| |
|
|
Margaret Kimberley is an especially prescient
woman – she sees
things before the rest of us do. Her column, “Freedom Rider,” is
the essential weekly diet of The Black Commentator audience – the
soul food that we must imbibe. She has a conscience, and calls
upon the rest of us to act as if we do, too.
Ms. Kimberley saw clearly the racist nature
of the American aggression against Iraq, a repeat of many aggressions
of the past. It seems
that white America cannot change its pattern of behavior when it
comes into contact with non-white citizens of our world. In one
of the most significant commentaries that we have ever published,
Margaret Kimberley spoke to the latest manifestation of the racial
pattern, in a May 6, 2004 piece called, “White
Supremacy in Iraq.”
It is sad and terrifying
that Americans are so incapable of empathy and knowledge of
people in other parts
of the world. The Vietnamese didn't want foreign troops in their
country and were willing to fight and die to get them out. Thirty
years later Iraqis don’t want foreign troops in their country
and are willing to fight and die to get them out. The Vietnamese
were also regarded as less than human. We were told they didn't
have the same reverence for life. We are now told that Arabs
are crazed and illogical and that Islam is a religion that encourages
terrorism. It is easy to first demonize and then torture people
who have been labeled as crazy followers of an evil religion.
The Americans tried to steal a country in
Iraq. The same cabal, the Bush men, stole an election and a
nation in 2000, in a flurry
of crime in Florida. However, as Margaret pointed out in her
brilliant article of March 18, 2004, titled “Vote
Theft in 2004: Deja Vu All Over Again,” the criminal enterprise
had also been hard at work in Georgia.
In 2002 polls showed Georgia’s Democratic Senator
Max Cleland defeating his Republican challenger, Saxby Chambliss
by 49% to 44%. Not only did Cleland lose, but by a margin of
53% to 46%. The new computerized voter machines that also declared
a Republican victory in the Governor’s race produced no paper
verification of results. The losses to Democrats in Georgia were
a surprise, but the system now in place does not allow for a
means of determining if fraud occurred.
Ms Kimberley explores deeply the subject
of the Great Theft, one that the criminals who stole the White
House show every sign
of planning to perpetrate again. Her February 12, 2004 commentary
states it plainly: “Trust
No One.”
Lest anyone sneer at the paranoid, a quick
history lesson is in order. In 2000 an estimated 57,000 Floridians
were removed from the voter rolls under the ruse of
preventing felons from voting. The Governor of Florida just happened
to be the brother of a presidential candidate. The brother wins
the state and in the process becomes President. Political corruption
via nepotism is a scenario usually reserved for third world nations.
If it becomes a reality for an American presidential election
should paranoia be a negative word? Perhaps all thinking people
should be paranoid and the non-paranoid should be disregarded.
The quickest way to bring
anger, tears, and vitriol to any conversation among Black
people is to discuss
the state of Black male and female relationships. If it is
true that men are from Mars and women are from Venus it must
follow
that healthy relationships are difficult to maintain. Add racism,
the economic marginalization of black people, high rates of
black male incarceration, and early death, and we have the
perfect
storm for relationship and marital instability. It is accepted
by too many of us that the stereotypes are true and black men
and women can’t get along.
Kimberley also addresses the unspoken issue
in Black American politics: how our fellow Americans, Jews,
have distorted the
Black Agenda. This is a long-running conversation, but Ms. Kimberley
brought it up to date, on December 18, 2003, with her incisive
piece, “Congressional
Black Caucus, Target of Pro-Israel Lobby?”
The issues raised by this
concentration of power effect more than the election chances
of black politicians.
The same forces that give black politicians pause when dealing
with Israel also helped bring about the disastrous American invasion
of Iraq. The neo-conservatives who run Bush foreign police advocated
this war partly on the premise that getting rid of Saddam Hussein
was good for Israel. I wonder when someone will experience an
epiphany and figure out that expanding settlements on the West
Bank hurts Israel. I am still not sure how the end of Saddam’s
regime makes Israelis safe from Palestinian suicide bombers.
Instead the hawks believe that the region’s difficulties are
caused by a lack of Arab “modernization.” Bringing about modernization
seems to mean invading their countries, establishing puppet governments,
taking their oil and paving the way for American capitalists
to make a fast buck. George W. Bush is so retrograde in his thinking
that in a moment of delusion I actually missed his father, who
on the advice of Arab allies decided not to remove Saddam Hussein
during the 1991 Gulf War. In contrast, Bush the younger sees
no need for Arab allies. Warnings of dire consequences from the
Arab world went unheeded and have resulted in the continuing
disaster caused by the American occupation.
Margaret Kimberley’s voice is the most sane one we could muster
for our audience. We’re glad she’s among us.
Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly
in  . Ms.
Kimberley is a freelance writer living in New York City. She
can be reached via e-Mail at [email protected]. You can read more
of Ms. Kimberley's writings at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com/
|
| |
|
|
|
|
