No. 98 – July 20, 2011

RACISM – BIG BUSINESS IN AMERICA

In America, racism has always been big business.

In the game of life, racism is the trump card.  The Ace of Spades.

Spade?  Isn’t that a racial epithet?

Yes, it is.  How about something being in, “Spades?”

Yes, that too, can be construed to be racial – if you are looking for something to fight about.

“Boy, it is hot today,” can get you into trouble, if you are white and saying it to an African-American.

But what about that conjured up term, “African-American?”

Isn’t that pure fiction, in and of, itself?  I don’t know any African-Americans – who are from Africa and can speak any type of African language.

It is simply a conjured up term, to divide Americans into RACIAL categories; as with all the other “racial” words that the LIBERAL ELITE come up with.

How about the “N” word?  The what?  Have enough courage say the word, “Nigger.”

But, if call a black man this, you had better be ready to defend yourself.  That is, if you are white.  If you are black, then it is OK.

It is dizzying, to say the least, as to how the race “card” gets so much play – and keeps right on playing.

If you are as old as me, then you remember the mind-numbing garbage that black Americans, not to mention other “minorities” were forced to endure during the 60s – and many years before that.

First, most blacks were referred to as niggers, darkies, gorillas, and their children as picka-ninnys, etc.

Then, southern whites modified it somewhat by saying, “nigra” instead of nigger.

Then colored.

Then it was negro, with a small “n.”  Then it was Negro with a capital “N.”

Then it was black.  Then Black.

afro-American.  Afro-American.  African-American.

But it didn’t just happen to black people.  It happened to ALL races:

Mexicans:

Spicks, beaners, pachucos, wetbacks, Latinos . . .

Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese et al:

Slat-eyed slopes, gooks, Japs, Chinks, orientals, Orientals, Asians . . . .  Now the word “Oriental” is considered racist.

And then we have the American Indians:

Native–Americans.  Who thought up that line of crap?

And what about, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” or “No dogs or Indians allowed.”

Jews, Italians, Germans, EVERYBODY.

I remember when I was young, if you called a black person a nigger, you got your ass kicked.  Very simple.

And that is the way it should be.  You insult somebody, then take the beating that you deserve.

But let’s quit playing into the hands of the LIBERAL ELITE.

I remember once, in the Army chow line in basic training, one of the redneck white guys (isn’t that racist, too?) called one of the black soldiers behind the counter, “Boy.”  The black man serving the food  looked at the white guy and replied, “If you see a boy around here, then you had better kick his ass – right now.”

End of conversation.

And that is precisely my point.

The more convoluted it becomes, the more PROFITABLE racism is.  Short and sweet doesn’t make it in the capitalistic world of MARKETING RACISM.

The more difficult, the better economics of the situation.  Lawyers love “legal” conflicts and have gotten rich off of them for decades.

A “Latino” doesn’t get hired for a job – it is because of racism.  Sue somebody.

An “African-American” doesn’t get promoted – go to court on the grounds of RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.

Racism, truly is, big business in America.

JIM CROW

Most students nowadays equate Racism with Conservatives and Republicans.

Little do they realize – precisely because they have NEVER been taught – that the first freed slaves were Republicans – because they wanted to be in the “Party of Lincoln.”

So, what happened?

Southern Democrats freaked out at the prospect of being overrun by the freed blacks.  This was a genuine fear.

So the Democrats devised a very clever way of dealing with this “problem.”

The recently freed slaves were just starting out, working like hell to make a life for themselves, fighting in the Civil War, returning to farm their land, raise families – and, for the most part, trying to live dignified, CHRISTIAN lives.

But the Democrats put this question to them.

“Look, if you are a Republican – you will have to work for a living.”

“But, if you are a Democrat, then we will TAKE CARE OF YOU.  All you have to do is vote for us and we will give you everything you need – and WANT.”

And the Americans of African Ancestry took the bait.  And the Democrats have been “taking care of them ever since.”

CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION

Most younger Americans have no idea who was actually responsible for the passage of the Civil Rights Act, when Johnson was president.  Again, they have never been taught this fact.  They are told that it was a DEMOCRATIC piece of legislation.

In fact, the SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS wanted nothing to do with it, and President Johnson (much to his credit) had to go to the Republicans to help him pass that legislation.  Had the Republicans not backed Johnson – the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would have never become law.  Check the Congressional Records.  It is there.  All you have to do is read it.

I voiced facts, such as these, while in university – and my liberal-minded “professors” went berserk.  Yet, through it all I managed to graduate – with honors – even though I had to fight for every earned grade.  This was years before GRADE INFLATION was even thought of.

Americans of African Ancestry have been sold a bill of goods – and they have been getting screwed by the Democrats ever since.

Where are the poorest parts of America?  In the South.

Where are the poorest of the poor “poor blacks?”  In the South:  Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana.

Where has the Democratic party traditionally been most powerful?  In the South.

Yet, Americans of African Ancestry still don’t get it.

THE WRONG SIDE OF TOWN

My Japanese wife once remarked, as we were driving around America on our yearly summer vacation from teaching in Japan that, “You know, in every town we have been through there has been a Chinatown and a lot of Chinese restaurants.  But almost no Japan Towns or Japanese restaurants.”

She had a point.  From her “Asian” eye, she saw very few Japanese establishments – but noticed all the places of Chinese heritage.  I had completely missed this, until she pointed it out to me.

Then I began to take this a step further in my thinking.

In most cities and towns nowadays you can find a Chinatown, a Japan Town, a Korea Town, or Little Saigon.  By the way, Chinatown is one word – whereas the other “towns’ are two words.  This shows you how prevalent Chinese people are in America and how they have contributed to the building of this great Nation.

“This is a very nice area of town.  A lot of Asians live here.”

This was a comment I heard time and again when selling real estate.  It also pertained to wealthy Jews and rich white people.

But where are the nice sections of town where Americans of African Ancestry live?  To my knowledge there are none. And what about Hispanics?  Or is it Latinos, now?  The blacks live in black ghettos.  The Latinos live in the Barrio.  But they are both crime-ridden, ghettos on “the wrong side of town.”

What is going on?  Isn’t anybody seeing what is happening?

Black people have been sucker-punched with the “we will take care of you” bullshit that the LIBERAL ELITES keep spewing out of their mouths.  But it is a lie.  And Latinos are doing the exact same thing.

The Democrats promise to take care of MINORITIES – instead of letting them take care of THEMSELVES.

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.  Teach him HOW to fish and he FEEDS HIMSELF for a lifetime.”

And therein lies the rub.

Once you teach a man how to fish – he then becomes FREE – to work for himself, to establish a small business, send his children to PRIVATE SCHOOLS (not GOVERNMENT schools), FEED THEMSELVES (not rely on GOVERNMENT food stamps), OWN THEIR HOMES (no more GOVERNMENT welfare projects) – and LIVE IN THE DIGNITY of their own choosing.

These are all Republican principles.  OLD Republican Principals.  Thus, the Grand OLD Party.

Work for yourself.  Get off welfare and be MASTERS of your own fate.

As it stands today, Americans of African Ancestry have traded in their white Southern Masters for their White Democrat MASTERS.  And Americans of Hispanic/Latino Ancestry are not all that far behind (although, they have just surpassed blacks on school achievement and “social status” whatever that means).

As long as they keep thinking along these lines, Watts and South Central Los Angeles will exist, not to mention every other black ghetto in America.  And then we have the “Hispanic Barrios” and the gangs to deal with.

EPIPHANY  – JAPAN STYLE

Why are the GOP candidates not saying these things?  Why do they just concede MOST ALL MINORITIES to the Democrats?

Because they are afraid of being called RACIST.  Did we not just go full circle here?

As stated earlier, Racism is BIG BUSINESS in America – and it will continue to be that way until Republicans can convince ALL MINORITIES that to work for yourself is eons better than to let someone else TAKE CARE OF YOU.

Ernesto Patriota and I were throwing back a few Asahi Dry Beers the other night (great beer, I might add) when the subject of racism came up.  He looked at me and suddenly said with emphatic certainty that, “In a white man’s world everything is racism to minorities like ME.  You, being white, cannot understand what I am talking about.  You just don’t know what it feels like to be a minority.”

Then I related to him my JAPANESE EPIPHANY.

When I first went to Japan I knew nothing about the country.  I thought it was all lotus blossoms, kimonos, rickshaws, polite and friendly people, love, peace and goodwill.

When I confronted the ugly reality of racism in Japan I actually did not know how to react.

I was called “Gaijin” (foreigner) all the time.  Little children pointed and taunted me with, “Gaijin, Gaijin.”

I had to renew my “Gaijin” Card at least twice a year.  That meant going down to city hall, standing in line for sometimes 10 hours at a stint, just to get PERMISSION to stay in the country.  I had to fill out all the same papers, and if I accidently crossed ONE line on the boundary of the application, then I had to fill it out all over again.

I went into certain drinking places and was told to leave.  When I asked why, they said only Japanese clientele were allowed inside.

Japanese men would suck air through their teeth when they saw me, and some would yell, “Gaijin Kirai” (I hate foreigners).

At times, when my wife and I were dating, we would would get comments that would have started fights in America.

Many apartment managers refused to rent to me because I was white.  In supermarkets, change was thrown at me.

Banks refused to let me open an account in my name.  I could not get a credit card.  I was summarily refused when trying to buy a house in my name.  To get a simple driver’s license I had to get a Japanese National to sign for me.

Pretty soon, it started to wear on me.  I got pissed off at everything Japanese.  I began to hate the whole country.

But at some point in time, something hit me like a sledgehammer.

For the first time in my life I was the victim of racism.  Being a white man, from a white country, I had never experienced that before.  And it made me mad.  I was getting to where I HATED Japan.  I was becoming a racist myself.

And that is when I took a long walk in Central Park in downtown, Nagoya.  Kids were out playing and families were walking together, laughing and enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

I had a choice to make.  Either I would let racism rule me – or I would rule racism.

I decided to do the latter.

I resolved to make racism work to my advantage.  I began gathering more students on my own.  I could teach them English better, because I was a white American.

I started to learn the language.  I took it upon myself to fight racism with a smile, HARD WORK and total commitment.

I was going to beat the Japanese at their own game.

And I did.  I worked harder than any other teacher I knew.  I changed my attitude from negative to positive.  I began to think – and act – like a different person.

And it worked.  And I worked.

I didn’t use the excuse of racism.  I established myself as the best teacher in Nagoya.  I NEVER missed one day of work in 25 years of teaching.  I never called in sick – not once, even when I was – because I did not want to give any Japanese person an excuse to say, “He is a Gaijin.  What did you expect?”

And my students loved me.  And, in time, I learned to love them.

Klepinger -1.  Racism – 0.

And that is the moral of this racism thing.

Racial prejudice is ignorance personified.  But it is also an excuse for not succeeding, not trying, not working – not being free.

By working for myself I was able to save more money than I would have ever imagined.  I now own three condos, all paid for, and I am completely out of debt to this day.

I didn’t succumb to the CRUTCH OF RACISM.  But I damn near did.

After telling Ernesto all of this he grinned, kind of sheepishly, and held up his can of beer and said, “Here’s to you, man.”

Japan was one of the best lessons I ever learned in my life.  I am still in total debt to Mr. and Mrs. Aki, the first people to take a chance on me, in allowing me to help open their first English School, in Nagoya, Japan.  To this day I am still in contact with them, and consider myself extremely lucky to have them as friends.

And I have many other Japanese friends as well.  But none of that would have ever happened if I would have bitten on the rotten fruit of racism.  Instead, I would be a bitter old man, full of hatred – and a willing victim of perpetual racial prejudice.

Although Japan has eradicated many of these earlier prejudices, it still has problems to deal with.  However, the country has made great strides, and continues to do so.

I am very lucky indeed, to have learned these lessons first-hand.  And I have only Japan – and my Japanese friends – to thank for that.

GOP – THEIR APPEAL TO “MINORITIES”

It seems so clear to me that the GOP is missing a HUGE advantage with regard to “minorities” here in America.

There are MANY successful “people of color” (I actually hate that phrase, because we are all PEOPLE OF COLOR) who are Republicans – yet, very quiet about that fact.

The GOP should advertise their concept of people taking care of themselves, working hard – and moving up the so-called social ladder.

Republicans should make every effort to enlist “minorities” of all walks of life – and encourage them to join the Party of Lincoln, to make a renewed commitment to working for themselves – instead of relying on the Government to “take care of them.”

There are a lot of Conservative Americans of African Ancestry that speak to colleges and universities and this is great. But there needs to be more from all “minority” groups.  Much more.

And the Republican party should encourage every successful American “minority person” to speak up – and to speak out – on the beauty of working for themselves, striving for a better life, away from the constraints – and regulations – imposed by a Huge Government Bureaucracy – and get on with their lives.

Only then will we finally begin to break this perpetual dependency upon our bloated, slave-like system of Governmental Welfare.

“To be, is to do.”

PREDICTION

With what I have said above, I can’t help but predicting something that I can already see on the horizon.

If Barack Obama is actually defeated in November of 2012, there will be chorus of RACISM throughout the land, directly solely by the purveyors of this lethal disease.

There will be a concerted effort to paint EVERYBODY who voted against Barack Obama as a racist.  It will be sweeping and it will be astonishing.

Watch for the “issue” of RACE to slowly come to the forefront of the 2012 Presidential Campaign in the coming months.

Until next time. Keep thinking positive. Hope for Real Change in 2012!

Best wishes,

Lawrence Klepinger
Editor/Publisher
The American Telegraph