Not Your heritage, but OUR Heritage

I wrote a comment (well more of a rant), about the Confederate Flag on my Facebook page.   Some said it was well written, so I decided to add it to my blog.  It was in response to Ben Carson’s original statement and the flag and what it represents as a whole.   Here is my statement, with some corrections. 

I think that Ben Carson may have a brain tumor.  Well at least something is wrong with him.  He believes that there should be a discussion on whether the Confederate flag should fly in South Carolina, because of its Southern history.  We should find a way to coexist.  I find it funny that people don't realize that it has historical importance to both blacks and whites.  It is just that one group is standing up proud with the foot on the neck of the other group.  There are no proud memories for the group who lies between the foot and the ground.   What annoys me the most is that people who love this flag act like that they were going to separate from the Union without their slaves.  Or, they ignore the fact that slaves fought on the Confederate side, some willingly and many not.

It boggles me that when I hear defenders talk about the flag.   You hear the statements about “our heritage” or “our pride” meaning southern white heritage or pride.  I am always amazed that the defenders are capable of talking about the South or and the great soldiers and generals of the Confederate, yet, ignore blacks altogether.  Blacks did not fight on the Confederate side until near the end of the war.   But, you almost have to be an ignorant fool to believe that they were not there as slaves and they did not support the war effort on both sides. 

One of the most respected and revered Generals, (not just the Confederate) Robert E. Lee grew up on a plantation with slaves.   His parents may have run the plantation; however the actual maintenance was performed by slaves.  In the civil war, the soldiers were white, but running and maintaining a military takes a lot more than soldiers.  Someone has to grow and harvest the food that they eat.   Equipment and weapons had to be created and maintained.   Also, someone had to take care of the horses.   And, of course there was other manual labor that needed to be performed.  The majority of that work was performed by slave labor.  If the Confederate military had no food, no clothing and no equipment, the Union military would have won a lot faster. 

My point is that flag represents a lot more that people seem to claim.   It represents the United States of America’s Southern history both Caucasian and African American, equally.   As I said in my Facebook statement, the flag has “…historical importance to both blacks and whites.  It is just that one group is standing up proud with the foot on the neck of the other group.  There are no proud memories for the group who lies between the foot and the ground.”  And, they should equally have a say on whether or not it remains on State property or in a museum.   

In a way, it is kind of funny, the argument is often heard, “you have Black or African American history, why can’t we have ours?”   But, Black history was not created because we (Negros, Blacks, or African Americans) needed our own; it was created, because American historians pretended like we weren’t there.  We were just hanging out in the background, instead of the ones who helped build this nation and performed a large majority of the free labor.   The quote “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.” has and should have a profoundly different meaning for the ancestors of slaves.

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts….

Last night when I went to bed, my mother made an uncomfortable statement about the dream she had had the previous night.  She dreamed that she was in the classroom, and she was trying unsuccessfully to get control of her class.  My mother did not always have trouble getting control of her class, but in her last years, just before she retired, she did, and she did not always have support of her administration and the staff.  Upon reflection, she said that her life would have been easier, if she had been like some of her other co-workers and taught just the basic math in her classroom and not tried to teach the actual subject.  If she had done that, all of her students would have passed her classes, they would have gotten along with her, because she would have been an easy ”A” teacher, and the administration would have liked her because all of her students would have passed her classes.  There would have been no frustration between her and other teachers, who did not teach.  Her life would have been so much easier, there would have been less stress and my childhood would have been easier too.  But, I couldn't support her statement.

My mother was right, her life would have been easier, but I reminded her that she thought that her students should get a good education.  My mother taught 43 years in Detroit Public Schools.  And she believed that her students deserved to get a quality education.  She believed, that they should be able to graduate from high school and be prepared to compete with any other high school graduate in Michigan, whether that was at the university level or in the work force.  These were great ideals, but they came with a price.  Sometimes there were issues with other teachers, because their students did not have the skills needed for my mother’s classes, even though they had taken the prerequisite.  And, my mother would be left with the choice of either helping the students get up to speed or failing them.  Students who were used to skating by in their classes were not able to skate through my mother’s class if they did not do the work.  Some students would take time to learn, others would drop her classes, and however some students were had other issues and they were angry and confrontational.  Most confrontations were verbal, however some were physical, and those were the scary ones, usually because, my mother did not have the support of the administration within her school when they occurred.  I can recall three separate incidences when my mother was assaulted at work.  I won’t go into details of those incidences but my mother’s career produced a lot of stress.  The last few years were especially stressful, because there was a lot of upheaval and politics that occurred regarding Detroit Public Schools.  But, I think what probably hurt most was the way that she was treated when she retired.  There was no nice send off, instead she was asked to pay for her own retirement dinner.  Unfortunately, I was still living in Maryland and I was unable to provide her a nice retirement celebration and I always regretted that…

In the end, doing the right thing or having strong beliefs doesn't guarantee a happy ending like it does in the movies.  I think that my mother would have had an easier career if she had played the game, but I think that not doing the right thing would have bothered her.  I think that in the end, it is about being able to lay your head down with a clear conscience and knowing that you have done the best you can.  And, that is all, nothing else is guaranteed.    

That is not Stir-Fry??!!

I have been working to get settled in at home, and it has been difficult to work on my blogs since I have so much to do, including looking for a job.  On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of taking a break and having lunch with some old friends that I have not seen in years.  However, I didn't really feel like going shopping and cooking dinner afterwards, however, I had too. You see, the face in the corner was what I had faced the night before.  When I lived at home and sometimes when my mother would visit me, I would fix Stir-fry.  And she likes it a lot, but she loves it when I fix it.  Well, Tuesday evening, she went to the store and she said that she was going to purchase the ingredients for Stir-fry.  When she came home, I should have known that something was wrong.  She said that what she bought just needed to be cooked, but it was a lot more expensive than what she remembered.  Also, she told me that I could just add more peppers and onions to stretch it.  I said  When I lived at home and sometimes when my mother would visit me, I would fix Stir-fry.  And she likes it a lot, but she loves it when I fix it.  Well, Tuesday evening, she went to the store and she said that she was going to purchase the ingredients for Stir-fry.  When she came home, I should have known that something was wrong.  She said that what she bought just needed to be cooked, but it was a lot more expensive than what she remembered.  Also, she told me that I could just add more peppers and onions to stretch it.    I said OKd , but you can add mo e than peppers and onions to a stir-fry.  When I went into the kitchen, I started looking in the freezer for the frozen vegetables and meet, but they were in the refrigerator in one container.  I read the container, and I looked up and said, “Mom, you bought Chicken fajitas.  That was why it is so expensive.”  She shrugged her shoulders and asked if we could still have it over brown rice.  I told her sure.  Well, as you know, Chicken Fajitas is not Chicken Stir-fry, so when she fixed her plate, a very small plate, she picked around her food, pouted and ate.  Later she came back and fixed a salmon burger because she was still hungry.  It was not my fault, but I still felt bad.  So, after my Wednesday lunch, I went to Kroger’s.    When I went into the kitchen, I started looking in the freezer for the frozen vegetables and meet, but they were in the refrigerator in one container.  I read the container, and I looked up and said, “Mom, you bought Chicken fajitas.  That was why it is so expensive.”  She shrugged her shoulders and asked if we could still have it over brown rice.  I told her sure.  Well, as you know, Chicken Fajitas is not Chicken Stir-fry, so when she fixed her plate, a very small plate, she picked around her food, pouted and ate.  Later she came back and fixed a salmon burger because she was still hungry.  It was not my fault, but I still felt bad.  So, after my Wednesday lunch, I went to Kroger’s. 

Kroger’s has a new organic/natural brand called Simple Truth; well at least it is new to me.  There are no Kroger’s in Albany.  I got lucky because I was able to use my eCoupon to purchase fresh cut Stir-fry vegetable and fully cooked Fajita steak strips.  I decided to get the Fajita steak strips for two reasons, the first was because we have been eating a lot of chicken, the second because I always season my meat when I stir-fry.  The meat was just going to have an Asian-Mexican fusion thing going on.  This made preparing stir-fry much easier, I did not feel like doing all of that chopping.  So, Wednesday night, my mother had the Beef stir fry which she said was great.  I don’t know how it tasted, I ate my leftovers that night for dinner, and she ate the rest of the stir-fry for lunch the next day.  But, I was happy that I did not have to look at that sad face at dinner time.  

#Kroger

#fusion

The Ride Home

Well, I decided to leave on New Year’s Eve.  I don’t know why I always find myself traveling on the road during this time.  It is actually a lousy time to travel.  Most places close early on the turnpike and there are very few people traveling on the road.  I picked New Year’s Eve because there was supposed to be a snowstorm coming and I wanted to try to beat the storm.  I left Albany at about 7 pm.  The trip from Albany to Detroit was about 644 miles if you did not cut through Canada.  And, I had to take that route, because I do not have a passport.  I had decided that I would drive through after work, but everyone made it seem like that was a horrible idea, so I drove as most of the distance on New Years Eve and I drove the remainder of the trip on New Years Day.  The good news was that one of the cities by Buffalo had fireworks at midnight, and so I got to see some as I drove past.  I made it past Buffalo and into Pennsylvania a little after 1:00 am.  I stopped because the visibility was beginning to get bad.  Also, the wind was blowing the snow and the road was beginning to

get slippery.  It is funny. I don’t feel tired when I am driving.  I only feel tired when I get out of the car.  I was back on the road about 5 am.  My car looked like a snowball.  All of my car doors were frozen except for the driver’s side.  As, I continued on the road, I looked for a restaurant that was open that served breakfast, or at least coffee.  Everything was closed until 8 am, because it was New Years day.  Some of the gas stations were even closed.  When I made it to Ohio, I called my mother and I let her know that I was almost there.  By then, my car no longer looked liked a snowball, but a salt lick.  There was salt everywhere, however, I don’t remember getting pummeled by a salt truck. 

I made it to Detroit by noon.  I was exhausted, but not sleepy, which was surprising because I only had about 3 hours of sleep.  We unpacked most of my stuff, and then ate a traditional New Year’s Day dinner.  I really need all of those New Year’s folklore to work for 2015.  Usually, I am excited when I start a new chapter in my life, but this time I am a little scared.  But, I am also hopeful.  

#home

#NewYearsEve

#NewYearsDay

#PennsylvaniaTurnpike

#OhioTurnpike