Lest we forget, this is a flashback to January 20, 2021.

Every person who gets interviewed on television says the same thing. It’s the current mantra about “the U.S.A.” The hooligans who rioted in our Capitol are not really who we are.

Not really. Just, well, maybe sometimes.

I think this is exactly who we are. We’ve stood in front of the world and told them WE are the TRUE protectors of liberty — despite being the last people to deliver real liberty (will we ever?). Jim Crow was officially “gone” just 55 years ago. Although it’s not legal these days, it lingers and everyone knows it. Black parents still need to warn their children to be cautious because the police don’t seem worried about shooting them. In the attempted coup in Michigan, people carrying swords, crowbars and lead pipes were deemed “okay” while, Black protesters carrying cell phones or nothing at all were shot in the back.

Being Black is dangerous. In many ways, the current climate is worse than Jim Crow because there are no rules. At least back then, you knew what you were “allowed” to do and what would get you killed. Now? It’s a crap shoot.

As someone who isn’t Black, I can’t see any other reason why so many Black men get shot other than their being Black. My husband is Black (or, as our granddaughter says, dark beige). He’s never been shot, but he has been roughed up. All the excuses I’ve heard about how they thought that can of Fresca or a cell phone was a weapon ring hollow. Increasingly hollow each time it happens.

Americans scream about liberty for two reasons: (1) Because someone suggested controlling guns, or (2) they’ve been asked  to do something inconvenient which doesn’t directly benefit them, even if it will  benefit everyone else.

The above photograph was something we never saw until Jan. 6, 2021. The Confederate flag, inside the United States US Capitol. Even during the Civil War, this never occurred. Shame, shame, shame on anyone who cheered this. The  comment I keep hearing about how “we come together in times of danger” has been clearly disproved. Not only don’t we come together, we attack anyone who doesn’t agree with us. Just a note: The guy in the photo is in prison where he belongs.

Where was everyone while we’ve been heading towards a million dead from COVID? Which citizens were protecting us? Not our so-called president or congress. Not even the police or military. Say what you want, but this is a country largely comprised of self-centered, greedy people whose only interest is their own welfare and bank accounts.

When and how did greed become the overwhelming issue for so many people? How did so many Americans — who claim some version of Christianity as their religious base — act so completely antithetically to what they (supposedly) believe? What happened to conscience? What happened to a basic understanding of right and wrong? Where did compassion go?

When did we become such awful people? Is it our failure to educate our young? Is it the long term result of allowing slavery in the first place — and continuing to allow it long after every other “modern” country had banned it?

If you think I have an answer, you’re wrong. I was raised by liberal parents. I was taught that all people of every religion and any color were equal. No one ever used bigoted words in my home. Never. I was raised to believe that we’re obligated to pay a little more so everyone can benefit and have a better life. That’s how Garry was raised. That’s how I was raised. That’s what we believed growing up and that’s what we believe now.

I thought everyone believed this. I thought everyone who had passed the age of five had an intrinsic understanding of right and wrong and this knowledge is embedded in our DNA. But because I see so many people for whom the concept of “fairness” is meaningless, I have to acknowledge I was wrong. They don’t care whether it’s fair or not. All they want to know is if it’s good for them and if it isn’t? Screw you. Screw the world.

I’m embarrassed at how we’ve rejected the norms by which other nations function. Yet we still claim to be “the greatest nation on earth.” I’m not sure that was ever true for any country, but now we aren’t even close to great. Maybe there isn’t a “greatest” country, but there are many countries who treat their citizens a lot better than America does.

So much of our power and wealth happened because both world wars were fought in Europe and Asia, not here. Europe and Asia were bombed until entire cities vanished, but we got to keep all our stuff. When the war was over, they had nothing, but we had our factories, businesses, and homes. Europe and Asia had to dig their way out of heaps of rubble. Maybe if those wars were fought here, we’d have a different attitude. We would certainly have a different economy.

At the very least, I would like to be able to feel pride in my country again. I would like to be able to respect my government, not cower in shame. Wouldn’t you like to feel the same?

Categories: #American-history, #gallery, #Photography, Civil unrest, Death and Dying, evil, right and wrong

Tags: #Photography, flags, greatest country, Marilyn Armstrong, Police behavior