American Barbarism - Continued

I'm old enough to remember the same debate about the death penalty going on in the early 60's that's going on today. We never learn! I was in the 6th grade and knew in my heart killing another human in the name of justice was not justice; it was revenge. I knew at age 12 killing another human "officially" was still murder.

I remember when the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional. I was overjoyed that finally our government got something right. How naive and stupid I was about the concept of justice. I was taught the rulings of the Supreme Court were the final word in law. The things they teach in public schools!

Now it's clear. The Supreme Court is a tool like all the rest of the tools of our government. Thank you Howard Zinn for truly teaching me American history.

I am old enough to remember in those same early 60's the "negroes" in the South were rebelling against Jim Crow. I wondered who the hell Jim Crow was. Then I watched Bull Connor and his goon squad unleash the dogs and fire hoses and I knew. I saw George Wallace block the doors of the University of Alabama. I saw the Freedom Riders getting beaten and bashed in the press. I saw MLK leading marches and boycotts. I saw the bombing of a "negro" church killing children. I saw Medgar Evans being assassinated. And I knew who Jim Crow was.

I've lived long enough to know that the old blues song BLACK, BROWN & WHITE Big Bill Broonzy sang rings as true today as it did back in the days of American apartheid. "If you're black, brother, get back, get back, get back". Or do we fool ourselves into believing the hatred directed toward Obama is simply about his "socialist" agenda? That's why they've had to double or even triple his Secret Service protection. That's why old white rednecks think it's perfectly acceptable to carry around stuffed monkeys with a name placard of Obama on them while waiting to get in to a campaign rally. That's why the good old boy club in Congress has successfully obstructed anything and everything Obama attempted to achieve.

And the thing is, I am not a fan of Obama. I can't understand why the right wing would be upset with him. He's done everything possible to appease the right wing agenda at the expense of the liberal and progressive agenda. He's sold us out....all of us.

Last night at 11:08 p.m. EST in Georgia proved conclusively Obama, Congress and the Supreme Court don't give a damn about justice or ending violence. They all put their own personal stamps of approval on American barbarism by sitting on their hands as Troy Davis was executed by the government of the state of Georgia. They allowed Snookie Williams to die.They will allow Mumia Abu Jamal to eventually die.

In the case of Troy Davis it became clear for all to see the police, prosecutor and judicial system conspired to exact quick revenge for the death of a white cop by a black man. They cooerced, lied and ignored. They had already decided who they wanted to charge, convict and execute. Even when witnesses began to recant their testimony and it was seen the witnesses were biased by the procedures of the police and prosecutor, Georgia refused to admit they might have made a mistake. They refused to admit they should at least have another trial that was fair and impartial...and based on fact.

The American people are Troy Davis. What happened last night in Georgia personifies the American people. We are a people polarized by race, morality and a sense of justice. The same people who often rant about unborn fetuses are the biggest supporters of exacting revenge through the death penalty. Some Americans clearly see the injustice and racist implementation of justice in this nation whether it be the sentencing practices of judges for drug offenses or murder cases. Others feel "those" people are the trouble-makers, the illegals, the offenders.

The case of Troy Davis is further evidence of our failing humanity. From the hunger we allow in impoverished neighborhoods to the wars we allow the sons and daughters of the poor and middle class to die in, Americans have demonstrated time and again we are a culture of violence. We can label ourselves Christian or Judeo-Christian but we are neither. Nor are we true followers of Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism or any other religious cult extolling true justice, true love for one another and true brotherhood. We continue to fall prey to our barbarism. We have crowds calling for the death of a man without insurance in a debate of Presidential candidates one week. And the following week we execute Troy Davis and a white supremacist on the same day. How ironic. Almost like the macabre scenario of both executions on the same day was intended.

The racists will have the perfect answer to those complaining about the death of Davis. Well they also executed the white guy, Lawrence Russell Brewer. White supremacist, Russell Brewer, killed a black man by chaining him to the back of a pickup and dragging him along a backwoods asphalt road in Texas. If we are against the death penalty then we must also say the state sanctioned death of Brewer was also an act of barbaric terrorism. But, there was little doubt in the case of Brewer's guilt while there was great doubt in the Troy Davis case.

When I was young, those opposed to the death penalty used to say all executions should be televised to show Americans the barbarism. Today, I don't think most Americans would give a damn. That's how far down the well of violence and barbarism we've fallen.