DiaryOfAWorm: October, 2016 Article Archive

Friday Nite Football Tree - Saturday, October 22, 2016

On the way to the grandstand at Hortonville High School
I saw this tree, a shining fall red color under the lights
Friday night high school football has its attraction
Especially when you grandson is on the field
But this tree got my attention
So at halftime on the way back from the concession stand
I stopped and watched this tree for a while.
The tree just stood there in all its fall beauty
And soon I moved on to the Friday night football game.

The Butterfly and Bee of Elections - Monday, October 17, 2016

There are two sides in this election.
One side says to vote for my candidate
Because the other one is worst.
The other side says vote for my candidate
Because the other side is worst.

In my garden the butterfly has its favorite flower,
The bee has its favorite flower.
Both enjoy the nectar of their favorite flowers
But do not demonize the others choice.

But then again the butterfly and bee have no conscience,
There is no right or wrong.
And that makes all the difference.

When both candidates talk or do evil
We, in conscience, cannot pick either one.

But we can learn from the butterfly and bee
And just enjoy the nectar of life

Blood of Yemeni’s is on Our Hands - Monday, October 10, 2016

Boys and men chant slogans during
a protest against Saudi-led airstrikes
in Sanaa, Yemen

The other day at a local SOAWatch vigil I heard someone say that in countries suppressed by the USA, like Guatemala, the people of the country do not blame the people of the USA for their troubles but the USA government and big corporate interest. This may still be true for some countries in Latin America but it seems less and less true, especially in the war torn countries in the Middle East.

A good example is in the bombing last Saturday by Saudi Arabia of a funeral service in Yemen, killing 140 people and injuring more than 500. In 2011, Hillary Clinton and her closest aides in the State Department celebrated a $29.4 billion sale of over 80 F-15 fighter jets, manufactured by U.S.-based Boeing Corporation, to Saudi Arabia. The arms sales were very profitable to the Clinton Foundation. In the years before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation and just two months before the deal was finalized, Boeing — the defense contractor that manufactures one of the fighter jets the Saudis were especially keen to acquire, the F-15 – contributed $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

The country of Yemen,once friendly, to the USA, had been devastated by US drone and bombing attacks. Now Saudi Arabia, US surrogate, using US military equipment, like F-15 fighter jets and cluster bombs, is wrecking death to Yemeni peoples. As of August, 2016 the UN conservative estimates over 10,000 people of Yemen have been killed in civil war and millions displaced.

The people of Yemen, as people in our countries being devastated, know that is it is not just government leaders like Obama and Clinton but it is the American people who support these leaders that are responsible. When I was in Haiti in 2010, I was surprised that the Haitian people called President Clinton the ‘devil’. Those of us who elected Bill Clinton and President Obama must take some of the blame for these deaths. Those who vote for Hilary Clinton will need to take some of the blame for the bloodshed in Yemen and other countries. The blood is on our hands.

White Privlege Awareness (WPA) - Thursday, October 06, 2016

When I was a seminarian in the 60′s studying at St Louis University I was blessed to live in a house in a low income African-American neighborhood close to the infamous Pruitt Igoe housing project. I traveled nearly daily between the white university and the black neighborhood. One day I was going to an artsy film in a white suburb with my white friends. As we approached the movie theater a strange feeling overcame me. It was a surreal feeling. At the time I did know what it was but now I understand. It was a feeling of white privilege. The contrast between where I lived and where I was got to me.

Much later our family lived in Madison, Wisconsin a fairly white middle class city, we became members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society at our Church. As members,our mission was to visit homes of people in need, treat them with dignity and try to help them, if we could, with a voucher for basics like food or clothing. Most of the people we visited were black. I remember working into apartments that had nothing but a T.V. Set. However, I felt comfortable with the people we visited and instantly made friends with the little children. It was like I was walking into another world where everyone was equal. After I left the home I would join the white world.

After I retired some 10 years or more ago I made some friends with people in the African-American community, sometimes driving friends to a doctor’s appointment, working in a community garden or meeting around a community issue. It was then I noticed what I now call white privilege. Many did not have computers at home, most did not have cars and the neighborhoods and in a segregated community that often did not have street signs on the corners’. I started to notice that at certain events, a la cart food day at the Milwaukee Zoo, at sports and music events at my grandchildren’s rural town and a play or musical events the overwhelming majority of people in attendance were white. There is a scattering of Blacks or Hispanics at these events but nowhere in proportion to their numbers. Economics as well as race were in play. Milwaukee is not only the most segregated city by race in the USA but it is the second poorest.

This year I attended a series of workshops sponsored by the African-American Holocaust center in Milwaukee and I found a tag for this feeling of living in two worlds: white privilege. Being aware of ‘white privilege’ has influenced my view of life and brought attention to the racism in myself and our city.
White Privilege in Milwaukee is a major reason, I believe, why Milwaukee is the Worst City for Black Americans. The latest crisis, toxic lead in the drinking water in 70,000 homes in mostly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods is the latest one ignored or downplayed by city officials. For example in the 95% Black zip code f 53206 19.9 of children, 6 years old or younger have dangerous levels of lead in their blood. The city has committed no money to date to replace the lead lateral water pipes that leach lead into the water yet is spending over $130 million of taxpayers money in just two developments serving the 95% white residents of downtown Milwaukee, a downtown streetcar and sports arena and entertainment district.

If a white privilege area of Milwaukee or suburb had 19.9% of its children 6 and under with dangerous toxic lead levels there is no doubt there would be urgency toward resolving the problem.

White privilege can be a blessing for whites but a curse for blacks. Be careful what you know. You cannot return to ‘normal’ once you are afflicted by White Privilege Awareness (WPA).