I keep trying to decide how to respond on this thread, I just don't get it. Can any group create their own anthem and start singing it in place of the real national anthem... I guess they could, but why? Is there an Irish railroad workers anthem that someone forgot to teach me?
No offense, but to hear you plead the case of African Americans who suffered thru slavery and racial abuse throughout the 60's, 70's, etc. is like me bemoaning the horrendous working conditions and degrading objectification endured by Vegas burlesque dancers.
Isn't this similar to saying a man can't discuss abortion because he doesn't know what it is to be pregnant?
__________________
"Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow." ~Aesop
In case you missed what you posted. Sorry if you can't say gradations.
Daniel,
Until you can stand up and say that you were kept in slavery, or even forced to ride in the back of the bus, drink from a different water fountain, denied service in certain restaurants, or denied employment because of your color, don't even pretend to know what it's like to be persecuted for your race.
I'm with Miss B, turn the pulpit over to someone who's actually been there, and let's hear what they have to say.
__________________ "Many people view their relationship with God like a "color by number" picture. It's easier to let someone else define the boundaries, tell them which blanks to fill in, and what color to use than it is for them to take a blank canvas and seek inspiration from the Source in order to paint their own masterpiece"
Isn't this similar to saying a man can't discuss abortion because he doesn't know what it is to be pregnant?
No, the man can discuss it, but he shouldn't be so foolish as to try and convince everyone that he knows first hand, because he's had one.
__________________ "Many people view their relationship with God like a "color by number" picture. It's easier to let someone else define the boundaries, tell them which blanks to fill in, and what color to use than it is for them to take a blank canvas and seek inspiration from the Source in order to paint their own masterpiece"
And it is still going on today in more subtle ways. I will tell you a little story that happened at a high school football game to me and a couple of my friends and co-workers who are black. We were walking up the ramp to the stadium seats and were walking past a couple of prominent women in our little town. As they walked past instead of saying hello, they kind of lowered their heads a little and said "girls". They walked past and I was in shock, I asked one of my friends does that happen often, she said all the time Cindy, all the time. She said you see, we clean their houses too. It literally brought tears to my eyes I was so angry. One of my friends said Cindy that is just the way it is. This was in the 90's BTW.
A second cousin of mine was hung in his backyard by others at his high school. My uncle showed up just in time to save his life. He found him dangling from a pole with a clothesline wrapped around his neck about to lose consciousness. After surviving this encounter, the same family member was again assaulted on the way home from school. This time the young attackers threw him in a garage, doused him with gasoline and lit him on fire. Miraculously, he did survive, but bears horrible scars of the incident to this day.
The school was in Detroit. My family member was white, his assaulters black.
It is said that the first question recorded in Scripture by man is "Am I my brother's keeper?"
It is said that the rest of the bible goes on to answer this question with an emphatic YES. We are the keepers of our brethren.
Lord, help us to be the keepers of all our brethren regardless of color.
national - of, pertaining to, or maintained by a nation as an organized whole or independent political unit
anthem - a song, as of praise, devotion, or patriotism
The national anthem is a song of praise, devotion and patriotism of, pertaining to, or maintained by our nation as an organized whole.
It is a song of recognized unity. Those asked to sing it are given the honor of reminding the audience, through a nationally recognized anthem, of who they are as a united people. They are Americans in the United States of America. They are brethren, regardless of color, sharing the same national pride.
It is my opinion that incidents like the one at the beginning of this thread call into question whether being unified as a people in this nation of diversity is the ultimate desire of many of those living in this land of the free and home of the brave. Such incidents call for the recognition of diversity rather than the recognition of unity. The national anthem, being a cry for the unity of all factions within the nation as a whole, was substituted for a song calling for the recognition of a particular faction within the nation. It focused on diversity rather than on unity.
Unfortunately, I think one of our choices for president would prove to be just as devisive.
I've encountered racism, and I find it to be repugnant. Thing is, I recognize it, even in subtle forms, in both black and white people, and I dislike it either way.
It is my firm opinion that replacing American symbolism with Black symbolism is a subtle form of racism. And I don't like it.
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
Until you can stand up and say that you were kept in slavery, or even forced to ride in the back of the bus, drink from a different water fountain, denied service in certain restaurants, or denied employment because of your color, don't even pretend to know what it's like to be persecuted for your race.
I'm with Miss B, turn the pulpit over to someone who's actually been there, and let's hear what they have to say.
I would love to hear this viewpoint ... keeping in mind this forum is overwhelmingly white ...
My peeps came in the 1950's ... (on airplanes) but rest assured they faced and participated in racial division on the islands also ... (Mainly Dominican Republic where mom is from)
Puerto Rico, where dad is from, has been a bastion of mixing between races for centuries ... Tainos (natives), peninsulares (Spaniards) and blacks from West Africa.
A second cousin of mine was hung in his backyard by others at his high school. My uncle showed up just in time to save his life. He found him dangling from a pole with a clothesline wrapped around his neck about to lose consciousness. After surviving this encounter, the same family member was again assaulted on the way home from school. This time the young attackers threw him in a garage, doused him with gasoline and lit him on fire. Miraculously, he did survive, but bears horrible scars of the incident to this day.
The school was in Detroit. My family member was white, his assaulters black.
It is said that the first question recorded in Scripture by man is "Am I my brother's keeper?"
It is said that the rest of the bible goes on to answer this question with an emphatic YES. We are the keepers of our brethren.
Lord, help us to be the keepers of all our brethren regardless of color.
national - of, pertaining to, or maintained by a nation as an organized whole or independent political unit
anthem - a song, as of praise, devotion, or patriotism
The national anthem is a song of praise, devotion and patriotism of, pertaining to, or maintained by our nation as an organized whole.
It is a song of recognized unity. Those asked to sing it are given the honor of reminding the audience, through a nationally recognized anthem, of who they are as a united people. They are Americans in the United States of America. They are brethren, regardless of color, sharing the same national pride.
It is my opinion that incidents like the one at the beginning of this thread call into question whether being unified as a people in this nation of diversity is the ultimate desire of many of those living in this land of the free and home of the brave. Such incidents call for the recognition of diversity rather than the recognition of unity. The national anthem, being a cry for the unity of all factions within the nation as a whole, was substituted for a song calling for the recognition of a particular faction within the nation. It focused on diversity rather than on unity.
Unfortunately, I think one of our choices for president would prove to be just as devisive.
Adino, it looks like you and I have finally found common ground.
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
A second cousin of mine was hung in his backyard by others at his high school. My uncle showed up just in time to save his life. He found him dangling from a pole with a clothesline wrapped around his neck about to lose consciousness. After surviving this encounter, the same family member was again assaulted on the way home from school. This time the young attackers threw him in a garage, doused him with gasoline and lit him on fire. Miraculously, he did survive, but bears horrible scars of the incident to this day.
The school was in Detroit. My family member was white, his assaulters black.
It is said that the first question recorded in Scripture by man is "Am I my brother's keeper?"
It is said that the rest of the bible goes on to answer this question with an emphatic YES. We are the keepers of our brethren.
Lord, help us to be the keepers of all our brethren regardless of color.
national - of, pertaining to, or maintained by a nation as an organized whole or independent political unit
anthem - a song, as of praise, devotion, or patriotism
The national anthem is a song of praise, devotion and patriotism of, pertaining to, or maintained by our nation as an organized whole.
It is a song of recognized unity. Those asked to sing it are given the honor of reminding the audience, through a nationally recognized anthem, of who they are as a united people. They are Americans in the United States of America. They are brethren, regardless of color, sharing the same national pride.
It is my opinion that incidents like the one at the beginning of this thread call into question whether being unified as a people in this nation of diversity is the ultimate desire of many of those living in this land of the free and home of the brave. Such incidents call for the recognition of diversity rather than the recognition of unity. The national anthem, being a cry for the unity of all factions within the nation as a whole, was substituted for a song calling for the recognition of a particular faction within the nation. It focused on diversity rather than on unity.
Unfortunately, I think one of our choices for president would prove to be just as devisive.
Very well said, Adino. Excellent summation.
__________________ "Many people view their relationship with God like a "color by number" picture. It's easier to let someone else define the boundaries, tell them which blanks to fill in, and what color to use than it is for them to take a blank canvas and seek inspiration from the Source in order to paint their own masterpiece"
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