My Country 'tis of thee, sweet land of bigotry BY: KB © 11.8.14

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/01/michael-brown-assata-shakur-racist-state-of-america

I read this story and my blood began to boil.  I grew up with parents who were "undercover" militants. They had both grew up with parents who experienced the ugliness of the segregated South. They both understood and taught about the subtleties of racism in America. Those subtleties became very real for me when I learned to read; I started reading at a very early age because my mom and grandparents stressed the importance of education. My parents were in a "higher education/enlightenment" mode and had both enrolled in a Black Lit course at the University of Buffalo.  The first adult books I read was the Souls of Black Folks and the Soul On Ice. My beast was awakened. I began to question anything and everything about race in America. I began to read Black Literature like the books were being printed in my home. I remember my father throwing a major fit when I sent away for Black Panther Literature; I was 8 or 9 years old. His rant included letters like CIA and FBI, he also mentioned words like communists and I was told that I could only read books in the home or from the library ..yeah right, like the "alphabet police" didn't monitor libraries.

Over the years I have learned just how corrupt our government can be. COINTELPRO, Watergate, Iran-Contra,  and other Black Ops that we have yet to learn about. So after reading this story I have to ask...who are the real terrorists? How much evidence is real? What was manufactured? How was the media manipulated?

I know that there are people who will say that racism is harbored in the minds of people of color, to that I say tell that to any mother who has had their children murdered or brutalized by the police who "feared for their lives" from unarmed black men. To that I say listen to how conservatives and the media address the President. Have you ever heard Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan or Bush being addressed as Mr.?

I also want to remind people that America is STILL at war with people of color and has been since 1865; we're still pawns in the game of free, white and 21.