A WISE GERMAN WOMAN’S CASE

[MollieB55]

A WISE GERMAN WOMAN’S CASEI have lived in this country for 65 years. My great grandparents came to this land for the same reason most immigrants did, to find a better life. At only two points in life prior to now did I realize that I was supposed to hate other people or view them as less or better I am, or even realize that outside of my world, the world was not always a pleasant place.The first time was during the Marin Luther King marches. My entire neighborhood was surprised and stunned, especially my neighbors, the black family that lived in the other side of the duplex that I lived in. What were these crazy people talking about? In the summer evenings, especially Saturday nights when the Jewish temple threw open its doors, we would all sit together to listen to the Cantor and talk until our folks called us in. We didn’t think or talk in terms of minorities and majorities but rather how “neat” our differences were and we questioned one another endlessly about them. Why didn’t my Jewish friends believe in Christ? Why did I? Why did the Muslims have to pray to Mecca? Why did the Catholics have to confess to a priest? Would the Mexicans teach us some Spanish? Why were the blacks black and why were we white when we all started in the Garden of Eden?What did we have in common? We went to school together. We all visited each other’s churches.We ALL put out the American flag on special days. We played hide and seek all over the neighborhood until the streetlights came on. We all watched out for “Billy”. We weren’t sure why he didn’t go to school with us. It never occurred to us to make fun of him. He was bigger than us but always very, very happy. He just loved riding his tricycle down the middle of the brick street. So when we heard a car coming, we made sure he was safe. We let him try to hit the softball in our back alley softball game. He never could hit it but it always made him giggle. Our parents told us he went to a special school to learn to take care of himself and to learn a trade. That was the end of the discussion. Fine! Life went on as usual!And what did Sonia mean by “with the richness of her experiences “ “The Latina side of my identity was forged and closely nurtured by my family through our shared experiences and traditions..”.How rich can her experience be when she immersed herself in the culture that she came to this country to escape! What am I missing? .“America has a deeply confused image of itself that is in perpetual tension. We are a nation that takes pride in our ethnic diversity, recognizing its importance in shaping our society and in adding richness to its existence. Yet, we simultaneously insist that we can and must function and live in a race and color-blind way that ignore these very differences that in other contexts we laud..”..She may be confused. That is HER problem not mine! I know my ethnic background and the diversity. I have heard snide remarks my whole entire adult life. I considered the ignorant source. I melted into the great “melting pot” as a child. My parents encouraged it while keeping me informed of my ethnic background and tradition. I AM AN AMERICAN WITH A GERMAN BACKGROUND! GET OVER IT!EXCUSE ME! With the richness of MY experience!” My richness is far greater than Sonia’s. I have lived with and next to many cultures, races, and religions. That has given my life experiences richness and tolerances and full acceptance. As an adult I have visited the back roads of forty-one states. I have lived in five. I KNOW people! I live amongst them. But now I am suddenly a racist majority! Excuse me but I have not been indoctrinated to hate my fellow countrymen. Despite a fairly high IQ I was almost 40 before I fully understood all the nasty remarks people made about the “master race.” Then it hit! They are talking about me! I always thought of myself as an American but now I have to think of my “ethnic background.” I am a blue-eyed, blonde German! Gee! I thought I was an American!After 9/11/2001 we had another group to hate – Muslims! No, wait, make that Arabs, No, lets see just how do we divide this up. Not all Muslims want to kill us. We are friends with some Arab countries. Some Blacks are Muslims. Arab Muslims hate blacks. Actually, some Arab Muslims hate other Arab Muslims. There are Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kurds. Golly, I have to write all of this down so I remember which ones I have to hate, who is a minority and deserves everything handed to them on a silver platter. Boy, suddenly life if complicated. Where did all of the AMERICANS go?And then I realized that weaving throughout this; the Hispanics had become an “issue” If you speak out against the illegals in this country, you MUST hate Hispanics! Gee, you just can’t talk any more! If you are sick and tired of the Michael Jackson coverage, you are a RACIST!Well, to Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, President Obama, all legal Hispanics, gays, and heterosexuals, Christians, non-Christians, any and all or non-religious groups – here are just a few interesting statistics! And one reason I am NOT filling out the US 2010 Census! Why give the government ammunition for giving away our money!German-Americans 15% (Can I get some Hispanic money?)Hispanic-Americans 15%Irish-Americans 14%English-Americans 14%African-Americans 13.5%Hispanics can be broken down into those from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, etc. By the way, those from Spain look down on all other Hispanics!Germans can be broken down into the Jewish, the Catholics, the Lutherans, and other religious groups as well as the nut jobs known as Neo-Nazi.The Irish hate the British or the English although the violence in the United Kingdom has lessened latelyThe English wanted everyone to belong to the Anglican Church called the Episcopal Church over here. It was or is the “Official Church” in England. This is the reason for the first amendment. The Catholics in England did not want to belong to the Anglican Church!African-Americans - Lighter-skinned blacks look down on darker-skinned blacks. Some blacks are Muslims but are not Arabs. They are hated by Arabs but not by whites. One tribe in Africa will often take another tribe to use as slaves even today. This is common knowledge and there are several WHITE groups who are donating time and money to stop this.Now we will get to the REAL minorities in this country! And you don’t hear them whining!Italian-Americans - 6%Asians/Pacific Islanders 5%Jewish-Americans - 1.7 to 2.2% (depending on whether or not the state was counting religion orethnic background or both!)Arab/Muslims – Americans .6%Native Americans .02 to .12%Well, as a “wise adult” I learned that all Italians were members of the mob and that all Jewish people were wealthy and controlled every bank in the nation! (I am sure my good friends Miriam and Ruth will be stunned to learn that!) And, of course, all of those Muslims who have been living here peacefully for years and years are now trying to kill us. I can tell you as a teacher that every Asian group thinks they are better than every other one. Our junior high dealt with it constantly. The Chinese particularly did not like any of us. The Ukrainians did not like the Russians! I speak only English; they all spoke only Russian! But hate comes through without the need for words! Geez!I learned on my back road travels that Native Americans live without electricity, have to travel miles and miles once a week to collect water in barrels and then return to reservations. Because I still have not lost that quality of wanting to absorb everything around me, I visited as many back road spots and tribes as I could. I learned quite by accident that the Apache hate the Hopi! I learned this at a small café stop. I ask the waitress who was a Native American what the Katchina doll “Mother Crow” stood for. She was very insulted! I explained that I was an ignorant traveler trying to learn about the Native Americans. She then became very pleasant and talked quite a bit. She was an Apache. The Katchina Dolls were unique to the Hopi tribe and the two tribes did not speak to one another despite living right next to one another. She truly had no idea what it meant! That is how deep the hatred was. I later found a member of the Hopi tribe who answered my question. The only Native Americans we hear about those that own huge gambling establishments. And this is the group the “we” stole the land from! If we are talking reparations, I can show you just where to start. The first settlers would have starved to death without the help of the Native Americans. In exchange, we took their land from them and drove them off it! I recognized that as a small child.So, where am I going with all of this? I have been pondering why Obama has found it so easy to take over and why it is taking Americans so very, very long to march into Washington D C and demand an immediate halt to it. It has taken me four and half months of reading, thinking, joining groups, exchanging ideas, and listening carefully to the media. I always believed that we are TAUGHT to hate as a child. But this fragmented, name-calling, defensive America DID NOT exist 60 years ago! We are being divided so that we can be conquered. And it is working! I find myself resenting a variety of groups lately. I REFUSE to allow that resentment to become hatred. I want my UNITED STATES back. I want every race, color, creed, gender, and whatever segments you care to mention to link arms and march as ONE into our CAPITOL and say as ONE VOICE, “YOU WILL NOT DO THIS US.” GET OUT OF OUR WHITE HOUSE! GET OUT OF OUR CAPITOL BUILDING! WE, THE PEOPLE, ARE BACK IN CHARGE AS ONE UNITED GROUP!” ‘WE WILL WORK OUT OUR DIFFERENCES WITHOUT YOUR HELP OR ORDERS!”WE ARE ONE UNITED STATES! WE ARE ONE UNITED PEOPLE! WE ARE ONE UNITED COUNTRY!If you yell in the middle of the Capitol building, does your voice make a sound over the counting of lobbyists' money?