The Fallacy of the Fourth

The Fallacy of the Fourth:
Should Black Folks Celebrate?

Min. Paul Scott





On July 5th 1852, the great orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas delivered an electrifying speech where he posed what was possibly the most significant question of his time; "What to the slave is the Fourth of July?" He received a thunderous round of applause.

A hundred and twenty some odd years later, July 4th 1976, as a nine year old junior militant, I stood defiantly on a picnic table, raised my sand shovel and posed a similar question. Why do black people celebrate Independence Day,anyway?"

The response I received?

"Shut up and eat your hot dog!"

The issue of whether African Americans should celebrate the 4th of July is one of those eternal questions that is often asked this time of year but never receives a valid answer. Why do black folks feel obligated to dress up in red, white and blue top hats and sing the Star Spangled Banner to commemorate a day when our ancestors were picking tobacco in the hot Carolina sun?

Historians trace the genesis of the problem back to slavery times when the enslaved Africans were not required to work on some holidays. So as one writer put it, even in 2010, for black folks, psychologically, we reenact Emancipation Day every weekend and holiday. However, we must never confuse a day off work with historical accuracy.

This may come as a shock for some but black folks weren't free in 1776. Matter of fact, it wasn't until four score and five years later that Abe Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation.

Also, it must be noted that black folks gained nothing from the America's victory over the British. Lerone Bennet writes in his book "Before the Mayflower" that a Lord Dunmore, former governor of colonial Virginia, issued a proclamation on November 5, 1775 promising freedom to all male slaves willing to fight for England. This was 86 years before Lincoln "freed" the slaves in states that were rebelling against the Union.

Not to mention that Britain abolished slavery in 1833 and it was not until 30 years later that slavery was abolished in America.

While some may argue that Independence Day is not about slavery but the higher ideals of Freedom, Justice and the Pursuit of Happiness that is another lie that has been repeated so much that people accept it as religious dogma.

In Eric Williams' book "Capitalism and Slavery" he states very clearly that the Revolutionary War was based on economics; American sovereignty versus British imperialism. According to Williams, the main source of the conflict was the control of the West Indian sugar and molasses trade. Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango in his work "Afrikan People and European Holidays: A Mental Genocide Vol II" writes that the American colonists needed the molasses to make rum that was used to exchange for slaves on the West African coast.

So, why in 2010, will even the most educated African Americans so vehemently defend their compulsions to celebrate a false holiday?

Part of the problem is the belief that in order to "make it" in American society, we have to "go along to get along." Unfortunately, many of us do not have the courage exhibited by the children in the Emperor's New Clothes fable to tell his royal highness that not only was he butt naked but a slave owner as well, figuratively speaking.

So every year, they put on writer Paul Lawrence Dunbar's "mask that grins and lies" and sit down at 4th of July picnic tables, gobbling down as many hot dogs as they can stomach.

What WEB DuBois referred to as a "double consciousness" having to be both African and American, psychologists would call schizophrenic behavior.

Historically, when we wanted to be part of the American Dream they wouldn't let us but when we rejected white America's ideology they called us "divisive" and "reverse racists." So the implied threat behind bumper stickers that read "America: Love it or Leave it" is enough to beat most black folks into psychological submission.

What is also disturbing is the hypocrisy that Independence Day revelers exhibit when addressing the Hip Hop generation.

I find it ironic that the same black folks who will berate the youth for their justification of using the dreaded "N" word by saying that they are "redefining the meaning to stand for something positive" have no problem redefining history so they can justify setting off firecrackers.

Also, although members of the older generation will criticize rappers for coming up with outlandish "hood tales" just to sell cds, they will rewrite history to give black folks Independence when they were still picking cotton.

The saddest part of the whole ordeal is the message that we are sending young black children when we encourage them to celebrate Independence Day. Instead of teaching our children to think critically, we are forcing them to accept a blatantly false version of history without examining the facts. How can we teach them to value education when the foundation of the United State's educational system is based on a 200 year old lie that had a holiday formed around it. To teach young black children to celebrate Independence Day is intellectually, criminal.

So, go ahead white America, enjoy your day in the sun. But as a descendant of enslaved Africans, I close with the immortal words that the Frederick Douglas:

"This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn."

Min. Paul Scott is founder of the Messianic Afrikan Nation.

Do the White Thing: Rise of Conservative Militants

Do the White Thing:
The Rise of Militant Conservatives

Paul Scott


Newsflash!

There was a riot in Stamford Connecticut, yesterday. The trouble started on the Crestwood Golf Course when corporate executive Howard "Howie" Thurston III got a call on his cell that his Viagra would no longer be covered under his health insurance policy. Enraged, Thurston slung his golf club, accidentally knocking Charles "Chuckster" Winchester off of his golf cart. This started a melee that quickly spilled into the streets of Stamford as a crowd of mostly white middle class rioters began smashing windows at Saks, grabbing Prada pumps, Gucci handbags and everything else they could get their hands on as African Americans and Latinos sat by their televisions shaking their heads in amazement.

Back in 1989, African American film director Spike Lee did a movie called "Do the Right Thing." The film, featuring Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" on the soundtrack, captured the black rage in America following such events as the Tawana Brawley incident and the Howard Beach racial unrest. The climax of the movie came when a mini riot developed in front of Sal's Italian Pizzeria after black activist, "Radio Raheem" died as a result of police brutality. Though this was the breaking point in race relations, Raheem's death was just the spark that set off the explosion as racial issues had been bubbling under the surface for months, not the least being the fact that an Italian restaurant in the 'hood didn't have any pictures of "brothers" on the wall.

So, it is with the recent mobilization of white Conservatives against the Obama presidency.

All across the US of A, there are groups of Right Wing Conservatives protesting everything from health care reform to whether the President should be deported to Africa.

While talk of "takin' it to the streets because the man is holdin' us down" is traditionally reserved for gangsta rap gurus, the sentiment is now being echoed by Right Wingers , some of whom are now threatening to bust a cap in anybody who gets in their way.

Seems like the GOP is morphing from the Grand Ole Party to the Gangsta Ole Party.

Even the most hardcore rappers are kicking back watching Fox News with note pads getting ideas for lyrics.

"Let's see...rollin' with the homies 'bout to crash the town hall; any sucka in my face is 'bout to fall..."

This is not to say that there are not people ,genuinely, PO'd by Obama's policies but some of the Right Wing militants are just ticked off that a black man is in the White House and fear that their country is undergoing a hostile take over by blacks and Latinos. The town hall rebellions and the birther movement are just convenient excuses for Joe the Mechanic to blow off some steam with other members of his clan.

Now, some of the protesters will place their right hands on the Bible swearing that they have at least one black or Latino friend and declare that their attacks on Obama have nothing (and I mean nothing) to do with race.

It never does.

Remember Emmett Till was not murdered because of racism but because he virtually raped a white woman by whistling at her and Martin Luther King was not attacked by bigots for standing up for black people but for being a "Commie sympathizer."

See, nothing racist about that at all.

The good thing about America is that you can have racism without having a racist.

Therefore, racism exists merely as a philosophical concept and not a socio-political reality made manifest by small minded paranoid people with talk shows.

Finding a racist is like capturing Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Although there are people who have documented proof that they exist, to find one and put him on display is a different story.

So, the town hall militias see themselves as merely upholding that oft overlooked part of the Constitution that gives them the right to overthrow the government.

It must be noted that there is a double standard when it comes to the public expression of white rage as opposed to black rage. I just can't imagine a couple of hundred black "militants" banging on the door at the next city council meeting without the city's finest coming out in full riot gear, bustin' heads and giving them some electric shock therapy courtesy of a taser.

Should African Americans be alarmed that there are "lynch mobs" of angry white folks organizing in the backrooms of country clubs across America, plotting, as we speak, diabolical ways to take back their country.

Ya darn tootin'.

In the South, where I reside, we still translate the traditional Southern call of "Yee Hawww!" to mean, "find a long rope and a tall tree."

So yes, there is cause for concern.

I can even see the chronically naive, GOP head, Michael Steele forgetting his wallet and showing up, unexpectedly, one night at GOP headquarters.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here so late and what's with the white bed sheets and kerosene? Somebody throwin' a toga party?"

This looks like it's gonna be a long hot Indian summer.

I'm just waiting for Leonardo DiCaprio to do a movie called "Do the White Thing" with Ted Nugent performing a country western rap, "Fight for White Power" on the soundtrack.


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/
He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

NWSF News 7/20:CNN's Black in America Sideshow

No Warning Shots Fired News: TRUTH Minista Paul Scott on CNN's Black in America II "Let the sideshow begin!

Livin' in a Zoo:CNN's Black in America II

Livin' in a Zoo:
CNN's Black in America II

Paul Scott

"I'm kickin' cold facts so true
Feels like I'm livin' in a zoo"

Public Enemy




Step Right up! In this cage we have the tame, "Negro-intellectualus." Notice his freshly pressed shirt and creased pants. Go ahead and pet him. He won't bite...However, watch out for this next animal, "Thug-ignoramus." Beware of his gold teeth and if he starts reaching for his waist band, call security, immediately!


On July 22 CNN will air Black America Part II, their second attempt to paint a pretty picture of black America for their audience. I don't know about y'all but I'm kinda tired of being poked, prodded and examined by TV network execs on a life long mission to find out what makes dudes like me tick.

No disrespect to Soledad O'Brien and the rest of the crew who produced the program but I don't think these types of shows are meant to enlighten black folks, especially the boyz in the hood.

As my lil homie Jae would say,

" How many times are you gonna describe my kitchen to me when we're livin' in the same house?"

We all have members of our families that run the gamut from "Left out Lamont," who can't keep a steady job to Buford "lil Boo Boo" Jenkins who got his degree, became a stock broker and never looked back at the 'hood.

So, we have our own "Black in America" reality series every family reunion complete with ribs and Marvin Gaye CD's.

Shows like Black in America are definitely for the Caucasian persuasion as they have always been curious about black folks.

Scholars like Dr. George GM James and William Leo Hansberry have said that the ancient Greeks were fascinated by the Egyptians and Ethiopians. The early explorers of Africa were also intrigued by the riches of the continent, so much so, that they stayed for hundreds of years.

However, after the Trans Atlantic slave trade, Africans stopped being objects of adoration and became oddities.

There are tales of Africans being held as exhibits in zoos in New York and during the early 1800's the voluptuous Saartjie Baartman aka "Hottentot Venus" was paraded around Europe so white men could gaze at her "donk."

During the late 1960's, white America's curiosity about black folks became a matter of national security because of the various "riots" that were spreading like wildfires .

In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson created the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders to find out why black folks were so angry.

The Commission released what was known as the Kerner Report which pointed to the media as partial causes of the "riots."

According to the report,

"Important segments of the media failed to report adequately on the causes and consequences of civil disorders and on the underlying problems of race relations. They have not communicated to the majority of their audience-which is white-a sense of the degradation , misery and hopelessness of life in the ghetto." The report also complained that the media was guilty of giving " disproportionate amounts of time to emotional events and militant leaders."

As far as solutions, one of the things that the report suggested was that the media needed to:

"...publish newspapers and produce programs that recognize the existence and activities of Negroes as a group within the community and as a part of the larger community."

So, the networks have followed this method of operation since then , only deviating, briefly ,during the LA Rebellion of 1992 because of their underestimation of the political potential of Hip Hop.

It must be noted that these programs also try to convey the idea that black assimilation into white culture is the ultimate manifestation of black achievement and the benchmark as to whether one has "made it" or not.

While many have quoted from WEB Dubois' , "The Souls of Black Folk," few have had the courage to pose the fundamental question that he raised in his essay "The Souls of White Folk,"

"But what on earth is whiteness that one should so desire it?"

He goes on to say that "Europe has never produced and never will in our day bring forth a single soul who cannot be matched and over matched in every line of human endeavor by Asia and Africa."

However, millions of Americans will spend hours this week watching CNN give complex answers to simple questions such as "why inner city black kids are killing each other" when black psychologist Dr. Bobby Wright gave us the answer over 25 years ago in his work "The Psychopathic Racial Personality"

"Blacks kill Blacks because they have never been trained to kill Whites, therefore it is outside their experience."

End of series.

Just once, I would like to see a network do a six hour series on what produces the white male superiority complex in men like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Or who controls the economic system that keeps the hood in perpetual poverty ?

But I guess the worn out topics of black pathologies and the salvation of assimilation are better for ratings.

Oh, well. As Blue Magic once sang,

"Let the side show begin...can't afford to pass it by...guaranteed to make you cry..."



Paul Scott's blog is No Warning Shots Fired.com He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com (919) 451-8283

My Letter in USA Today 7/2

The USA Today is running a letter to the editor that I wrote regarding the call for black folks not to celebrate this false Fourth of July.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/07/july-fourth-thoughts.html

Facing the Fallacy of the Fourth

Facing the Fallacy of the Fourth:
Why Should Blacks Celebrate ?

Paul Scott



Call me an iconoclastic, hater but I don't celebrate Independence Day. When the kids next door set off firecrackers late into the night, I'm the dude who calls 911 to report a noise ordinance violation.
It's not that I have a problem with folks getting the day off from work, heading to the beach and stuffing themselves with hot dogs. But as a black, African American, person of color or however you want to describe a decedent of enslaved Africans, I think that the whole shebang is highly overrated.

Sure, white folks can sing songs about bombs bursting in air but at the time when said bombs were exploding, my ancestors were picking cotton in the hot Carolina sun.

As a matter of full disclosure, I've never prided myself as the all American boy type. I hate baseball and even the thought of apple pie makes me nauseous. So my view of American history may be cynical at best. Black folks were not free in 1776, did not have full citizenship in 1876, were still fighting for equal rights in 1976 and if the right wing conservatives have their way, 2076 ain't looking too promising.

My disdain for the Fourth of July is not based on a mere political ideology but historical accuracy. It was not until four score and five years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence that Abe Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation and a century later Dr. Martin Luther King was still dreaming of equal rights for African Americans.

The real truth that should be self evident is, although all men may have been created equal, the United States did not even begin to embrace this concept until the late 1960's.

Historically speaking, not until slavery became less economically viable did the "peculiar institution" end in America.

Black folks gained nothing from the Revolutionary War. Since England abolished slavery in 1833, it is reasonable to assume that if the British would have won the war slavery would have ended 30 years earlier.

Some will argue that the election of Barack Obama as this country's first black president is reason, in and of itself, for black folks to celebrate the 4th. After all, isn't this a sign that we are finally one nation?

Well, somebody needs to tell that to Right Wing talking heads .

With the way that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of that bunch have treated both Barack and Michelle Obama since the election, it seems that the First Family are just one foot off the plantation, themselves.

But yet, you can bet on July 4th you will have a bunch of drunk black folks stumbling around in red, white and blue top hats slurring the words to "My Country Tis of Thee."

How many racist anti-Obama emails do black folks have to get in their email in boxes before they realize that even in 2009, the road to Freedom is still under construction ?

The saddest part of the whole ordeal is the message that we are sending young black children when we encourage them to celebrate Independence Day. Instead of teaching our children to think critically, we are forcing them to accept a blatantly false version of history without examining the facts. How can we teach them to value education when the foundation of the United State's educational system is based on a 200 year old lie that had a holiday formed around it. To teach young black children to celebrate Independence Day is intellectually, criminal.

So, go ahead white America, enjoy your day in the sun. But as an African American, I close with the immortal words that the great abolitionist Frederick Douglas delivered to a predominately white audience in 1852:

"This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn."


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

My Friend Bob: The Limits of Liberalism

My Friend Bob: The Limits of Liberalism

Paul Scott




"Beware of the hand when it's comin' from the left
I ain't trippin' just watch your step."

Can't Trust It- Public Enemy




You know Bob. He's the cool white dude that can quote the latest rap lyrics. He's the one marshmallow in a sea of Coco at the annual Kwanzaa Festival. Bob is always down to start a water cooler monologue about how well the black quarterbacks are playing in the NFL this year. Yeah, Bob's an alright dude. That is until that one day you bring up the subject of black self empowerment. Then mild mannered "Bruce Banner" Bob morphs into an Incredible Hulk of indignant rage.

With Liberals you can do anything that you wanna do but when you start talking about black folks acting and thinking for themselves it's like you just stepped on their liberal blue suede shoes with football cleats on.

The relationship between the Left and African Americans has been like the relationship between Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. As long as black folks parrot the party line they will always have a spot on the stage. However, they will never control the dialogue.

Evidence of this is when the Liberals got their panties in a bunch over the California Proposition 8 vote. The Left's confusion over the support of Proposition 8 by black church folks is an indication of ignorance of black culture and the black religious experience. It is a known fact that is constantly ignored by Liberals that, the race issue aside, most black folks are more conservative in their theology than white Evangelical Christians. While Aunt Ruth may not have studied Marx's theories on class struggle, she does know her Bible and a bunch of yahoos holding up protest signs on television ain't gonna change her mind about what Pastor Jones says on Sunday morning.

And you're not going to win any friends among black folks by making threats or insulting the "First Baptist Methodist Pentecostal African Church." You will just find yourself headed for a "Bible beatdown" courtesy of the usher board and senior choir.

And the idea that theologically conservative Rev. Martin Luther King Jr would have taken a pro same sex marriage stance at the risk of alienating his power base made up of millions of black folks just like Aunt Ruth is the same faulty historical revisionism that the Left is infamous for using to manipulate African Americans who have not studied their history.

No matter how many times a Liberal watches Roots he will never truly understand what it means to be an African in America.

What most folks on the Left fail to realize is that the college educated, community organizer with whom they had breakfast at Starbucks, this morning, does not represent the entire black community. We are not monolithic but there are certain cultural norms that black people have just because of shared life experiences. This is something that most white people don't understand.

Historically, there has always been a division between the Left/Liberals and the masses of black people going back as far as the Harlem Renaissance. While this period is hailed by many as one of the greatest periods of black cultural expression, it is seen by others as a plot by the Left to undermine black nationalist movements such as that of Marcus Garvey. Many people are not familiar with Marcus Garvey because his Universal Negro Improvement Association did not allow white entry. This is why any mention of his name is excluded form history. Anyone whose message does not have color blind, universal love as its centerpiece is usually considered persona non grata by the Left. This is not limited to Garvey but any black person who has dared to speak honestly about the race issue in this country. Although James Baldwin's alternative lifestyle may be celebrated by the Left, his harsh critiques of Liberalism are not.

For further historical documentation of this division, I suggest you read Harold Cruse's "The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual" and Kwame Ture's (Stokley Carmichael) speech "The Pitfalls of Liberalism" as well as his Berkeley speech.
.

For most black folks there is little difference between a right wing Conservative and a left wing Liberal. They are both after one thing:

The control of resources (ie social, political, economic power.)

To borrow from Kwame Ture' the bottom line is white people (even the most Liberal) are fighting for power. Black people are fighting for survival.


Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/

Should Black Folks Celebrate July 4th ?

Fighting for Your Right "Not" to Party:Why I'm Not Celebrating July 4th

Min. Paul Scott


On July 5th 1852, the great orator and abolitionist,Frederick Douglas delivered an electrifying speech where he posed what was possibly the most significant question of his time; "What to the slave is the Fourth of July?" He received a thunderous round of applause.

A hundred and twenty some odd years later, July 4th1976, as a nine year old junior militant, I stood defiantly on a picnic table, raised my sand shovel and posed a similar question.Why do black people celebrate Independence Day,anyway?"

The response I received?"Shut up and eat your hot dog!"The issue of whether African Americans should celebrate the 4th of July is one of those eternal questions that is often asked this time of year but never receives a valid answer. Why do black folks feel obligated to dress up in red white and blue top hats and sing the Star Spangled Banner when our ancestors were in the field picking cotton while the colonists were getting their party on ?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a day off work and a trip to the beach as much as the next guy but it's time to replace political correctness with historical correctness.As a matter of full disclosure, I've never prided myself as the all American boy type. I hate baseball and even the thought of apple pie makes me nauseous.

So my view of American history may be cynical at best.African Americans were not free in 1776, did not have full citizenship in 1876, were still fighting for equal rights in 1976 and in the aftermath of the Sean Bell murder, 2076 ain't looking too promising.

Contrary to popular belief, America's victory in the Revolutionary War did not bring my ancestors one iotacloser to Independence than if the Red Coats wouldhave won. Just if the British had won, instead of having a Big Mac and a Pepsi for lunch, I would be dining on crumpets with a spot of tea. And I would probably be listening to Sir Paul McCartney in my ipod instead of 50 Cent.

Although, many overly patriotic zealots claim to cherish freedom of speech, speaking against this country's day of national pride is considered sacrilegious, worthy of a trip to the woodshed, or worse.

Although the constitution grants freedom of expression, in the 21st century, freedom of speech comes with a heavy price.There is always the distinct possibility that you could wake up one morning in a cozy little cell in Guantanamo Bay or at best find yourself sitting across the desk from a stone faced IRS agent trying to explain why your last year's vacation at Disney Worldwas tax deductible.

Should I have to live with the fear of "America loveit or leave it" being graffitied on my front door just because I will have the only house in the neighborhood not proudly flying Ole Glory ?As America becomes increasingly more culturally diverse she will have to deal with the blatant contradictions in her history books.

While Tony Romanomay be throwing a big party for Columbus Day maybe he shouldn’t invite his coworker Blue Sky Runningbear to the shindig. And while John Smith may pay tribute to his WWII veteran grandfather to commemorate every V-JDay, his neighbor, Yoko Tshima, may morn the death of hers.

Americans must begin to respect each others rights to party or not to party on July 4th While some will dismiss my views as those of some ultra militant, left wing radical who is still miffed that Rev. Jesse Jackson didn't get the Democratic Party nomination back in 1988 , could it be that I represent the views of millions of the silent minoritywho are afraid to express themselves for fear of McCarthy-like persecution?

So, don't expect to see me at the annual fireworks show this year with my finger stuck in the potato salad. I'll be home reflecting on the fact that for millions of African Americans, on July 4 2008, the road to Freedom is still under construction.

Min. Paul Scott is a "gangsta writer" and activist based in Durham NC. He can be reached at (919)451-8283