ClydeStyle

Category: freedom

  • What should America do with it’s minority population?

    Have you ever wondered why America didn’t just send African-Americans back to Africa after the signing of the emancipation proclamation?

    I know if I were a white guy saying this, it would look racist, but this is something I have always wondered because clearly, the majority of America did not want people of color here.

    There are so many disparities in America, from healthcare, criminal justice, housing, wealth, and such. Black men have been label so negatively that it would have made sense.

    After doing some research, I found that there were black organizations that wanted equality here because this is where slaves though they belonged after being abducted and separated from their homeland.

    So we stayed to be treated horribly with a few of us making it big.

    Many whites believe that Blacks should have risen up and created something big for themselves. They should have by now created whole communities to their benefit. History tells us they did, but can you guys what happened?

    Several race-driven massacres and instances of racial violence against African Americans have occurred in the U.S. history. Here is a list of some which happened in just the month of August:

    • August 1896: Polk County Massacre White workers in Arkansas attacked Black workers who were coming to work on the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railway. This attack resulted in the deaths of three African Americans and eight wounded.
    • August 14-16, 1908: Springfield Massacre (Springfield Race Riot of 1908) A mob of approximately 5,000 white individuals launched an attack on African Americans in Springfield, Illinois. The massacre resulted in six Black individuals being shot and killed, two lynched, and about two thousand driven out of the city. This event was one of the catalysts for the formation of the NAACP.
    • August 11, 1965: Watts Riots Beginning on August 11, 1965, and lasting for six days, a series of violent confrontations erupted between Los Angeles police and residents of Watts and other predominantly African American neighborhoods of South-Central Los Angeles. The Watts riots resulted in the deaths of 34 people and more than 1,000 injuries.
    • August 30, 1919: The Knoxville Riot This event involved a white mob attacking the Black community in Knoxville, Tennessee.
    • August 1947: Fernwood Park Race Riot This riot occurred in Chicago in mid-August. 

    Literally, whole communities were created by black folks and destroyed by white folks. Tulsa, or Black Wallstreet, is the most notable circumstance, but Willmingotn, NC and Rosewood, FL were equal devastating.

    During reconstructioning this happened all the time. So, you don’t want us to make it on our own, and you don’t want to send us back. What is left?

    Now, ICE is being used to eliminate brown people. Maybe America should be honest about what she really wants.

  • Attacks on freedom for all people sour July 4th celebrations

    America has made great strides in its  history in an attempt to live up to its constitution. No one can argue that things are better than they were 100 years ago.

    But did this change come from a new revelation that the only God who created the universe made all men equal and that the past treatment of minorities was sinful and would greatly hinder eternal life in heaven? Nope. It doesn’t seem like God has ever stopped the sinful flesh at anything it decides to do.

    So then, white people were free from immediate eternal punishment and could still rob, cheat, and steal from minorities. They could still allow racist systems that would impede the process of minorities moving forward, and they could continue to allow police and other forces to discriminate and incarcerate minorities without real due process.

    And they have.

    What has been a constant with white people is that when you lay their actions before (a tactic mastered by the civil rights movement), then it would guilt enough of them to do the right thing.

    The problem with this is that they do the right thing for the wrong reason. And that leads to resentment.

    Then comes Donald Trump. In his first term in office, he attempted to resend as much civil and human rights as whites would allow. Now, of course, you’re thinking white people wouldn’t allow America to go backward, would it?

    There are too many non-racist folks in Congress to let that happen, right? Well, I looked up exactly how many things he did to destroy civil and human rights, and I wanted to list them all here. I didn’t because there were too many. On average, it looked like at least 70 things each year he was in office.

    I couldn’t believe it myself because you would think that if the democrats knew this, they would have run on a platform that shared it with the rest of us. Could it be that they were resentful, too?

    This link will take you to the list of things he tried https://civilrights.org/trump-rollbacks/

    All of them didn’t succeed, but with this gigantic list, you can really tell that the powers that be are not for minorities. He is already on pace to surpass this list in his second term.

    And now, with Independence Day fast approaching, who really wants to celebrate it?

  • How do you feel now?

    This post makes the first of 5 posts that will be written this year covering American history to see how you feel about the incident today. I will briefly discuss the feelings of the day, and then you, dear reader, can comment on how you would feel if it happened today.

    So, on June 20, 1967, Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army and was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, and fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years.

    Ali had a religious conviction. It should have been the same religious conviction that everyone in a Christian society should take. But America has always had a duality with good and evil depending on the circumstance and who is likely to benefit.

    Ali said: “My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. … Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.”

    These statements cut deep to some in America who thought Ali was being un-American for making those statements. At face value, he was expressing the great divide that has always been in America between people of color and white people.

    The issues Ali brought out were not things America wanted to deal with or discuss, and definitely not publicly. It was the type of truth that had no rebuttal, only shame, denial, and blame.

    As a result, the powers that be wanted to punish Ali, so in the prime of his boxing career, they wouldn’t let him earn a living boxing. A few years later, the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.

    So, what are your thoughts on Ali. Should he have gone to Vietnam and fought in the war? Should he have gone to jail? Should he have been reprimanded for the things he said about America? To some people, the answer is “yes” to all three questions. What say ye?

  • America struggles with its plurality of morals

    We are halfway through 2025, and as we slide into summer, there will be more daylight and  more opportunities to interact with others.

    This used to be considered a good thing because it would strengthen our community ties and further develop our societal  norms. As a country, we need this more now than any other time because we are completely divided in our morals and values.

    There are several factors in developing our morality. How you were raised by your parents, peer interaction, role models, and the media help to sync our morality.

    Years ago, parents disciplined their children. Spare the rod, spoil the child was the biblical saying that made discipline important. The standard in America was to work hard for what you want. We saw our parents do it and we took our turn as we became adults.

    I was fortunate to have 4 siblings at home, and I had an older brother who went to college, and I followed his steps. I may not have gone to college if he didn’t go.

    I grew up with role models or heroes that I tried to imitate. There was a clear difference between good and evil, and the majority of the kids wanted to be the good guys!

    Then, of course, there is the media and social media where you can see and hear literally anything. The media has helped to desensitize us and blur the lines between good and evil. When Luigi Magione was arrested for allegedly shooting an insurance agency CEO in the back on a New York City Street, he was praised by many and seen as a hero. Forty years ago, there would have been gun protests, ridicule of his family, and no one in the 80s would have celebrated this shooter.

    So here is the point, in years past, people were just as selfish, greedy, corrupt, and immoral as they are today. But inside of us was a governor that would make us ashamed to be associated with such filth. Today, we can openly present opposing views to our societal norms, and it’s just OK.

    There is now a new definition of what it means to be free in America. We are now free to act a damn fool without shame, be racist, a pedophile, a junkie, or a drunk and my favorite — we can be as ignorant as we want to and that’s just fine.

    At this rate, the destruction of America is not an “if”, it’s “when.”

  • The embarrassment of America’s Memorial Day

    Today typically marks the start of summer and barbecue season. Here, in the Midwest the weather is normally very nice, with fresh air and plants doing their thing.

    People are graduating, schools are preparing to dismiss for the summer break, and the majority of the time, our minds are far from war – let alone anyone who died in one.

    After WWII, America tried to prove to the world that we were the leaders of the free world and that democracy was this really great thing. We boasted about our constitution, our rule of law, our desire to be the world’s big brother, and tried to pass ourselves as the greatest ally.

    Meanwhile, back at the range, America was lying through her teeth. The wealth gap, income inequality, racism everywhere, and a lack of equal opportunity have minorities and women being treated like second-class citizens, and there needed to be several movements for change.

    We saw the Cuban missile crisis, the War in Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, a ridiculous 10-year attack on Iraq, battles in Afghanistan, and foolishness in Gaza. All of these events helped change the view of America to nothing more than a self-absorbed bully. What’s worse is that men and women died for these causes under the impression that they were doing some great things when they weren’t.

    Then, when many service men and women came home, many failed to receive the benefits promised by the military. Now, this was no surprise to minorities because after WWII and Vietnam, many Blacks were denied the GI Bill and the stipend to assist in buying a home. And if you did get your stipend, you were “redlined” to keep you out of prospering white neighborhoods and good schools. Today, people of all colors are denied benefits, and neither political party has tried to fix it.

    So that brings us to today. How do you celebrate such a dishonest holiday? Why attempt to remember folks that you broke promises to? Until we fix this atrocity, we should not celebrate what we have done, we should be ashamed.

  • Reading is still fundamental … well, in some places it is.

    Within the next 180 days, I’m sure I will have more commentary on the troubles our nation faces. There are many lessons to unpack from the last election, and I want to make sure we are seeing things clearly.

    I wanna start with this very basic necessity that has alluded to many Americans. Canada’s literacy rate is at 50 percent. More specifically, in Canada, half of the country has a literacy rate below high school level.

    Literacy rates are measured by the percentage of people in a given age group who can understand simple statements about daily life, and Canada is at 50 percent.

    Russia is almost at 100 percent literacy, and they have been that high since the 1950s. In fact, in 1939, the Soviet Union had 89.7 percent literacy amongst people aged 9 to 49.

    Russia has always had a strong education emphasis throughout its history. I don’t want to embarrass us any further by telling you some of the rates in other countries like Asian or Indian, but I bet you can guess. The numbers sort of follow the math and science rates.

    In the US, when your literacy rate is low, it means you lack critical thinking skills, which means you can be easily manipulated. You won’t know you’re being manipulated until it’s too late. It also means that you won’t make as money as others who can read better. A study showed that reading is more linked to higher pay than education.

    Consider these stats: In 2024, the illiteracy rate in the United States was 21 percent, meaning that 79 percent of adults are literate, but 74 percent of them are below 6th grade! (54 percent of adults have a literacy level below 6th grade, and 20 percent of adults have a literacy level below 5th grade).
    Low literacy levels can cost the US up to $2.2 trillion per year.

    Is it possible that your government wants you illiterate? I mean, it would be quite easy to convince you to do certain things and believe that down the road it will benefit you in some way. How difficult do you think it is to practice real democracy when you lack critical thinking skills?

    Last question: How many books did you read last year?

  • Save your panic for later; You may not even need it

    Two major things are happening today: Donald J. Trump is going to be sworn in as the 47th President of these United States of America, and there is also a national observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., birthday.

    Some are devastated because they were looking forward to celebrating the King holiday with the inauguration of the first female president in Kamala Harris. Social media was in such a buzz before the November election that these events may collide. Well, that didn’t happen.

    And no matter how much of the MAGA Trump world was exposed, Democrats thought that Americans would move away from Trump. They, the Dems, used their usual scare tactics to get us to vote for them. If Democrats had a better plan for America, then why did they spend so much time telling us how bad Trump was.

    This may be a shock to you, but a vote for Trump was America’s way of lashing out at the status quo. The same way that minorities loot when an unarmed Black man is gunned down or shot by police. Both actions serve as the voice of the unheard.

    Most Americans have real problems, and I’m not talking about the homeless and jobless. I’m talking about folks who did not advance their education or just went the blue-collar way. They didn’t get any of those good union jobs, and most of the time, they have to work two and three jobs to make ends meet.

    They can’t afford to get sick, can’t afford not to go to work, and if they have a mental health breakdown, they better get over it because they can’t afford that either.

    This is why so many celebrated the killing of the insurance CEO in NY. For the poor in America, there is always a battle. A battle with health challenges, taxes, even utility bills, and groceries. Gasoline, kid expenses, and rent. There is never a break from this. Our politicians, on both sides of aisle, are too rich to know these problems, and to be honest, they don’t care. Dems were supposed to be the party of the people, but why were the people looking elsewhere?

    Let’s get some facts straight about Trump. He didn’t destroy America nor cause a war or break anything in the White House like folks said he would the first time. He is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is, but he is definitely not the worst president America has had — he’s not even in the top 10!

    The majority of our president’s have been self-serving at some point in their administration. Some just hide it better than others. The American dream has never existed for all Americans, so with every president, some Americans are going to be marginalized.

    I would imagine Trump will do what he did the last time. He will give a great tax cut for all his billionaire friends, and he’ll try to shake up things a bit in Washington, but that’s it. America will go into great debt like they did after the terms of the last four Republican presidents. Bottomline is you will survive this, especially if you are poor — Trump promises to leave you poor when he’s done. Just like Biden did.

  • Let freedom ring, for real

    Our beloved country brags about its freedoms. We often speak arrogantly about our freedom to do this or that. Many have died for the right to have such freedoms, but what we haven’t learned is that great responsibility comes with our freedoms. A responsibility that we have already decided is too much for us.

    We argue that our government is too involved in our affairs. We fight against government regulations, and we want to be left alone. Freedom dictates that we allow those free to March by the beat of their own drum. We don’t have the right to say you can have your beat as long as I like it, too.

    Why regulate abortion? Guns? Transgender surgeries or any surgeries for that matter? We do these things in spite of our freedoms because we believe the said person making the decision is not fit to make a wise choice. We are a free country, but our government wants to regulate a woman’s body and her decisions surrounding her body. Why? Because abortion is a sin. But what if we don’t share the same religion? Don’t we have freedom of religion here, too??

    A student should not be able to obtain an automatic weapon and take it to school and kill dozens of people because he’s angry or bullied. But, if we’ve decided in our free country that people have the right to bear arms, doesn’t that decision already come with the understanding that someone is going to make a decision within this freedom that most will disagree with? If that is the case, then we either grant the freedom and shut up or take it off the table altogether, and no one but active military personnel can have guns.

    We are so hypocritical regarding our freedoms because what we really mean is you have the freedom unless it bothers me or it’s something I like too, or I can benefit from it some way. You can’t have freedom if it affects me in a negative way. Now, all we need to figure out is who gets to be the decision maker of these things? The government? The wealthy? Republicans? Democrats? Should it just be a part of white privilege or incorporate affirmative action into it!

    Anyway, other countries are watching us get it wrong and, at this point, probably wondering how could democracy possibly be a benefit.

  • Are we even seeking higher ground?

    Let’s talk about purpose. Not purpose from our country as a whole, I’m talking about individuals. We the people who live and dwell in this Christian society, are we seek higher ground?

    By higher ground, I mean a different space than the one we occupied that had a need for a civil rights movement. Higher ground meaning a created space where everyone is treated equally, and you can tell by the way they all prosper.

    A space where opportunities are abundant and there is no need to punish people for crimes of poverty. A place where various races see each other as a benefit and we work together in a way that benefits all.

    The need to hate is done away with in this space. Struggling to make ends meet is a thing of the past and freedom rings.

    This higher ground is especially for the disabled, the mentally challenged, those who are sick, and those who are weak. There is no bullying there.

    Innovation and education lead, and everyone there can read. In this space, the oldest politicians are in their 60s, and getting elected has nothing to do with your finances.

    Laws are made to help society advance, and we take care of home before helping other countries.

    It is said that this is the season to make dreams come true. I guess I’m looking for these things to take place someday at Christmas!

  • American satire: The media’s usual vision for covering news

    In America, it used to be that Fox News would slant stories more to the conservative end, and MSNBC would slant stories more to the liberal end, and we could rely on CNN to land somewhere near the middle. Today, media coverage is extremely biased and used more as a weapon than a resource.

    The only exception is when it comes to race. Last weekend in Mongomery, Alabama, on the riverfront where ironically slave ships dropped off its cargo, the media told us that a fight broke out involving many people, and lots of arrests were made.

    Those are the details, and that would be fine if we didn’t know what actually happened. If Black people were the aggressor, the media coverage would have been something like: “Several gang bangers were arrested after starting a brawl on the riverfront.”

    What actually happened was that a security guard was instructing people to move their boat from the area where they docked it. Words were exchanged, and the patron punched the guard, and the fight began. Several people came to the aid of the patron, and in seconds, they had the guard on the ground, punching and kicking him.

    Onlookers were outraged and came to the aid of the guard. So the fight that should have taken place 250 years ago on those same docks took place then. The groups were, of course, divided by race. Since the aggressors were Caucasian, the Caucasian media just called it a brawl – like it just started like a fire. Caucasian aggressors don’t fit the narrative. When Caucasians do aggressive things, the language is cleaned up to make it less horrible.

    Most mass shooters have been white males. There is actually a psychological reason for that, but I won’t go into it here. The point is that you would never hear the media say, “Yet another Caucasian male has killed several students and teachers in a school, police baffled as to the reason.”

    For decades, the media has villianized Black men in news reports, and we hear it so often that it sounds normal. The videos of the Montgomery incident have gone viral, and memes regarding the event are everywhere.

    Many are asking the question, what would you do if you were there? What side would you have taken, or would you have stayed out of it completely? For many, this was more than just a brawl. It was more than just some strangers coming to the aid of a man in need. It was finally the response that Gen z and Under would rather have learned in their history books. It was the response that mirrored what many have said they would have done if they were present back in the Jim Crow south. Finally, Black people banded together and fought back.

    Will this make future incidents worse?