Volume 6 Issue 45…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…November 14, 2003

Democracy

By John Burl Smith

Speaking to the US Chamber of Commerce at the 20th Anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy (11-6-03), George W. Bush continued shifting his justification for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. His flip-flops began with an eminent threat from weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Shifting to regime change, he backtracked to WMDs and violations of UN resolutions. An about-face and it was regime change.

Now, a war of liberation has become an occupation to establish "democracy," Bush's last refuge. Donald Rumsfeld's "long hard slog" spells quagmire. Painfully, Americans realize their daughters and sons are killing Iraqis and being killed to secure economic advantages for a few US businesses.

Holding the world at gunpoint, Bush preaches democracy to disguise his Iraq money trail. Not democratically elected, Bush thanks the US Supreme Court, rather than voters, for installing him in office. Stopping the counting of legally cast ballots, the court crowned the loser, by more than 500,000 votes, the new chief executive. In Third World countries, this would be called a coup d'etat, but in the US, it is democracy.

Bush's democracy labels activists, freedom fighters and revolutionaries struggling to overthrow corrupt or dictatorial regimes "terrorists." Liberia is a classic example. Child soldiers and young freedom fighters have been marginalized by the US, UN and African task force. Denied any opportunity to influence future policies, thousands who fought to oust Charles Taylor are dictated to by outsiders educated in the US. Imported to run Liberia, they will not use the scarce resources for education and economic development. Consequently, children are becoming warlords.

Quoting Western educated Arab scholars, Bush demanded political changes in Iran and Syria. However, Muslims remember the US overthrew Mohammed Mossadegh, a democratically elected leader to install the Shah in Iran. US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the CIA murdered Chile's democratically elected President Salvador Allende and put Augusto Pinochet in power. The world must never forget CIA agents murdered democratically elected Patrice Lumumba in the Congo and deposed Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana.

For Bush, democracy is good only when nations serve US economic interests, otherwise they are targets for "regime change." Unilateralism, preemption, the war on terror and "you're either with us or against us" are cornerstones of Bush's foreign policy. Such belligerence flies in the face of the standard definition of democracy. "A political unit characterized by a belief in self-determination, where the common people constitute the source of national authority and sovereignty. It is distinguished by principles and policies that prevent hereditary or arbitrary rule, while facilitating direct or indirect representation through the vote."

Bush's policies in Iraq and Palestine obviously employ two different standards for democracy. Although despotic, Iraq was economically stable. But, under the guise of bringing democracy, it has become a chaotic war-torn occupation zone. Conversely, Bush publicly sanctioned the Israeli targeting of Yasser Arafat, a democratically elected official, for assassination. Death, occupation and economic exploitation are hallmarks of the kind of democracy Bush will establish in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.

A work in progress, the Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is currently undergoing a metamorphosis. To compliment all the changes in his pre-teen life, when asked for comments, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro said, "There is a new hero coming to town; his name will be announced later. It could be Spawn or Daredevil."

The Beat of Black Wings

By Joni Mitchell

I met a young soldier

He said his name was Killer Kyle

He was shakin' all over

Like a night-frightened child.

This is his story.....

It's a tough one for me to sing

Hard as the squawk and the flap

And the beat of--the beat of black wings.

"They gave me a gun," he said

"They gave me a mission

For the power and the glory--

Propaganda--piss on 'em.

There's a war zone inside me--

I can feel things exploding--

I can't even hear the fucking music playing

For the beat of--the beat of black wings."

He said, "I never had nothin'--

Nothin' I could believe in.

My girl killed our unborn child...

Without even grievin'!

I put my hand on her belly

To feel the kid kickin'--damn!

She'd been to some clinic

Oh--the beat of black wings."

"They want you--they need you--

They train you to kill--

To be a pin on some map--

Some vicarious thrill--

The old hate the young

That's the whole heartless thing

The old pick the wars....

We die in 'em

To the beat of--the beat of black wings."

There's a man drawing pictures

On the sidewalk with chalk.

Just as fast as he draws 'em

Rain come down and wash 'em off.

"Keep the drinks comin' girl....

'Til I can't feel anything

I'm just a chalk mark in a rainstorm

I'm just the beat of -- the beat of black wings."

About Me: From her album Misses released in 1988, "The Beat of Black Wings" captures the plight of poor young people fighting rich/old men's wars in pursuit of economic gains today. Born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943 in Alberta, Canada, Joni Mitchell has enjoyed a career as a performing musician, writer, poet, and humanist that has spanned more than thirty years. In 1995, Mitchell received the Billboard Century Award

Propagandizing Lynch

In the world of advertising and propagandizing to promote an unpopular war, sex sells. Enter army supply clerk Private Jessica Lynch, a slender blonde that meets the photogenic standards of Western media. The videotaped rescue of Lynch by commandos and ongoing speculations and media attention surrounding her injuries, capture and treatment in captivity are wartime propaganda at its worst. Easily persuaded, Americans have been indoctrinated to view Lynch in heroic terms, thanks to the military and mainstream media.

The skeptics and those who do more than scan the news headlines know Lynch’s wounds are consistent with those suffered in a car crash. She was not abused while in captivity, but treated with care in a Nasiriya hospital. But, to keep the facade alive, Private Lynch, who "went down praying to her knees" and never fired a shot, was awarded the Bronze Star for valor, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War medals. Propagandizing Lynch has resulted in the dummying down of heroism.

Lynching Johnson

Shoshana Johnson is the black woman captured and held hostage in Iraq. Shot in both ankles, Johnson's post-combat treatment is just the opposite of the attention and perks showered on Private Jessica Lynch.

For her military service and in recognition of the injuries she sustained in combat, Johnson will receive a 30% disability benefit, while Lynch's disability award is 80%, a difference in monthly payment of more than $500. With book and movie deals and media attention galore, Lynch will receive a least a million dollars more. No publishing house or media outlet is clamoring to tell Johnson's story, so she will not see similar largesse.

The story of these two women parallels the history of race relations in the United States of America. It is two separate and unequal tales, one black and the other white. Like her forefathers, the black woman is lynched, while Lynch is a white woman on a pedestal.

Eugène Jacques Bullard (1895-1961)

"All the earth your triumph sings and skies are filled with swift "Black Wings." -- Vernon Brunson

According to his family's Bible, Eugene James Bullard was born October 9, 1895 in Columbus, Georgia. The seventh of ten children born to parents of black slave and Creek Indian descent, Bullard, who became known as the "Black Swallow of Death," was the only black American fighter pilot of WWI. Raised by his father on tales of freedom and equality in France, young Bullard dreamed of escaping US racism.

In 1906, he left home after a harrowing incident in which his father barely escaped being lynched. Bullard lived with gypsies and learned to ride racehorses; he worked as a horse handler, jockey and laborer in several states as he traveled from Georgia to Virginia, where he stowed away on a ship to Scotland (1912).

He joined Freedman's Pickaninnies, a vaudeville troupe, and tried his hand at prizefighting as he worked his way through England to France, where he joined other expatriates. Adept at languages, Bullard earned his living as an interpreter and prizefighter.

On October 19, 1914, Bullard enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. Having distinguished himself in battle as a machine gunner, he became part of the 170th Infantry, a crack unit known to the Germans as the "swallows of death." Bullard received life-threatening injuries in the Battle of Verdun. He recovered and returned to combat, only to be injured again and declared disabled. Bullard requested and received a transfer to the French Flying Corps as an aviation gunner. He began training in October 1916 and soon transferred to pilot training. On May 5, 1917, Bullard received his pilot's license. After advanced pilot training in August, Bullard was assigned to the Lafayette Flying Corps, a group of American fighter pilots under French command.

When the US entered the war (1917), American pilots were given the opportunity to transfer to the US Army Air Corps. Bullard's application was denied. At the time, US authorities believed blacks lacked the intelligence to pilot airplanes. Moreover, it was a time of overt racism when blacks were legally and openly treated as inferior and the US maintained segregated military units. It would be nearly 25 years later before the first black pilots (Tuskegee Airmen) graduated from pilot training (1942) at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Bullard continued in the service of France, flying more than 20 missions. With numerous dogfights and the downing of at least five enemy aircraft to his credit, Bullard earned the title of "ace." Wounded five times, he received more than a dozen medals, including the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest medal for valor; it is equivalent to the US Medal of Honor. After the war, Bullard stayed in France, working as a bandleader and jazz drummer. In 1923, he married socialite Marcelle Straumann. The couple had three children, but the marriage ended in divorce (1935). Bullard owned and operated several nightclubs, including L'Escadrille and Gene Bullard's Athletic Club.

At the outbreak of WWII, Bullard again fought until injured. He served French counterintelligence by reporting information gleaned from the conversations of Nazi patrons of his establishments. When Paris came under German control (1940), Bullard fled to avoid capture. He returned to the US, settling in Harlem, New York. Bullard died October 12, 1961 and is buried in the French War Veteran's Cemetery in Flushing, N.Y. (Sources: www.wpafb.af.mil, www.anb.org, www.frenchculture.org, and www.nasm.edu)

Community Alert: Property Ordinance

DeKalb County Georgia is one of the largest predominantly black counties in the USA. Residents must be vigilant; all manner of exploitation from taxation without representation to arbitrary enforcement of rules and regulations, both criminal and civil, become the norm in areas where blacks dominate. Property owners must be especially wary or they could lose their homes. A recent community alert provides a case in point.

The DeKalb County Commission is considering a property maintenance ordinance that could result in the placement of a lien on your property. The ordinance gives the county government the right to inspect your property and place a lien on it for violations from uncut lawns to too many people living in your home. In economic downturns, families live in otherwise cramped situations. If passed, this ordinance will exploit this fact of cooping in dire economic conditions.

No public hearing has been held on this ordinance to give the people a chance to voice concerns and/or raise objections. Call your county commissioner! For more information, contact Viola Davis at 770-256-0034.

On Economic Data!

By Dot

The recent spate of economic data, i.e., a 7.2% growth in gross domestic product (GDP), a continued 40-year low Federal funds discount rate and declining unemployment, seems to indicate the US economy is roaring back from the doldrums. Any economist worth his/her salt will look beyond the numbers at the misery index and acknowledge that data can be manipulated and analyzed to make the most dire situations appear "not that bad" on paper. To avoid his father's fate, George W. Bush needs a growing economy, or at least one in which his primary constituents, i.e., white people, do not bear the brunt of any suffering.

In the real world, there is suffering that the rosy scenario painted by the Bush administration's economic numbers cannot disguise. Soup lines are not shrinking; they are growing just as the number of persons living below the poverty line is increasing. And, while the recent unemployment rate suggests a decline in joblessness and the other economic numbers "may" indicate an improved economic climate, a closer look shows a pattern of misery that is as old as this country.

Historically, the brunt of any US economic downturn is born by people of color. According to US Labor Department statistics for October, the unemployment rate fell one-tenth of one percent to 6.0%. The white unemployment rated decreased from 5.3 to 5.1%. Hispanics enjoyed a greater decline from 7.5 to 7.2%. However, the black unemployment rate rose from 11.2 to 11.5%. Throughout recorded history, the black unemployment rate has averaged more than twice the white rate. October's numbers continued to reflect this uneven pattern in the misery suffered by the different groups in US society. Even more depressing is the unemployment situation among teenagers. The overall teen unemployment rate of 17.1% looks great compared to the 37.2% recorded for black teens.

While recent data portend an improvement in economic conditions, the reality on the ground for the working poor that are homeless and uninsured, jobless blacks and those people that rely on soup kitchens to stave off hunger, the economic outlook remains bleak. It will continue to offer little hope until there are fewer discouraged workers, i.e., people not actively looking and not counted in the unemployment data, and the black unemployment rate is no longer in the double digits.

Disgruntled says: During the 2000 primary, George W. Bush visited Bob Jones University, a bastion of white supremacy, trashed his opponent, veteran Senator John McCain, his wife and children, and declared his undying commitment to the southern heritage of slavery symbolized by the Confederate battle flag. Democratic frontrunner and former Vermont governor Howard Dean declared his desire to replace George W. Bush as the candidate of white southerners who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flags. Black voters that come out for Democrats in vast numbers during presidential elections must feel a bit queasy; Dean looks and sounds like Gore.

Disgruntled feels: Mission accomplished! Had he read any books written by scores of Middle East experts, newspapers or even his governmental analyses on a post-war Iraq, George W. Bush would not have declared the war or major combat over on May 1. Certainly, anyone less clueless would have eschewed a backdrop banner boldly proclaiming "Mission Accomplished!" With the White House famous for banners punctuating Bush's public pronouncements, which are pointless preludes to fat-cat fund-raisers, it is the height of hubris and hypocrisy to blame the banner on hapless seamen of the USS Abraham Lincoln. In doing so, the only missions accomplished are more profound public distrust and erosion of troop confidence in Dubya's regime.

Disgruntled wants to know: With so many US families affected by drugs and the war on drugs due to incarceration, fines and the cost of treatment for those lucky enough to escape confinement, many people were pleased to learn that conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh decided to voluntarily receive treatment for his prescription drug addiction. Knowing that Rush acquired the drugs illegally, liberals labeled on his talk show as irresponsible drug fiends and all manner of nasty things are wondering, when will the criminal justice system treat Rush with the same tender mercies accorded all those loose moral liberal pansies that are locked up?

Email horselaff@aol.com "The people of the United States and the rest of the world are at risk as long as Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. Last night, the President made the most effective case to date that the risk of inaction is too great to bear." Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) Intelligence Committee on 3-18-03.

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