For a number of years I have perceived the American culture had within it certain inconsistencies and misconceptions that were very harmful and, as a result, deserved to be branded a culture of lies. Today it is becoming so clear that the myths we have lived by for so long should require us to repent and really question ourselves in every aspect of our American culture.
I have long observed and personally proven that the color of one’s skin made no difference in the performance of an individual. When I first entered the military as a young officer I was so frightened of having to go to officers’ basic training competing against White officers from some of the major “White colleges.” Why did I feel this way? Because all of my life up to that time I lived in an environment in Columbia, South Carolina that drilled into African-Americans that they were inferior in intelligence and ability. In fact, there were pseudo-scientists who claimed to have evidence of this “fact”
This was so prevalent that I thought my education at a Black College, North Carolina A&T, was inferior to that of the men who I now had to compete against for a position in the military. There were seventy-seven Whites and three Blacks in my officers’ basic class. I must confess that I thought the three of us had no chance. At graduation time I was thoroughly confused when ten white officers failed and were dismissed from the service. The three blacks, including myself, all finished in the top 29.
At my first permanent duty station I commanded a platoon of 22 men, mostly white. After two years in various assignments I received a commendation for excellence in leadership and performance. For the next eleven years I excelled in every assignment. The American lie about the color of one’s skin rendered him or her inferior and lacking in intelligence completely unfolded before my eyes. There can be no greater proof to anyone than his ability to disprove something to himself. America lied to me and tried to enforce it in my early years.
Also, growing up it was a part of our religious culture that women were inferior to men and their places were in the home doing domestic chores and carrying out the commands of the men. My mother was one of the most strong- willed persons I’ve ever known. She never accepted this status and, as a result I feared for her because, to my mind, she would get into trouble. She was very bright, strong willed and she stood her ground at all times in church and in the community. Now, the inferiority and subordinate lie about women is being disproved in every walk of life. Hence, lie number two. Someone should tell the Southern Baptists that women are leading in all walks of life.
Today, the lies are being put to rest right before our eyes in a very explicit and conclusive way. An African American male and a White woman are the front running, very well qualified candidates for the leading position in the world, the presidency of the United States.
Interestingly, the species once considered the superior being among us all, the White male (John Edwards), is lagging far behind. What could be more profound and conclusive than this? If this doesn’t cause us to look closely at ourselves then we are decidedly in a coma.
There is another lie that has been disgracefully perpetrated on the American people that I am disproving and I challenge others to follow me in disproving. That is the lie of uselessness as you age beyond 65. Our entire culture is predicated on this lie. Let’s defy this waste of human capital.
Tragically, each of these lies is interpreted from the Bible. But then I conclude that the Ku Klux Klan justified its existence on the Bible. Apparently the Bible can be used to support any claim.
What we are revealing right before our eyes should bring about a revolution as we search for truth. If not, the coma continues. What will you do?
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