People are bent out of shape about Black professional basketball player Josh Howard remarking how he doesn’t care about the national anthem. Here’s how I break this down:
White western Europeans explore and settle the New World, killing, betraying, and taking land from the “inferior” natural inhabitants. Then the wealthiest of these white landowners imported “inferior” slave labor from a faraway land to work their farms, treating them in less than hospitable ways, to put things mildly. After some time they were liberated from bondage, grudgingly given the right to vote, alienated from mainstream society, and marginalized by public policies. They now experience ongoing underemployment, inferior education and income, and high incarceration rates. Now, how would you feel about “your” country’s feel-good song if you happen to be Black?
Hey, America has some great things, and America has offered some great things to Black American descendants of slaves. I’m glad we’re all here in this country. But I don’t think Howard deserves to be lambasted over his hard feelings.
Video report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BqG9kjknVw
(Blog Photo Found At: http://www.answers.com/topic/african-american-photography-to-c-1960)
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