When I say "we" I am referring to black people in America collectively. Oh, I know it is presumptuous of me to "speak" for all black Americans, and granted there will be those who don't agree. But I'd like you to remember, think back to the early days of the primary, and the numerous polls and interviews with AA's who were fearful of voting for Barack Obama because they thought if he was selected he would become a target for the simmering boiling racism that is not far below the surface, ever, for us, right here in our home.
I stress "our home" since African-Americans are as much a part of the foundation stones and building blocks of the US as any group, and actually more so than many who arrived in later waves.
We have been watching for generations. Like Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" we are ofttimes like anthropologists; participating and observing at the same time. Always wary. Sleep with one eye open. Prayers waft upwards in the hope that there is somebody up there listening from black churches cross America. "Please keep that young man safe" "God, protect him". Can't tell you how many times I've heard this repeated. Sadly, we know that God don't seem to protect those we cherish, or put into leadership. Can't tell you how many shrines I've seen in black homes. MLK, JFK and Bobby...Malcolm and others...we know, and feel powerless. The very powerlessness of black folks for centuries has increased our "faith" in the Almighty, since having faith in our fellow humans to behave humanely towards us has shown little reward. Ever think about why black folks are religious? It is a religiosity born of pain, and fear, and resignation. Yes, and "hope". Hope that somehow, someday...we shall Overcome.
My grandmother cleaned floors and cared for the children of white folks. They talked in front of her as if she was invisible. Then she became a cook. Listened to their conversations at table. My great aunt was also a domestic. Then she was promoted by the white folks kids she raised, and allowed to cut their hair as the first black female barber in a segregated Department store in Washington DC owned by those children she raised. They talked while she snipped, as if she was invisible. My great grandmother a midwife - ushering black and white babies into this world and privy to conversations ofttimes unguarded. My grandfather a chauffeur, in cap and uniform, ferrying white folks hither and yon. Silent, respectful, but not deaf. My other grandfather a Pullman Car porter, shining shoes, making up beds, waiting table in the dining car. Called "George" though his name was Dennis. He could hear. He watched, only stepping forward when fingers were snapped and a tip tossed his way.
My white grandmother, also a domestic, and later employed by the Singer Sewing machine company was our "mole". Never acknowledging she was married to a black man (she would have lost her job) she spent much of her life in a rage, listening to white people talk about "niggers". Ironic that she was the most virulently "anti-white" person in my family. She knew.
This reflection this morning is in response to the diary on the rec list about the threats to the life of President Obama and the increasingly overwhelmed Secret Service. Some comments to the diary have poo-pooed racism. "Oh it's not cause he's black...it's cause he's a Democrat. Or..Hillary would have gotten just as many...or "remember how they hated Bill".
No. Sorry. Wrong. He's black. The primary source of "birther" rage, and teabagger ire, and wingnuttery, and "go out and get guns and ammo" is being spurred by something we have known all along. Any black man elected to the highest office in this land would unleash a flood, would take the lid off the kettle, and show the rest of you (though many are still in denial) just what we have known for generations.
We are patient. Some of our young folks haven't lived our lives, and they may not see what these older eyes see. But we know they are now learning the lessons. They too will become watchers. Sadly.
Lest I fail to include others, I will make mention of my husband - a Puerto Rican. He asked each morning during the primary "What's the news?" What he was really asking was "Is Obama still alive?". He also knows what it is to be an outsider. Talk to Hispanics about what they "heard" during the Sotomayor hearings. What they "hear" from Lou Dobbs and his ilk. Ask my Native American family and friends. They know. As victims of ethnocide. But they can speak for themselves. Right now I'm speaking as a 62 year old black woman with a long memory.
Can't tell you how many times black folks here at Daily Kos have attempted to get you to "hear". To see what we see. To explain "dog whistles". Only to retreat to the comfort of Black Kos, where we can safely discuss these things along with white folks who are somehow "not deaf". That's a good thing. That there are white folks who are gettin an edumacation in the three "r's". Racism, Racists and Reactionaries (or put in Republicans) - same thing.
If there is one thing I can credit Daily Kos, and Kos with is the polling of "Americans" on their belief in the litany of the racists. The numbers don't shock us. Only thing we quibble with is the heavily weighted responses from Dixie. Cause we are observers and the object of racists in all the corners of our nation, even in the so-called liberal North. Dixie ain't got no lock on hatin' black folks. They are just more open about it.
My grandma said to me "everything in life is a lesson and a blessin;".
Let me now pray, and for those f you who don't believe in prayer let me now "hope" that more of you will take a good hard look at what you jokingly call "wingnuts" or "the fringes" of America. A fringe would be 2%. The percentage of those who voted for McCain Palin was no fringe.
The airtime given over to racist spewings on our TV is no accident. What major "news" channel is free of it? Not a one. Is it acceptable in the name of "free speech" that those whose Klan hats are invisible to you have a daily and nightly platform into homes across the nation teaching new generations to hate, or re-enforcing "messages" they learn with their mother's milk.
We'll keep watching. And listening. And hearing. And hoping. And praying. One by one, two by two...their numbers lessen. But how long will it take before they are gone? Only God/Goddess or future history knows the answer.
Still too many of them for me to sleep with both eyes closed.
So I will repeat the prayer I say each morning. Creator, if you are there, keep our President safe from harm. His wife, his children, and those whose duty it is to stop a bullet.
If you don't believe in prayer, so be it. I believe in practice more than prayer, to be honest, so tell me - whatcha gonna do 'bout this?
What is each reader of this diary going to do to fight racism in America?
If you can't answer that, don't waste my time tellin' me I don't know what I'm hearin'. Not in the mood to suffer fools this morning.
Thank you for reading if you got this far.