To me, President Obama represents what America should be while President Trump represents what America is. Is this notion complex? Understanding the complexity of the southern mind is key to better politics, policy and life in general.
We are different—products of historic opposing factions but at the end of the day Stacey Abrams, Brian Kemp, Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis should all want to help form “a more perfect union.” It takes a complex mind to understand that what’s perfect for you and perfect for me are two different things. Shall we look into some complexity with an open mind?
Gone With the Wind: Life on Tara Plantation was idyllic if you sat on the porch but if you toiled in the fields or kitchen, if was just this side of hell. Is it hard to understand that the oppression didn’t really end for Blacks until the middle 1970s? I have watch GWTW half a dozen times but this summer was the first time I realize that life for Whites on Tara during the war was “flipping the script.” It wasn’t right for good Whites to live that hard. The filmmakers were offering radical social commentary right under our noses.
Michelle Robinson Obama: Former FLOTUS Obama’s book includes her statement that she would never forgive Donald Trump for pushing the birther drama that endangered her whole family. Yes..that’s right. While President Obama is a “turn the other cheek” guy, Miche from the Southside is more like most in my community. As a matter of fact, I am complex enough to compare her to Mr. Jackie Robinson. Both Robinsons had to hold it in for a long time but the truth will set you free. When you promote division and suffering for personal gains, we should remember (Segregationists, Crack dealers.)
Ignoring current supporters of the Confederacy is a disservice to every African America who lived before 1976. Condoning force labor, rape and humiliation during slavery and Jim Crow creates an unhealthy racial chasm in this nation. This drama alone should drive Blacks to the polling place but I am not complex enough to understand these Negroes’ apathy—yes, they should get use to Negroes and other elements of our troubled past… it’s back to the future if we aren’t careful.
Religion: Many southerners think Christianity is the official religion of America. The Founding Fathers would have done us all a big favor if they were clearer but I think God was in the room during those early days. In America, we have freedom of religion; you can practice a formal faith or you can do nothing. It’s up to you or as this blog has stated years ago “there is plenty of room in hell.”
It doesn’t help that the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have been warring in the Middle East for centuries. I am bless to have visited Jerusalem and I am in the local Methodist church every Sunday but I am surprised to learn the number of rural Black preachers who don’t know that Abraham’s casted-out son Ishmael is considered to be an early prophet in Islam. The three faiths are related! In Genesis 17:20, God tells Hagar “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”
Oh, it gets more complex because there are those who believe that Jesus moved and spoke to others around the world in different times. This constant battling between faiths must be reconciled before we all nuclear perish. Shall we be complex and consider what Jesus said about dealing with unbelievers?
Southern Intolerance: “It’s my way or the highway” could be the motto of the two extreme ends of the political spectrum. The Ultra Conservatives on the far Right and the Ultra Progressives on the far Left are inflexible. Yes, I am complex enough to respect conviction but I also know public policy requires understanding, compromise and arriving at reasonable solutions. The previous sentence is a joke to many rural Whites because they often feel that America was created by Whites, based on the Bible, and designed to keep them in tall cotton. Basically, they want their country back…make it great again. Am I missing something here? Complexity requires that I mention that the foundation of Black slavery is that supposedly Blacks are the descendants of Noah’s son Ham, the guy who laughed at his post-flood drunken father. According to some folks, Ham’s descendants were to be water bearers for his brothers’ descendants and so guess who comes from Africa to provide free and reduced labor until the 1970s. To my friends, Blacks claims as Americans is right there with the Native Americans who were robbed of two continents.
If many in the South insist on glorifying/honoring their “noble” Confederate cause, we can have a complex discussion about the investment of Black free labor during slavery and the systematic continued assets resulting from Jim Crow’s oppression of Black opportunity.
Gays: So, your faith tells you that two girls shouldn’t date but the “pursuit of happiness” is in the Declaration of Independence. At the end of the day or the end of time, we will all have our own cross to bear. Ancient scriptures mention lots of things we shouldn’t do but do. This heterosexual writer thinks that sex outside of marriage is a sin but I have never been married and am no virgin. Did I mention that there is plenty of room in hell? The Bible also goes into great detail about being judgmental.
Homosexuality should keep Democrats up at night. Not like that…up worrying about coalitions. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and recently Stacey Abrams raised tons of money on the two coasts because they are forward thinkers—Christians who have arrived at tolerant positions on same sex issues. When those issues come up in some rural Black churches, the pastors are like “not so fast.”
I am personally wrong for enjoying the spectacle of watching Gay White men try to understand how someone could take someone else’s rights….join the club. It took Black folks centuries to get some of our rights but others want all of their rights yesterday. For the record, discrimination in any form is wrong.
Voting: How do you not vote if you are Black, poor or both. Democrats fight for working class people who then don’t vote. I am not complex enough to understand that.
Hip Hop: Rap has grown from a powerful art form into a whole culture. To me, hip hop is more influential in my community than politics. While artists should be free to express themselves, I wonder if kids are complex enough to realize that the glamorization of a thug culture is moving Blacks backwards. Oh, I loved Prince, miss him every day, but we didn’t walk around in purple Captain Crunch coats. The combination of weak parents and strong hip hop creates a climate in which striving, focusing and long-term goal-making takes a backseat to fast money in a smoky weed haze.
You don’t hear the well-intended Progressives talk about what people did to create their own messy lives. Shall we be complex enough to consider that weed is self-medication for a generation of Black youth who know that America isn’t fair to them? Did liquor serve the same purpose for generations of Black men who America saw as boys?
Linear Parenthood: Ok, I just made up that term because I just don’t get some people. Follow me: if you have the vision as a teen to see your whole future on a timeline, are you not complex enough to have children at a smart time. Harvard Law classmates Barack Obama and Hill Harper both wrote in books that it’s better for people to hold off on major life moves until say 24 years old. Before that point, you are developing. If 24 year old you saw a video tape discussion by 19 year old you, you would likely say the kid had no idea about life. Wait, forget about 19 because you have kids making sex, education and gun decisions at 15. Wow.
Fake News: Really? Are you not complex enough to know that Fox News and conservative talk radio isn’t real journalism. It’s propaganda design to create fear, hatred, power and wealth.
Summary: I know this whole writing was all over the place but something radical must be done to reverse our direction. To me, the solutions are complex and multilayered. I wrote a post earlier this year about P.E.C.S. (Political, Economic, Cultural, and Social) solutions. My Progressive friends don’t want to hear it but the foundation of successful Black individuals, families and communities is strong, focus folks. The government shouldn’t rescue you from you.
https://projectlogicga.com/2018/07/23/southern-black-muscle-p-e-c-s/
Every American should have a fair shot at the good life and the government should protect citizen’s rights. We must be complex enough to know that every group should be at the discussion table together…with thick skin. Unfortunately, the conservative movement wants to make decisions for the whole nation without input from the whole nation. The well-intended progressive movement seems to think struggling Americans are perfect and not often complicit in their situations. The Moderates need to be the voice of reason.
Project Logic Ga 
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