A more just society...

I was reading about the Pope's Visit to the USA and his meeting with our President, and was inspired to share a few words on what the pope would like the USA's leaders to do; to govern in a more Just and Moral way.

Sounds great doesn't it?

This is however the precise problem with people who address the USA - who claim to be shocked by the war in Iraq; from the threat of terrorism we have taken over a country and every day we kill innocent Iraqi's who had nothing to do with 911, who don't support terrorism, and who just wanted to live their lives; Every day we help those who do want to harm us, to recruit the relatives of those innocents killed by the USA.

What we are doing over there is no surprise.

See, that's just the problem - People fail to realize that the USA has never been a just, moral nation. I'm so glad that in 1964 they were able to draft the voters rights act, allowing black men and women who had contributed SO Much to the American Society, to finally have a voice in who the leaders would be in their communities, and to have a say in who leads this nation.

Great!

After 400 years of Slavery and Segregation, time enough to mentally disable the majority of black people in this country to be nothing more than followers of what was given to them, great! After breaking the very humanity of these people - great! After ripping any knowledge of their past from them, after destroying any unity they could have as a people - Great!

This is precisely the problem in this country.

Sure we've got the potential to do what's right - to be a great nation - to be the very best in the world; We've got freedoms that other nations don't have But keep in mind that Many of these freedoms were denied to black people for 400 years... that when black people finally got the freedom to speak their mind, that many were shot and killed for what they had to say; that freedom for black people, is not the same as freedom for whites.

This country STILL has a long way to go before it can ever claim to be a just, or moral nation. Specifically I put the blame ... or the responsibility on white people, to stop referring to this nation as great already, as if it's already accomplished great status; and refer to it as Potentially Great.

We've patted ourselves on the back too much in this country; and it takes away from the work that still needs to be done; it causes anger at remarks of a pastor who's only speaking the truth; but it's perceived as Hate Speech, because so many white people feel this nation is Already Great.

This perception causes a problem.

It's like when people come up to me talking badly about Kobe Bryant; The man is already great, and sometimes I percieve anyone with anything negative to say about Kobe, which may sometimes be true, as Hate-Speech.

It's not hate speech when it's true.

It's not a great country, till it's a great country, till it truly becomes a more just, and moral country; We've got work to do folks; I hope you're up to the challenge.