at each person and think, each one of them have people that love them. Each one of them have people that they love. They all have family and friends. They all have happy times and sad times. They all have lives as complex as yours. That is something that we all have in common. All life is special and worthy of respect. That is something our political leaders were never taught or they have forgotten. It is easy to misuse people if you think of them as less than your equal. It is even easier if you think of them as less than human. When the white man was taking over this country and having the wars with the Indians. They referred to the Indians as savages. Meaning they were not civilized and not their equal. Never mind the fact that they had organized communities and they were farmers. When the white man took Africans from their home land they refereed to them as ape like. They too had organized communities, traders, and farmers. They were not the white man’s equal.

This all comes back to family. What kind of family did the people committing these acts come from? Were their family and friends proud of what they did? Did they teach their children to go out and do the same thing? I feel society is partly to blame for some of this. The common thing I hear today is “men should never hit a woman”. I hate to hear that because it implies that it is okay to hit men. You see talk shows where women get mad at a guy and start hitting him. When he pushes her off of him or hits her back, security jumps him. I think that sends the wrong message. In the real world if that was to happen a woman could get hurt really bad. She believes what she sees on television. That the guy is not going to hit her back. The problem is that at home there is no security to protect you. In all my past relationships I had this conversation. I told them before we dated. If she never hit me I would never hit her. That being said, if she ever hit me I would hit her back. I think it is a show of respect. If you respect someone you would never hit them out of anger. If you don’t respect me I don’t feel I need to respect you. I’m sure my parents would say violence is never the answer. That it would be better to just walk away or call the police. I agree that would be the right thing to do. I am just not sure I would be able to do it if I am angry and was provoked by someone hitting me first. I would be the first to echo that violence is not the answer. That is what I was taught as a child. I was told that repeatedly when I was growing up. If at all possible I should walk away. It does not make me less of a man by walking away. If it is my significant other I should remove myself from the situation and end that relationship. Parents should tell their children to think for themselves. Don’t go by what they see on television. This is even more important, if you have daughters. They need to know that if they hit some guy they could be risking their life. Above all else, the thing parents should be telling their children is to keep their hands to themselves. They should respect themselves and other people.

Family is the answer to almost everything. When government want to launch wars, I always wonder if they ever think about the cost in lives. I wonder if their parents taught them that life is important. I wonder if they care about the fact that every person that they kill will have a long line of people who are family and friends. Are these same government leaders teaching their children that violence is the answer to their problems? Parents need to educate their children on how they should conduct themselves when they get out on their own. Children should be taught from the start that they should respect all people. It does not mater what race the person is. It does not matter if the person is male or female. It does not mater if the person is from America or some other county. It does not matter what religion the person claims. The only thing that should matter is: this is a living human being. God has given this person life and we all should respect it. Maybe I am just afraid to show God that I don’t respect what he has created. Again it goes back to my upbringing. I was taught to both fear and respect God. Maybe if you don’t believe in God then you don’t believe there are consequences in the after life. Still, if you don’t believe in God you would still want people to respect you. I was taught to treat people the way I want them to treat me. If everyone was taught that, and everyone taught that to their children, we would have a very peaceful world. This is a very simple task. It means that everyone is responsible for themselves. This is the liberal in me talking but it seems like a simple thing to do. If every person was to take responsibility for themselves and their children we could have world peace. That means that there would be no fights because I don’t want to be hit, therefore I would not hit anyone. I don’t want to be killed; therefore I would not kill anyone. I want my privacy and personal property to be respected. I will respect the privacy and personal property of others. If parents were to tell this to their children and show them by conducting their everyday lives this way. The children will follow what their parents have taught them.

Chapter 5

My parents were very much involved in my life when I was growing up. Even as an adult they are still involved in my life. They wanted to know who my friends were. They wanted to meet them and know what we were doing. They would go to my school and talk to my teachers. I will be the first to admit that I was not the best student in school. I could have done much better. My parents did push me to do better in class. I just was not motivated to get all “As”. My sisters were, but not me. It was not because my parents didn’t try to get me to do better. It was all me. If it wasn’t for them I would have done much worse. I can’t say they didn’t try because they did try to motivate me. I know this is not important when I am talking about family. I mention this because I don’t want people thinking my family is perfect, or that I am trying to imply that they are. We have school drop outs. We have alcoholics, drug addicts and homosexuals. I only mention homosexuals because in the minds of some people; being homosexual is a choice. I don’t agree with that. I believe that being homosexual is the way God made them. I know the Bible speaks against it. The Bible is not always consistent. God said we would not always understand what he does. I accept that and if that is the way he made them, and then it is okay with me. I am getting off track. I just wanted to show that my family is not perfect. We have the same problems most families have. The thing that sets us apart is we all get along. We love each other regardless of our faults. I think all of the individual families that make up the Spencer side of my family, taught their children the same thing. That family is a special thing. When all else fails you always have your family. No mater how bad things are, you can always find comfort with your family. This is something that all parents should pass on to all of their children. I believe that most parents love their children. I say most parents because there are parents that beat, abuse, starve, torture, and kill their children. There is no way you can do that if you truly love them. If you love them you must prepare them for the time when they are on their own. You will prepare them for the time when you can not be there to protect them. You will teach them how to protect themselves. Just as when they are babies you feed them. When they are older you teach them how to feed themselves. Parents must not be concerned with being their child’s best friend. That time will come later. You must be willing to lay down the law when it is needed. Children should both fear and respect you. I don’t mean they should fear you as a person. I mean they should fear the consequences from you when they do something wrong. In doing that you must show them love. You must praise them when they do something good. You must encourage them when they don’t think they can do something. When they fail you must continue to push them until they get it right. Parents must be there for their children. They must be there to set the example for their children to live by. They must be there showing respect to others so their children have someone to immolate. Parents must stop looking to Hollywood and professional sports as role models for their children. Parents must be the role model for their children. The only thing children or any of us know about these actors and an athlete is what we see on television and what we read in the newspaper. They are with their parents’ everyday and talk to them daily. They get to see their parents talk to others and interact with people on a regular basis. Parents should be setting the example and therefore being the role model. It is sad to think that some children know more about characters on television shows than they know about their parents. That’s not hard to believe when children spend lots of time on their own watching television. Televisions have become a babysitter in today’s generation. This is just wrong.

Chapter 6

I have to wonder what makes some people decide to have children. Children are a huge responsibility. It requires dedication, sacrifices, lots of money and lots of time. Why do some people decide to have children when they can barely feed themselves? Why do some people decide to have children when they can’t keep up with the rent? Maybe I am being delusional but I truly feel that having children and raising a family is an optional responsibility. It means that you are responsible for life of another human being. You are responsible for providing nourishment both physically and emotionally. You are responsible for providing entertainment. You are responsible for feeding this child; at no time is feeding optional. Above all else you are responsible for shaping this young mind. You must prepare this child to take their place in society. They must be able to stand on their own. They must know how to interact with other people. They must understand that they are sharing this planet with other people. You are responsible for teaching them to respect other people and their property. These are responsibilities that I think some people take too lightly. It is a major undertaking and I take my hat off to all who take this responsibility seriously and to those who do it correctly. I’m sure it is hard work with great rewards.

Nowadays there are many potholes in the road to adulthood. It seems as if there are more child predators out there than in any other time in history. Maybe it seems that way because of 24 hour news stations. Any time something happens with a child it makes the world news. If it is really bad it will be on all the stations and played over and over. It is not safe on the street. There is danger in schools. There are dangers on the internet. Nowadays children have so much more than I did when I growing up. They also have a lot less. We were outside running, climbing trees, shooting marbles, playing ball, and riding our bikes. We used to make bikes, skateboards, and go-carts. We didn’t spend much time in the house. Kids today have computers, Play Stations, and X-Boxes. They don’t spend much time outside. I will say, they seem to be good with computer and are real good with video games. I do see some kids in my neighborhood riding their bikes, maybe two or three kids at a time. Not like when I was a kid. Sometimes there would be as many as 15 or 16 of us riding together. Sometimes we would get basketball games going and we would play from 9 or 10 in the morning until it was too dark to see anything. Almost all the fun we had was outside. Today’s kids seem to have most of their fun inside. I’m not sure if it is a good or bad thing. I do think children need to get lots of exercise. Sitting in front of the computer or television all day eating junk food is not good for them. Children do seem to be more overweight today than when I was a child. Given the danger that appears to be waiting on them outside, a little weight gain is not that bad.

If this country is to survive it will be up to the family to make it happen. The families will have to take responsibility for its members. We must teach our children to respect all people. We ourselves must respect all people. Parents must be role models and lead their children by example. If today’s parents don’t take the lead and teach their children what they need to know. Our nation is doomed.

Racism

LOVE ONE ANOTHER Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12

Chapter 1

I thought long and hard about whether or not to include this topic. When talked about openly and honestly it can be a very sensitive subject. I will start by saying that everyone is racist to a point. I don’t believe all people will act on it but we all have racist thoughts. For example, I’m a boxing fan. When I watch, if there are two boxers that I have not seen before and one is black, more often than not I will pull for the black fighter. If I am more familiar with the white guy then I will pull for him. Even when I am pulling for the white fighter there is still a part of me that wants the black guy to win. That is a racist thought to me. I believe that if we all told the truth we would all admit to thinking that way. That doesn’t mean we have to act on those thoughts. When we allow thoughts to influence our actions is when we truly are racist.

I hear people very often say racism is not that bad in the United States; that we should get rid of Affirmative Action because racism is gone. I would very much like to agree with them but I know better. As a black man living in The United States of America I know for a fact the racism is alive and well in this country. I’m going to tell you a few stories of things that have happened to me. I am not going to tell you all of them because that would take too long so I will just go into a few of them. In my mind they are without a doubt racist but you can judge for yourself.

When I was living in Sacramento California I got orders transferring me to Las Vegas Nevada. In the military it is called PCS which means Permanent Change of Station. When you PCS the base that you are going to sends you a relocation packet. In this case I was relocating to Nellis Air Force Base. In the relocation packet was a newspaper, a booklet with houses for sale or rent, apartments and various other papers about living in Las Vegas. I knew we would be living in an apartment until we found a house to buy so I focused on those. Some of the apartments had their prices listed in the booklet and some did not. One of the places that I was interested in didn’t list their price but did list a phone number so I called them.

When I called the property listed as Vegas Towers a woman who sounded white answered the phone. She sounded very professional over the phone. I asked her the price for the one and two bedroom apartments. She told me the price and followed by saying they were full and had no apartments available. I informed her that I was active duty military living in California and didn’t need an apartment right now. I would not be moving to Las Vegas for another six months or so. She kind of laughed and said “sweetie we have a waiting list of more than a year to move in here, we are a very popular property.” She was very nice in the tone of voice she used and I didn’t question her any further. I just thanked her for her time, hung up the phone and continued to call other places. For whatever reason was I could not get Vegas Towers out of my mind. Like I said the woman had been very polite over the phone but I kept thinking about it.

When my wife, who is white, got home a few hours later I had her call. The same woman answered, I know this because I was listening on the other phone. My wife told her she was moving to Las Vegas and wanted to know the price of their apartments. This same woman who only a few hours ago had told me The Vegas Towers had a waiting list that was more than a year long was now telling my wife she had apartments available. She was not just nice to my wife she was overly nice. She was telling my wife that this was the best place in Las Vegas to live. She said that the towers were close to the strip and she would love it here. She said all the people living at the towers were very nice. She ended by saying that my wife should not decide on a place until she had a look at the towers.

I thought about having my wife rent the place then we both could move in. I knew that would be a bad idea because they would make my life a living hell until I moved out. Far too many people believe racism is just in the head of the accusers and don’t believe it is still around. I even thought about getting an attorney and suing them for discrimination but that is just not me. I believe GOD will take care of them for me.

Chapter 2

The second true story is when I was in Sacramento California. There was a Shell gas station not far from where we used to live. There were signs on the pumps saying “pay before you pump”. Once I forgot and tried to pump first and the attendant turned on the speaker and reminded me to pay first. I went inside and paid then pumped the gas and left without thinking anything of it. I had been going to this station for several months when one day my wife was with me. I got out and was going in to pay and she asked me why I didn’t pump the gas first. I pointed to the sign and said that I have to pay first. She said she had never paid first; she always got her gas and then paid. I went back to the pump and like before the attendant came over the speaker and said that I had to pay first. I did like I was told and went and paid before I pumped.

While pumping my gas I started to pay attention. White people were people were pumping their gas then going in to pay but I was the only black person there and none showed up before I left. I never went back there again. There is no doubt in my mind that this was because of the color of my skin and nothing else.

The last true story I will tell you about was when I first arrived in Las Vegas. Some will say this had nothing to do with race but I believe it did. I was down on The Strip killing time going from casino to casino. I didn’t have much money and was only spending about ten dollars in each casino.

I was going through The Monte Carlo casino and playing some machines. I would play a few dollars at one machine then move on to another. I had done this for a few minutes when I realized I needed to go to the restroom. As I was leaving the restroom I noticed a security guard. The only reason I noticed him was because he was very much over weight. The fact that he was a security guard made him stick out in my mind. I remember thinking that if someone had done something wrong and was running, there was no way he would be able to catch anyone. Why would they hire that guy? Those thoughts passed through my mind and I thought nothing else about him. I went back to playing slots as I moved through the casino.

If you are familiar with slot machines in Vegas then you know they have lots of chrome on them. You can see reflections very good on most machines. I was standing playing a machine when I noticed that obese security guy standing behind me. He was not close to me but standing several feet away from me. He seemed to be just watching me but I wasn’t sure so I decided to find out. I started walking slowly around the casino. I went from one side to another and all over the place. As I walked I would stop and play a machine from time to time. The security guard stayed right with me. Believe me once I was sure he was following me I was calling him everything except security guard in my mind.

I walked up front by registration and turned the corner then waited for him to catch up. When he turned the corner we were standing face to face and that caught him off guard. I calmly asked him why he was following me. His response was “sir, I’m not following you”. I asked him again why he was following me. He again repeated the lie that he was not following me. That pissed me off. Not only was he lying and felt that black men needed to be followed because we were up to no good but we were stupid too. Like I said we were up by registration and I got loud enough to let people know what was going on. I called him a liar along with a few other words that you would not hear in a Disney movie. Like I said he pissed me off and thought I was stupid. I will keep this clean and not repeat all the four letter words that I used that day. I said something to the effect that the color of by skin doesn’t fit the décor this casino is trying to achieve. Then I pulled out my military I.D. card and said this is how they treat us here. At this point a guy in a suit walked up and asked what was going on. I’m not going to repeat the language but it amounted to me saying that the fat guy is following me and refuses to tell me why.

The suit turned to the fat guy and asked him if he was following me and he lied and said he was not. That set me off again. The suit kept telling me to calm down and that I was mistaken because the guard was not following me. I asked the suit if I needed to get a lawyer and get copies of the tapes from cameras overhead. Maybe we could show them to the local news or national news too. Then it changed to if the fat guy was following me it had nothing to do with race because it was against hotel policy. He offered me a free room and other free stuff. I asked why would he offer me free things if the fat guy did nothing wrong. He said that it was all just a misunderstanding and I was clearly upset.

Since I am in the military and he appreciates military service he would try to make it right and make everyone happy. I told him there was no way I would spend a night here because the next day they would swear that I stole something. I walked out and have never set foot in The Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino again.

A few years later my wife was a dealer at a smaller hotel and casino off the strip. Most people start out at smaller casinos and as they learn games and get better they move up to the larger casinos. She had been at this smaller casino for about six months one of the other dealers asked her “why don’t you go try out The Monte Carlo”. He then took his finger and stroked the back of his hand and continued “they like us over there”. Just to let you know the answer is she did not go try out.

Chapter 3

I have more true stories but I think three is enough. I put them in here because I know there are people out there who will say racism doesn’t exist anymore or it is not that bad. I am but one man and I told you three things that happened to me and I have several more. Think about how many stories you would have if every black person you know told you their stories. If you don’t know any black people then think about every black person you see. I chose to tell you those three stories because I had my wife to verify it for me. Without her I would have no proof only what I believed.

As I sit here and stare at this paper I ask myself if I should even try to write on this subject. Black people that read this will totally understand what I am talking about and will feel what I feel. To be fair there will be some white people who get it. As much as I want it, I don’t think most white people will understand what I feel. My wife and I sometimes will have conversations on this type of thing and I don’t think she truly understands. There is no doubt in my mind that my wife loves me more than she loves herself. I believe with all my heart that she would give her life to save mine without a second thought. I would do the same for her. She is an extremely intelligent woman but this she doesn’t get. It may be like a woman trying to explain the pain of child birth or menstrual cramps to a man. That is something we don’t understand and never will because we can not relate to either. Men have nothing to compare it to and therefore there is no way for us to really understand what it is like.

Rush Limbaugh likes to talk about how smart he is. I can’t say that I agree with him but that is what he says. In early 2008 I heard him say one of the dumbest things ever. Maybe he is just ignorant but either way I thought it was dumb. A black guy called the show and was complaining about racist treatment he felt he was getting at work from co-workers. I don’t remember exactly what the details were but I remember thinking that based on what he said that it may or may not be racist. Sometimes people are just assholes and it has nothing to do with the color of your skin. Rush on the other hand said something that made me say “what the bleep are you talking about”. He said “there are plenty of people out there that don’t like me and you don’t see me crying about it. You need to get over it and move on. If they don’t like you they just don’t like you. It doesn’t matter what the reason is the result is still the same”. That told me that Limbaugh didn’t have a clue as to what the guy was talking about. People don’t like Rush because of the things he says on the radio. They don’t like Rush because of the things he has done in his life that has been made public. They don’t like Rush because of his far right political stance on almost every issue and his condescending attitude. They are legitimate reasons that they can point to as to why they dislike Rush Limbaugh and more likely than not they have multiple reasons. Most of the people who dislike him would love him if he changed his views and supported the Democrats or the far left.

On the other hand the people that dislike the caller did so because of the way he was born. They know nothing about him only that he is a black man. There is nothing he can do about it and make them like him. They think of him as less of a human being than they are. It doesn’t matter what he thinks on any political issue. The fact that he is alive is reason enough for them to dislike him. Rush says there is no difference between the two. To me that is just insane. I don’t understand how any sane person can see those totally different positions as the same. Maybe I’m the crazy person but I don’t think so. Maybe because I’m not white I can’t understand the other side but I do try. The best way I can think to explain part of the feeling would be for you to close your eyes. Imagine walking down an alley at about dusk dark without any streetlights. You don’t know the area very well so it may or may not be a safe place. There are plenty of people around, some notice you and others seem not to notice. You have heard of people that look like you have been attacked in the past but it is not talked about anymore. You have no choice but to walk through this alley. This is the way I feel every time I leave my home. This is the world I live in. I am almost always on guard.

Chapter 4

I do believe the world is getting better. I should say I know the country is better than it was. My parents and grandparents have told me things that happened to them before I was born. My grandfather used to tell about how he used to have to look at the ground when a white woman walked past him. Even though I was not alive when it happened it still hurt my heart to hear him tell the story. I know that my own mother had to ride at the back of the bus because the government didn’t feel she was good enough to ride up front. Just to write this brings tears to my eyes. I know things are better now but the pain is still there. It’s always funny to me when I hear people say that we shouldn’t talk about it. As if not talking about it will make what was done go away. As long as we don’t talk about it things will be just fine. It reminds me of some film footage I saw of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a few months ago. The reporter asked a white woman what she thought of Dr. King coming to town. The woman said “he is making trouble. We treat our Negros real good round here. They keep to themselves and we keep to ourselves. We don’t have no trouble out of them”. In her way of thinking, if Dr. King would just stay away things could stay the way they are and they would not have to deal with them. If he would just stay away we would not have to talk about any of the things that have been going on any everything would be alright. That is the position you take when you have the upper hand. That is the position you take when you don’t want to face your demons. I know this is a difficult subject to talk about but the thing is waiting until tomorrow is not going to make it any easier. I guess some people want to avoid it as long as possible and maybe their children will be able to deal with it for them. Some people choose to stick their head in the sand and hope their troubles will pass them by. I refuse to stick my head in the sand. When you do that you leave a part of your body exposed. I don’t like being stuck like that when I know the government is always out here waiting. I really should not say the government when it really is the political leaders who are the problem. The Constitution is a great document but it is the politics that seek to destroy it.

I was born in 1962. I was not old enough to experience any of the government sponsored discrimination: a government that pointed its finger at other countries and complained about how they were treating their people all the while treating some of its own citizens less than human. This United States government wanted to stop Hitler because he was killing Jews in Europe. This same United States government turned a blind eye when The Ku Klux Klan was killing its black citizens during the same time period. This same United States government passed laws restricting the sale and use of alcohol to uncivilized races. They thought that if black men used drugs or alcohol they would go out and rape white women. All the while white men were openly raping black women on a regular basis. Maybe they were afraid black men would digress to the same level as the white man.

I could go on and on about the stupid laws that were passed in an attempt to dehumanize the black race. Laws like separate bibles for blacks to put there hands on in court; a law where black people could not look out the same window as white people. These were laws passed by white people that were considered to be intelligent at that time. With people that stupid running the country I am truly amazed that this country is still standing. I have to wonder how much more advanced the United States would be if there was not so much racism and hatred around. It is not as bad as it once was but the Klan mentality is alive and going quite well. There are some laws on the side of black people and we can now fight back. Because we can now fight back, racism can not be as out in the open as it once was. It’s not just black people but there are white people who would not be tolerant and watch it go on. Never the less, just because you don’t see it in the middle of the street doesn’t mean it is gone. It has just moved to the sidewalks or in some places it is in the alley. No matter how you look at it, it is not gone just a little more hidden.

Chapter 5

I have heard people speak about reparations to black people. I am on the fence about that one. When I look at what was done to the black race in the United States and done with the blessing of the government. Then I look at the length of time the government allowed this treatment to take place. They didn’t just turn their heads but they wrote it into law. When I look at all the things the government allowed then I feel it should have to pay. The problem is there isn’t enough money out there to make right what was done. The other problem I have is that I don’t feel the government owes me any money personally. I do feel that the government has profited off my ancestors without fair pay for their efforts. The government has profited from my ancestors without offering them any protection from those seeking to do them harm. This government was profiting from them while doing nothing for them. It was taxing them without offering them the same representation it offered its white citizens.

This is a complex problem and I can not pretend to know the answer. How do you measure the profit from hundreds of years of non payment? How you put a price tag on hundreds of years of inhuman treatment that was sanctioned by the government? To say that the treatment was inhuman does not do it justice if anything can. The government sanctioned its black citizens being whipped until the skin was ripped from their backs. If they fought back they were to be hung by their neck until they were dead. The government sanctioned them being sold like animals. Families were broken up where fathers, mothers, as well as children could be sold separately and never to see each other again. Even when slavery ended things were not much better. A black citizen could be dragged from their home, beaten and hung because a white person said they did something to offend them. The really sad part is the accuser did not need any proof, their word was good enough. That means that if you were a black citizen living in The United States of America there was no place in this entire country where you were truly safe, not even your own home. In general your home is the one place people feel safe. Home is a place where as an American citizen you are allowed to defend yourself and its occupants against intruders. That has always been the case unless you were black.

Imagine being in your home one night and a group of men came knocking on your door asking for your child. Saying your child was looking at a white person and needed to be taught a lesson. I know for me there have been times where a person will say hello to me because they think I am looking at them. What I was really doing was noticing that they had missed a button, not ironed their shirt or missing a tooth. What I am saying is that just because I am looking at someone does not mean I am attracted to them. Sometimes I was even looking at something or someone behind the person that said hello. There have even been times when I was daydreaming and staring out in space and someone thought I was looking at them. Now imagine that being the case with your child and someone wants to beat them because of what they thought. No proof, just what they have in their mind. These were the civilized Americans.
This is how black people were treated for over four hundred years and affirmative action has been going on since about 1961 and many will say it should be done away with.

President Johnson said a long time ago. "Nothing is more freighted with meaning for our own destiny than the revolution of the Negro American...In far too many ways American Negroes have been another nation: deprived of freedom, crippled by hatred, the doors of opportunity closed to hope...But freedom is not enough. You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: Now you are free to go where you want, and do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please. You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe that you have been completely fair...This is the next and the more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result...To this end equal opportunity is essential, but not enough, not enough." Some people say that racism is almost non existent. To those people I have to ask how they would know. Racism is not something that you can openly brag about anymore. It must be kept under cover and used alone or with like minded people. When it is let out in the open it can only be shown to its intended victim. When it is only shown to its intended victim and you are not that person then you would never know.

I say affirmative action should last two years for every year the government condoned the unjust treatment of its black citizens. I’m sure there are many who will say eight hundred years is too long for affirmative action to last. To those people I would say that the black people who were forced to suffer the slavery, discrimination and racism would say that one day of that treatment was too long. If it was your family that was treated that way what would you want? When you are not the target of racism it is easy to pretend it is not there. When you are on the receiving end it is hard to ignore. Most people choose to just mind their own business and not get involved. They will not say anything until it is going to cost them something. To be fair I will say when you are on the receiving end of racism it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between a racist and someone just being an asshole. Once you experience racism you become more sensitive towards it. It can also be family or friends that experience racism and it will make you watch your back.

Chapter 6

I debated in my mind as to whether or not to explain what it feel like when you are faced with racism. It may be different for each person so I can only speak for myself. Growing up I was taught to treat other people the way I would want to be treated. I was taught to respect other people and to treat their property better than I would treat my own. I was taught that every person that I see and hear throughout my entire life have people that love and care deeply for them just as I have people who love and care about me. I was taught to be happy for people when they do well in life, to do more than what was expected of me, to set the example for other to follow, and never to wrong someone just because they wronged me. I’m not going to lie and say that I have always stayed true to these things my parents taught me but I will say that they have never left me and I have almost always tried. I have heard and read the stereotypes out there for black people. I’m sure everyone has heard them. They say black people are lazy, not dependable, nasty, steal, like to fight, will end up in prison, rapist, not good friends, liars, their word doesn’t mean anything (that could also be a politician), can’t be trusted, and the list goes on and on but you get my point. I have tried to make it a point in my life never to validate any of those negative stereotypes. I’m not going to pretend that I am a perfect person. I’ve done some things that were not right. If I continue to live I’m sure I will make more mistakes. What I can say is that in general I have always tried to do right by others. I could never understand how someone could prejudge me when they knew nothing about me. I could be wearing a suit and a tie stepping into an elevator with a woman and she would hold her purse closer to her body even when there are other men already in there with her. To have someone look at you and know in their mind that you wish to do them harm is painful when nothing could be further from the truth. In past interracial relationships that I have been in and had the chance to meet some of the family members, there were some that didn’t approve of me at first sight and that was painful. There was one person that really surprised me by not only accepting me but welcoming me into the family with open arms and that person is my wife’s grandmother. She has always treated me as if I was born into the family. I love this little lady like I love all of my family because she treats me like I am human and didn’t prejudge me. I could go on and on about grandma because I love and respect her so very much but that would take me off subject. I had to put her in here because if she ever gets the chance to read this I want her to know that she is a very special person in my life and thank you.

It is painful to hear people say that racism is all but gone when I know for a fact that it is alive and well. To have a police officer tell you that you should leave a public place because the people don’t like black people and he can’t ensure my safety is painful. To walk into a room full of white people and have them stare at you like you are some kind of circus animal is painful. To be driving and stop at a store to ask for directions then have the clerk point at the maps and say “that’s what we sell those for” is painful. When you have someone look at you and think that you are less of a human being because of the color of your skin is not a good feeling. That is what you have to deal with every day of your life if you are born black. I have to keep in mind that every bad thing that happens to me is not because of my skin color. At the same time I know some of it is due to my being black. It is a fine like that I have to walk. I don’t want to use my race as a crutch but I also don’t want to let someone use it against me.

People talk about heroes but when they do they never talk about black people as a race. I’m not talking about the black people of today but the black people of the years past. The things they had to live through all the while still remaining loyal and loving to this country. Black people fought and died in wars so that this country could be free while the very country they were fighting and dying for was denying them their own freedom. That is a true hero. To have someone go off to fight and die in a war to keep the country from being torn apart by southerners when the very country you are fighting to protect doesn’t think you are good enough to look a white person in the eyes, this is a hero. To have someone go off to fight and die in a war to protect their country and the very country they are protecting refuses to pay them the same as the are paying the white soldiers, if they paid them at all, and still they continued to fight, that is a real hero. To have someone sent to the front lines with the oldest weapons the military had so they could save the newer weapons for the white soldiers and get the job done, that is a hero.

When people talk about heroes they talk about people like John McCain who was not killed in a prison camp. Maybe it’s just me but when I think of a hero I think about someone who voluntarily displayed great courage. A fireman running into a burning building to save a life is a hero in my eyes. He is a hero because he made the choice to risk his like to save another. I’m not picking on John McCain. I don’t know all that happened to him in that prison camp. What I am saying is that just because his captors decided or chose not to kill him does not make him a hero, you need more than that. Some would say that because his captors offered to let him go before others who had been in prison longer and he said no to them makes him a hero. It does take courage to do the right thing sometimes but can you call someone a hero for doing the right thing. On that point I will concede that he can be called a hero for that deed. He was risking his life by staying and saving another by letting them go. I am very happy McCain survived the prison camp and sadden for those who didn’t.

Chapter 7

As a veteran I never want to see another service member lose their life. I’m just not going to elevate them to hero status because they lived. I think that diminishes the true heroes. Don’t get me wrong, I do understand how some people can call him a hero because he flew his airplane into the hot zone, risking his life and was shot down. My problem with his hero status is when I hear people speak of his ordeal they talk about him staying and surviving with his fellow soldiers. I’m sorry but I can’t call him a hero for that alone. In his defense like I said if someone wants to call him a hero because he could have left and chose to stay with the others then I understand. I too would call him a hero for that.

By the logic I used with John McCain staying in the prison camp, it further proves my point with the black people of the past. They chose to stay in this country and endure harsh, inhuman treatment. Some of the received treatment equal to if not worse than what I believe McCain received at the hands of is captors. To be treated the way they were treated and still choose to fight for this country makes them heroes.

I am always amazed by the people who think they know me because they see of can hear in my voice that I am black. I feel sorry for them. They don’t realize that they are hurting themselves just as much as they are hurting me. We are all in this life together. We could get through it much easier if we would only work together. Some people prefer to work against others, making it harder for everyone. You see it in everything, race, economics, religion, politics, we are a divided country and world. Most of it comes from low self esteem. Some people can only feel good about themselves when they are putting others down. That reminds me of a cartoon I saw many years ago. I don’t remember what magazine I saw it in. There where two white guys in old torn clothes eating out of garbage cans in an alley. They saw a nicely dressed black man walking down the street and they looked at each other and laughed, saying “at least we ain’t black”. That is the mindset of racist people. It makes them feel better about themselves to think that the color of their skin make them better than someone else. I will not lie and say that I never have racist thoughts. What I can say is that I have never in my life allowed a racist thought to effect my actions.

I wish I had a solution to end racism in this country and around the world. As far as I can see there is no solution. Laws can be written and enforced but that will only change how we act in public. If there was a way to educate everyone and teach them that people are people. There is not much difference once you get past the skin. We are all kind of like cars. There are different makes, models and colors but when you get down to it they are just automobiles. Some may have more gadgets and cost more money but it is still an automobile. I drive a 2002 Nissan Maxima. Would it make any sense to think that my car was better than a black 2002 Nissan Maxima? If I was to say yes to that question most people would think I was crazy. They would say it is still a car. It is just something to get you from point A to point B. That is the way I see racist people. The human body is a means of transportation for the soul. When you look at it that way, racism is a really ignorant way to think. You are treating someone different because their Maxima is not the same color as yours. Racist people can not or refuse to see it that way because it feels better for them to see themselves as superior. That makes them superior through no action they have taken. God decides what body your soul goes in; you have no choice in the matter.

I think of my time spent here on earth as a test for my soul given by God. It is our choice as to how we answer each question set before us. When you see a homeless person, do you help them or do you look the other way? If that is the question God asks you, what will your answer be? If you choose only to help the black ones or only the white ones, does it count? I’m not going to pretend to know the answer but if I had to guess I would say it does not. I would say that giving must be done openly and from the heart without preconditions. If all that you do is based on only helping white people or black people, then you haven’t done anything. If you don’t believe in God then this doesn’t mean anything. If you do believe in God then it is something to think about. If you believe in God then you would know that God can take any form he chooses. My question is what he came back as a black man or a woman? How would you treat him? If you were God and wanted to test your people, what form would you choose? I would say black or Mexican. No matter what the race I would bet he would be poor. How do you think a poor black or Mexican is going to be treated in this country? An even better question is how are you going to treat him? When others are treating him poorly what do you do? Do you join in the crowd and treat him the same or do you intervene on his behalf? The choice is yours to make. There are many who will not pass this test. Many of those who fail call themselves Christians and are in church every Sunday. Some of those people would spit in my face if they were given the right opportunity. Many people in church like to call themselves Christians but don’t live their life that way.

Chapter 8

Dr. King once said that Sunday morning at 11AM is the most segregated time in the country. If a person of another race entered your church, how do you think they would be treated? Would they be welcomed with open arms? Would people stare at them throughout the service? If we are truly Christians and believe in the teaching of Jesus Christ, we would welcome all who want to worship with us. We would love one and all. There are many interracial churches in America and those are not the ones I am talking about. There are more segregated churches. We can’t force people or other races to worship with us but we can make them feel welcomed if they were to come through the doors. I believe that is what Jesus would do. If we would ask ourselves as Christians more often, what would Jesus do? If we would ask that question daily, would our life still be the same? Would we still do the same things? I’m going out on a limb here and say the answer is no. We should live our life as if Jesus was standing right next to us every day.

We as black people can not blame all of our ills on white people. We have no unity in our race. We need to work together. I don’t mean work together to the exclusion of white people. I mean we should include all races in our struggle. We have too many black people who choose to work against the greater good for their own personal gain. Like during the slavery times they had what they called the house nigger. The house nigger worked in the big house with the master and his family. He ate a little better and had a little better clothing. That little bit extra made him feel like he was better than the other slaves. He kept an eye on his fellow slaves and if he heard of a revolt or an escape attempt he would tell the master. Being the masters watch dog got him a pat on the head and made him look good to the master. He could rationalize his actions by thinking he kept the slaves from getting killed or a beating if they were caught. What he didn’t realize is that he was part of the problem. Instead of working with the other slaves to become free he was working with the master to ensure that both he and the others would always remain slaves. I see this in all walks of life but none more than politics. I see black politicians working to line their pockets on the backs of other black people. Saying their actions will help black people when they know in their heart that is a lie.

It never ceases to amaze me. When someone wants to move an issue that they know is not going over well, past a group of people. They will find a few people from the target group. Give them some money and pat them on the head. Make them feel like they are part of the elite group. The sad thing is that it works. Just because the pitch man is black does not make the issue correct for black people. We should not trust someone because of the color of their skin. Like I said before the person who would more often than not tell on the slaves plans was the house nigger. The plantations may be gone but the house nigger mentality is still here and always watching. Waiting and looking for the opportunity to trade in the progress of the group for personal success.

We like to say we are the greatest nation on earth. In many ways I would say that is true but we could be so much better. Until we eliminate racism we will never be the nation we could be. We should set the example for the rest of the world. We can’t expect others to listen to us when we are not doing the right thing. It is like telling someone to clean their house when our house is dirty. Why would they listen to us? We must do better. The fate of this nation if not the world depends on it.

Immigration

Chapter 1

This is a subject that is hard to talk about because some people want to make it about race. For me it has nothing to do with race but everything to do with what is right and what is wrong. This country was built on immigration. People came here from all over the world to make a better life for themselves and their families. That was good for them and good for the country. They wanted to be Americans. They didn’t want to be Germans or Japanese or French living in The United States. They wanted to be Americans. That is the way it has to be if immigration is going to work. That is the way this country was started. Now that this country is up and running and I must say, very successful, many people still want to come here and make a better life. Once upon a time all you had to do was get here and start your new life. That’s not the case anymore. Now there are rules of law for immigration into this country.

Some people who want to come here will follow the law and wait to come here legally. Others will and have come here illegally because they want a better life. I understand them wanting a better life. I believe most people want a better life. I just believe it must be done the legal way. The other option is to allow anyone and everyone to come here to become citizens whenever they want. I don’t think anyone would think that is a good idea. We can’t just let everyone in. That would be a recipe for disaster, given the current terrorist climate that exists today. Unfortunately while many seek to destroy this country and all that it stands for. Many others only want to make a better life and call it home. If there was a way to differentiate between the two, open boarders would be great. The problem is that it can’t be done. Another problem is - there are people who follow the law and do all that is asked of them to become citizens. It would be very unfair to them if we allow some to become citizen when they entered illegally along with millions of others. If we grant amnesty to the illegals that are here now, what incentive would others have to follow the law?

I was watching the news and they were interviewing a man who said he been in this country, illegally, from Mexico for more than 40 years. He was married and had children but still illegal. The part that upset me the most was that he needed a translator. How can anyone live, work and raise a family in this country for more than 40 years, not be able to speak English. The answer is because we make it very easy for them, almost everything is bilingual. If an immigrant truly wants to be one of us then they must be like us. That means they must learn to speak the language. If we provide all or most information in multiple languages, there is less incentive to learn English. Language is the one thing that binds or unifies a society. This is also a safety concern for me. This is a true story that happened while I was in the military and it relates. I was working in the emergency room at an air force base one weekend. The rest of the hospital for the most part was closed. An Asian woman in her late 50s or early 60s came in clutching her chest. She didn’t speak English so we had to assume she was having chest pain. We ran an EKG, drew blood and took her vitals. We were guessing at the language she spoke and making calls to find a translator. It took some time but a translator was found and came from home into the E.R. to bridge the language gap. When all was said and done, the lady had indigestion. The point is this could have been a life threatening situation. If we put more pressure on people living here to learn the language it could save their life and we all could be better off.

Chapter 2

It is hard to have a rational conversation with some people on this subject because passions run very high. People that believe in amnesty for those that are here illegally like to call those who oppose them, racist. Being called a racist in America is a very bad thing. The problem is when you are called a racist it is hard to prove that you are not. Most people will back down to avoid the racist label. Since it is just me putting my thoughts down on paper and I know in my heart I’m not a racist, I will not worry about it. If this gets published then that will be a horse of a different color.

In general there are two groups of people that support illegal immigration and amnesty for them. People of Latin decent and those who wish to exploit them. I’m sure there are people outside those groups who are in favor of amnesty but I am speaking in general. I have asked people who favor amnesty if they think we should have immigration laws and they always say yes. I ask if they think people should be able to go back and forth across the boarders as they wish without boarder security and most will say no. When you break it down and ask the questions one at a time most people will not favor illegal immigration. They want to help poor people coming here to support their families. I understand that and I too would like to assist them. I also understand that we can’t help everyone. If we as a nation are not secure we will not be able to help anyone and that includes ourselves.

Most of the attention is focused on the Mexican people. Some would say all of the attention is focused on the Mexican people. I’m sure others are here illegally. I think we should target all people. Maybe Mexican people are the majority of people coming across the southern boarder but they are not the only ones here illegally. There are people who fly into this country legally and never leave. There are people who drive across the boarder legally and decide to stay. No matter how they get here, if someone is here illegally and we allow them to stay, it is wrong. If we target one group of people while leaving others alone when both are breaking the law, them we are wrong. If we are truly a nation of laws then those laws must apply to all people equally. If the legal system allows people from Europe to stay here while targeting Mexican people, then the system is wrong. If people from Asia are allowed to stay and the people from Mexico are not, then the system is broken. If people from Africa are allowed to illegally migrate to the United States and justice turns a blind eye then that is injustice to us all. A great man once said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

I wish I could say that I had all the answers to all the problems that face this great nation, but I don’t. This country has some very complicated issues it must deal with. As far as I can see there are no simple answers. Immigration has to be near or at the top. It is not as complex in general as it is made out to be. It only gets that way when it is broken down to individual families. I will attempt to break it down and explain it the way I see it.

People come here because the feel the can earn more money here than they can in their home land. They need it to provide for their families. I have nothing but love for people who want to provide and make a better life for their family. The problem is it must be done the right way. When it is done the wrong way people can and will use that against them. They will be paid less than what is legally allowed for the labor they are providing. They can be forced to work in unsafe environments. They may be forced to work longer hours then what is legally allowed. They can’t complain because they themselves are breaking the law may be forced to return to their homeland. Even though they are not being treated fairly it is better than what they have back home so they will stay quiet. The people who employ them know this and are making more money by pay illegal wages. This is where it gets complicated. The families and people enter this country illegally. They settle down, give birth and raise a family. The child or children by birth are American citizens and the parents are not. The question then is should the child or children be deported with the parents. Some would say this is a difficult case and I don’t think it is at all. The child or children should go with the parents unless they have someone here to care for them. Some would say it is unfair because the child is a citizen. I say when the child is old enough to care for themselves they can return. Parents are separated from their children everyday because the parent broke the law. For some reason there are people who think this is different. The child may be 9 or 10 years of age and have been here all their life. They have a home, in school, and have friends here. I agree with that argument because it does seem like it is unfair. The thing about it is that life itself at times seems unfair. When you have laws and rules that apply to everyone and some choose to break them due to their perceived necessity. The person or people being caught may feel the system is unfair. My example for this is rather simple. Let’s say I have three children. I have been in my home for fifteen years and never been late on any of my bills. My wife and I along with my fictional children all love our home. Now let’s say my wife and I both lost our jobs. Without having the money to pay our bills we would have to leave our home that we all love dearly. We would have to leave because there are rules to living in a home and raising a family. There are rules we must follow in life itself. In this case, we must pay the mortgage or rent each month to stay in the home. Even though we want to continue to live there, without the money we would be forced to leave. If we all only follow the rules and laws that are convenient to us this country would look a lot different. We can not allow people to break the law because we feel sorry for the law breakers. Everyone feels sorry for someone. People who are in favor of illegal immigration like to point at the children because they know that is a soft spot for most Americans. When you make decisions based solely on emotion I believe you will make the wrong choice.

Chapter 3

It is funny to me when I hear people describe illegal immigrants as hard working, law abiding people. They may be hard working but I find it difficult to call them law abiding. They broke the law when they entered the country. They break the law every day that they stay in this country. They break the law every time they work without permission from the federal government. Those are just the laws that I know about, there may be others. I without a doubt agree that most are hard working. Here in Las Vegas I see Mexican people doing manual labor and that is not easy work. I just refuse to ever say that the ones that are here illegally are law abiding when they are breaking laws every single day. I will say that if you ignore the laws that the illegal immigrants have broken, then they are law abiding people. When you think about it the same can be said about everyone, including the people in prison. When you ignore the laws they have broken then they become obeyers of the law. If you agree with that then the next question I would ask is. What makes this group of people so special that they should be given amnesty? After you answer that question, I have another. Should all people in the United States illegally be given amnesty or only the Mexican people? Still more questions. Do they have to be from what is considered a poor country? Is Mexico really a poor country or poorly governed? What should the parameters be that allow a person or group of people to willingly break the law? Keep in mind this is federal law. Last question is do laws even matter?

Some would say that illegals don’t take work away from Americans. I disagree with that and I will tell you a true story to show that is not the case. I know someone who needed to have their front and back yard landscaped. They told me they called a few companies and got estimates. The cheapest one said $1000 for the front yard and $4000 for the back yard. The estimates came from licensed contractors. Before they decided on a contractor to do the work a friend told them about a group of illegals that would do the work really cheap. After looking at some work the men had done and liked what they saw they decided to use them. They contacted the workers and agreed on a price of $2,500 including tip. They used these men, saved quite a bit of money and were happy with the work they did. If these men were not around a legal company would have made around $5000. Because of this story I know for a fact that illegal immigrants do cause Americans work. It is my understanding that this group of men did several jobs in that neighborhood so it caused Americans more money than I previously stated. Therefore when people say illegals do the work Americans will not do. That statement is not complete. What they should say is Illegals do the work that Americans will not do for the same price.

When you look at the way the economy is you can’t fault people for trying to save money. Still that doesn’t make it right but I understand. If the economy continues to get worse people will more than likely hire illegals more frequently? People try to cut corners and save as much money as they can. Hiring these workers allows them that luxury. Even some of the people that are against illegal immigration will hire them if they are hurting for money and they need to get the work done. I include myself in that statement. I have never used them but if the conditions were bad enough I would think about using them and I am strongly against them being here. I don’t believe I am alone in the way I feel.

When I look at the people from Mexico I see people I see people who want a better life. Their government doesn’t provide much in terms of social services. There is not much work available to them at livable wages. Social services and wages is something they can get here in the United States without much effort. They can make more money here illegally than they can legally in Mexico. The Mexican government doesn’t force the employer to pay them a fair wage. The Mexican government doesn’t force the employer to provide a safe work place. I don’t claim to be an expert on Mexico. I have only been to Tijuana. When you cross the boarder headed to Tijuana you see lots of slum looking areas and I can understand people wanting to leave. I know people who vacation in Mexico and they talk about how nice it is in places like Cancun, Guadalajara and Acapulco. That makes me wonder why the illegals don’t migrate to the nicer places in their country. If it is their government they have a problem with then why don’t they have marches in Mexico like they do here in the United States. It is my understanding that Mexico is a democracy in theory. On paper Mexico is a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches similar to that of the United States. Senators are elected to six-year terms. The congress is composed of a senate and a chamber of deputies. Of the 128 senate seats, 96 are filled by direct election and 32 are chosen by proportional representation from party lists. The president is elected by popular vote for one six-year term and cannot be reelected. Consecutive reelection is also prohibited for all legislators. In the lower chamber, 300 deputies are directly elected to single-member districts and 200 are on basis of proportional party representation. Deputies serve three-year terms. It is an openly corrupt system where bribery is the way things get done. Much like that of the United States only they are more open about it. As bad as their system is one would think they would vote to change the way things are done there rather than come here to change the way things are done here. I even saw a man being interviewed as an illegal immigrant holding a Mexican flag. He was saying through a translator that he is a proud Mexican man and loves his country. All I could think while watching him was if you love your country so much and truly proud of it then why did you leave. If all that he was saying was true why didn’t he stay and try to fix the things he perceives to be wrong or broken in his beloved country. Like I said I am not an expert on Mexico or the laws of the country. It just seems that if the people from Mexico can come here and organize themselves and hold rallies and marches. They can organize peaceful protests for the rights they want in cities across the United States of America. If they can do all of this here do you not think they should have the same passion in their homeland of Mexico? In their defense maybe they have tried or they are trying and it has not made it to the news or things that I have read here in the states. If they are trying and the government is suppressing them then maybe our government should get involved. GOD knows our government gets involved in everything else. In general I am not in favor of interfering in other countries affairs but when their policies or injustices directly create problems for the United States them we must get involved. The best interest of this nation and its citizens should and must always be paramount. That is something I feel our political leaders have lost sight of. That short sightedness is mostly due to special interest groups and the people they represent. Their desire to profit off the backs and labor of the illegal immigrants is the only thing that matters to them. It is in their best interest for things in Mexico to stay the same if not to get worse.

Let’s face it, there are lots of us who would do the same thing if we were in the shoes of the Mexican people and I include myself. I’m not saying we all would do it but many of us would. If you are hungry enough and feel you have no other options. Many would steal rather than starve too death. When you add in seeing your family suffer, your choice becomes much easier. In most cases people will rationalize it in their minds that no one is being hurt. Even when they do realize that someone is or could be affected by their actions. They can still rationalize and say they are only one person breaking the law so the harm is not that bad. The problem is when you multiply that slight hurt by millions of people the hurt becomes great. Great harm is being done to this country by illegal immigration. It is difficult for me to understand that our political leaders don’t see this. Then again maybe I am not seeing the picture correctly. As I have said before I am a very liberal person and I feel sorry for the Mexican people but the way they have chosen to deal with their problems is wrong. The answer is not to illegally migrate to the United States. The Answer must be to stay home make the necessary changes in Mexico. My analogy for this is: my neighbor has lots of things wrong with their house. Broken windows, leaking roof, doors will not close and broken locks as well as many other things. They are behind on their mortgage and don’t have the money to catch up or make the much needed repairs to their home. One day when I get home from work I find that they have broken into my home and refuse to leave. I ignore them at first then they start to invite their family and friends to join them. Then they start to tell me how I need to add more rooms to my house and fix things that are going wrong with my house, like the windows, doors, locks and leaking roof. It is hard for me to believe that anyone would think that this would be okay. Anyone and everyone would be outraged if this was to happen to them. I find no difference between that example and illegal immigration.

These people are poor and they want to improve their way of life. They want to provide for their families. I see nothing wrong with that. The Mexicans are a proud people and they want to support their fellow countrymen. I totally understand and respect that. What I don’t understand are those people who support those who willingly break the law because the law stands between them and financial success. The law is there for a reason. If we are not going to enforce the law, then those laws should be removed from the books.

Chapter 4

Have you ever asked yourself why the law is not being enforced? All the other laws are being enforced, as far as I know. The only answer I can come up with is: someone is making lots of money by ignoring the problem. Think about it: if you owned a business and hired illegals, you could save lots of money. You could save on no health insurance, no taxes, and no worry about sick pay. They can pay below minimum wage. Also there is no paper trail with illegals. So as you can see there are advantages to using illegals. I don’t think the savings are going to be passed on to the consumer. The owner is going to sell their product for as much as possible. It is not illegal to get as much money as you can, but I think it is wrong. Just because it is legal doesn’t make it right. If people would do the right thing we would not need the laws. The thing is that laws are not always right, because people make them. Also, the lives of people are so complicated and that makes it difficult. The laws can’t be fair to everyone but should reflect the needs of the population as a whole. I am yet to hear any government official explain how not enforcing the existing laws is beneficial to the population. You don’t hear it done, because it is not fair and it is not right.

I’m not sure what the solution should be. I don’t think the local police should be out trying to round up all the illegals. I don’t think they should be checking the legal status of every person on routine traffic stops. If it is things like, DUI, car chase, Assault & Battery, Robbery or anytime an arrest has to be made; that is when I would want the legal status checked. I would also go as far as to say if someone applies for social services, the social security number should be checked. If the number and name does not match, then the federal government should be notified. It could be an immigration issue or identity theft.

If you are a business owner, you should always match the name and social security number. Again, when they do not match, the proper notification must be made and documented. When this is not done the business owners should be required to pay a heavy fine for each employee with a bad social security number that was not checked. If all of this is done, it will not get rid of all the illegals but most of them would return home. I would not want to spend taxpayer’s money to hunt illegals. It would be much cheaper and easier using existing laws to pressure them into returning to their home country. Even doing all of that I’m sure we will still have some here. I know it is not a perfect plan. I don’t and would not want to hunt them down like animals. Just to pressure them into returning home. It would also catch some of the people out there committing identity theft. I’m not saying that illegals are hard criminals, but they are breaking the law by being in this country.

What I don’t understand is the regular, everyday person like me. We don’t, as they say, have a dog in this fight. Why do people like me support illegal immigration. I know we are a very giving people in general. We like to help others. This is a good thing and would love for that to continue. We should always want to welcome all who want to come and assimilate. We should want to help those who are less fortunate than we are. We should not want to assist others to the detriment of ourselves. This is one of the times that I don’t think many people are looking at the big picture. We all need to look at the big picture. We would all agree that this issue is really hurting us. This is not about race. It is about what is right and what is wrong. We as citizens of this really great country must do the right thing. We can not look to the government or political leaders to do anything. Everyone should know by now that big business owns the government and the people elected to run it. That includes both parties, Democratic and Republican. The parties are not going to help us. We must do this for ourselves. We must come together as one. We must think for ourselves. We must not go along just because someone associated with our political party said so. We must pay attention to those who support this issue and vote against them. If there is a business that supports illegal immigration then we must not do business with that company. The only thing that companies care about is making money. They don’t care about people. The only way they will respond is if they start to lose money. When they find out that they are losing money, they will make changes. If enough people care about this country and make it known, companies will respond. I know I can not change anything by myself, but I am doing what I can.

When Exxon spilled oil and didn’t clean it up, I stopped buying gas from them. To this day I still don’t buy gas from any station that has an Exxon sign on it. If more people felt the same way I do and did the same thing I am doing: what do you think Exxon would do? If I have a big problem with what a company is doing or something it has done, I don’t do business with them.
I don’t think I would ever hire an illegal to do work for me; even as bad as times are, and it would save me money. I would not hire them because I feel it would be wrong. It would be wrong because of what I believe in. More important, in my eyes, it would be wrong for the country.

Chapter 5

We as Americans in the past had pride in our love of our country. Now I’m not so sure anymore. Now it seems like we have more pride in our political parities, than we have in our country. I for one am proud to say that I am an American first and above all else. The only things that exceed my love of country are my love of God, my wife and family. I don’t call myself “African-American”. I call myself an American. I have only one citizenship. I define my race as black, but I am one hundred percent and nothing but American. Even though I love this country very much, I can still see that there are many things wrong with it. I love it enough to want to see it doing better. I think it says a lot for us when people from other countries think enough of this country to want to move here. They are saying our country is better than theirs. It is so much better; they are giving up their homeland to become one of us. That should be a compliment. The thing is; it is only a compliment when it is done the right way. I put lots of emphasis on the “right way” part. If someone looks at my house and yard and likes it and wants to see inside, that is a compliment. If someone breaks in just to look around, even if they don’t steal anything, this is an insult to me. Some might say the illegals broke into the country, not my home. I feel that this country is my home. If you really respect this country, you also respect its laws. Our laws are what make this country special.

For many people this has become a touchy subject. As I have said before, when some people talk about this, it gets turned around on them and it becomes a race issue. If you really listen to people talk about it, you will find that it only becomes a race issue when the defenders have lost the discussion. People can’t have a discussion and exchange ideas anymore. Now when they talk they are trying to show you where you are wrong and they are right. If they think they are wrong, it is a blow to their ego. It should not be about ego. It should be about exchanging ideas and understanding how other people think or feel about the subject at hand. I’m sure everyone knows someone who is not capable of having a discussion; with them it always turns into an argument.

It amazes me how American citizens will rally to stop people from speaking out against illegal immigration. They will get together to suppress a citizens’ first amendment right to speak freely. As I watch this being acted out on my television screen, what I am seeing is a group of American citizens, not illegal’s, trying to prevent another group of American citizen from speaking out against noncitizens breaking the law. Why would anyone want to stop me from saying that I don’t want people to be free to break the law without any repercussion? Most of the people who protest are in what I call sheep mode. They are just following the crowd. Most of them could not put together two sentences without repeating talking points. It’s not their fault. Most people are followers, not leaders. Most people will think for themselves to a point. Once they are within a group they stop thinking and start following. If we would all think for ourselves, using rational thought, void of emotion; most of our problems would go away. That still would not stop our political leaders from trying to bend us over.

Recently the Democrats tried to pass an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants by attaching it to a war funding bill. This bill would have allowed illegal farm workers to have a path to citizenship and stay in this country. If this is really important, why does it need to be attached to another bill? Why does it not stand alone? I don’t believe it takes a rocket scientist to figure out who is paying the politicians to push that bill. Farmers pay the illegals next to nothing while saving millions by not using American citizens. It is not hard to understand why the farmers want to keep illegal’s in this country. If the illegal’s leave they will have to pay citizens a fair wage. They don’t want to do that and they don’t have to. As long as Democrats and Republican leaders are for sale, business will continue to buy.

The Mexican illegal’s are in a unique position. The Republicans want to use them to make lots of money for them and will fight to keep them in the country as long as possible. The Democrats want to use them to get their votes and will fight to keep them in the country as long as possible. I don’t believe either party cares about them as a people when there are no cameras around.