THE BEAUTY OF HAVING YOUR OWN BLOG ....

my two cents ...

As an American I can sit, stand, salute the flag, or do nothing if I choose to.  This is a RIGHT guaranteed by the Constitution.  When I was in high school I had a science teacher I really liked, who would never say “under God” when we recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  And it didn’t turn into a thing.  He obviously didn’t believe in God, or had an issue with God, I don’t know, but he would never utter those words.  At the time I thought it was interesting and I wondered why he wouldn’t say “under God,” but I didn’t write the school district and try and get him fired. 

I think there is a huge misunderstanding about why these athletes are doing what they are doing.  I tend to believe they love America, the Constitution and the flag as much as the next person.  But I also know, that they know personally, how the Constitution has failed them by doling out justice to some, and not to others. 

For those who have never experienced prejudice, and can't find it in their hearts to put themselves in the place of their neighbor, it will be very difficult for you to understand and support the black players in this non-violent protest.  In the 1970's when I first started working I experienced my share of prejudice.  Nothing violent, or outright mean, just a subtle “you’re not as good as I am” attitude.  Again, subtle, but there.  And I knew that to my white superiors, I was just the little Mexican girl who ran to the corner to buy them a pack of cigarettes when they ran out.  And that even though it was not in my "job description," I knew that it was my job to get my boss's lunch every day.  They were shocked when I told them I couldn't speak Spanish, and they were equally surprised to learn that my parents and grandparents were all born in the U.S.A.  This was MY experience. And if it wasn’t YOUR experience, that does not mean that you can invalidate mine. 

I don’t say this to be combative or contrary.  I say it because it WAS my experience.  I remember how it made me feel.  It made me feel less than.  It made me feel disrespected, and ashamed that I felt ashamed.  Basically, they took my dignity away.   

My dad was raised in Texas in the 1930’s.  Growing up in Texas he never had his own drinking fountain.  He couldn’t go to the movies on certain days, and if they did go to the movies they could never sit in the middle of the theater, they could only sit on the sides or the balcony.  Restaurants, please.  Bathrooms?  Same thing.  Black & Mexican/White Only.  Police were brutal.  My dad once told me a story ... he and his friend were walking through a roped off area at a rodeo and big police officer kicked his friend in the behind knocking him down.  He got up and kept on walking, or more like hobbling, on his way.  They were in elementary school .... children, but they were brown children. 

I once asked my dad where he was when World War II ended.  He told me he was in jail.  I was shocked.  “JAIL?!”  Then he told me the story.  Apparently, being poor in the 1940’s my dad wasn’t able to buy a bicycle so he made one out of parts that he found here and there.  Two weeks before the end of World War II a cop asked him where he got his bike.  My dad told him “I made it.”  The cop, who was obviously a dick, arrested him and took him to jail and charged him with grand larceny.  He was locked up for two weeks before they were able to get him out.  He was 15. 

Grand Larceny

n. the crime of theft of another's property (including money) over a certain value (for example, $500), as distinguished from petty (or petit) larceny in which the value is below the grand larceny limit. Some states only recognize the crime of larceny, but draw the line between a felony (punishable by state prison time) and a misdemeanor (local jail and/or fine) based on the amount of the loot.

If it is not possible for you to admit that black and Hispanic men are shot and killed on level that is beyond shocking here in America, and that the police almost always walk away without ever being prosecuted, then you have eyes that do not see.  This is a colossal injustice that personally, makes me find your outrage pathetic.  If it offends you that a person choses to kneel in silent protest instead of standing during the national anthem, you must realize that that person has his reasons for doing so, even if you can't understand it.  It is HIS right to do so.  After all, when was the last time anyone hung one of your relatives from a tree?  Or shot one of your relatives dead in the street like an animal?   


If it offends Trump that these athletes do not stand, I say that it offends me that Trump, in my opinion, is an idiot.  And a coward.  And I can say that out loud if I want to.  If this were Russia or some other country run by a psychotic dictator, I’d be arrested or shot. 

If Trump believes owners should fire players who do not stand for the national anthem, I ask you, what should we do to men like Trump?  Men who did not serve their country during a time of war (declared or undeclared), by filing deferment after deferment?  Or, those men who faked mental illness by living in their own excrement in order to avoid the draft like Ted Nugent?  I find this more heinous, more hypocritical and more cowardly than a man silently kneeling in protest.  Can we then say, let’s arrest Trump for his cowardice.  Let's arrest him for sitting back while letting other young men walk into war to risk their lives in his place while he remained at home, safe and pampered in his rich little world.  Or, maybe it should it be a requirement that if one wants to be president, that that individual must have served his country during a time of war and, that multiple deferments, or faked insanity should be punishable by law.  I say yes. 

Trump then has the audacity to call John McCain a loser for being captured!!  John McCain, a MAN of unquestionable courage, who SUFFERED for this country FOR YEARS in the Hanoi Hilton for the beliefs he held true.  Honor and love of country.  How do you compare a man like McCain to a man (and I use that term loosely) like Trump?  You can’t.  They are universes and galaxies apart.


All religious beliefs and philosophies tell us how to empathize with our neighbor.  To put yourself in his place.  Use the heart and mind.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  And in the words of my wise grandmother, Nana Tonia ... "cada cabeza es un mundo" which means, each person is a universe unto themselves.  We are all complicated creatures.  The best we can do is TRY to understand one another. 


So that's it.  My two cents.  I only hope that come 2020 we are able to find a man or woman of conscience to become our next president, because the guy we have now is going to be the death of me.