Tony Bouza
BY TONY BOUZA
On these very pages, on more than one occasion, I pleaded for the one thing I felt America needed most. I even wrote a book about the subject, and the result? Silence.
I begged the President to convene a National Commission on the issue—and a black president—for eight years—blithely ignored the imperative.
And now, in the unlikely form of a famous athlete, we seem to have finally launched the one project most likely to save the soul of our great nation—a national debate on racism.
Colin Kaepernick has launched—I think and hope—a national debate on the issue of police abuse of black citizens. Hallelujah!
The great blessing of America is that “the tempest tossed and wretched refuse” so often provide us with unexpected and fortuitous salvation.
Kaepernick is the son of a white mother and a black father who was given up for adoption and raised by a loving and lovely white family. Many thanks to the four of them.
A cynic described patriotism as “the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Please thank our president for breathing meaning into the observation.
I heard Trump’s speech to the cops in Nassau County, N.Y., thissummer. I’ve spent 60 years in the police world and studied the nation’s departments. Trump’s speech was a dog whistle: “We’re the good guys; they’re the bad guys; they’re the bad guys; go get ‘em.”
And guess who “they” are.
The cops intuit that they’re there to control the blacks for the power structure.
That’s the awful reality in a racist society.
America is a great country. God bless it,
We have work to do and Kaepernick has launched the debate. Let’s dive into it—immerse ourselves in it. Analyze the issue closely. Work towards racial justice.
A sociologist, in 1941, said, “The Negro problem” was America’s number one issue. It still is. And whose responsibility is that?
Those who peacefully demonstrate for racial justice are our true patriots. Those who support Nazis, dodge the draft, demean our heroes and encourage cops to assault blacks are our enemies.
Irony of ironies—the issue is police abuse of blacks and Trump, a draft evader, twisted it into disrespect for the flag. Really? Who, in fact, does the fighting and dying for America’s cause? A lot of black men and women.
We’re going to have to get better at distinguishing friends from foes.
Those who protest peacefully and respectfully, while stirring our consciences to do the right and American thing, are the real patriots.
Thank you Colin Kaepernick.
And, I suppose—in a very underhanded and tortured way—thank you also Donald J. Trump.
