Happy Birthday USA!!

This Robservation is actually special to me. Not only is it a celebration of the birthday for what I consider to be the greatest country on Earth, but this is also my 200th Robservation. I just wanted to thank Mrs. Grant and say what an honor it has been for me to write for her. During the 250th birthday bash for this great country of ours, emotions are swimming wildly in my head. For me, in my mind at least, my service to this country started long before I even knew it. How? Well, I absolutely knew from the time I was five-years-old that I wanted to fly military airplanes. I knew it, absolutely knew it. My mom used to tell a story of my Kindergarten teacher calling her and my dad in for a parent-teacher conference. “What’s the problem,” my mom asked? “Oh, we just need to talk.”

When my parents got there, the teacher sat them down and started telling them about a discussion we had in class. The teacher asked the students to tell the class what their image of God was. Well, when they got to me, I started describing God in my five-year-old brain. I said he wore bloused pants tucked into high leather boots and a leather jacket. He wore a white scarf, leather gloves and a brown leather helmet with goggles. He sat behind a panel operating switches and monitoring gages. Clearly, I was describing a WWI fighter pilot. My dad had recently taken my brother and me to see the WWI movie, The Blue Max. It is a movie about German fighter pilots. Odd as my idea clearly was, my parents kinda wore that as a badge of uniqueness from their blue/green eyed kid.

I am so proud that I live in a country that allowed a crazy little black kid from New Jersey to pursue his dreams of flying airplanes and of course serving this country as an Air Force pilot and officer for just short of 25 years. But to be honest, it has not always been easy. In another Robservation, or off line if folks want to talk, being a Black guy, I faced far more than my fair share of obstacles. When I say obstacles, I do not mean academic but rather people who clearly did not think that Black guys need to be flying airplanes. It is only because of God’s mercy and favor, along with my natural desire and abilities, that I made it as a pilot. From my high school guidance counselor, to an ROTC Captain during my summer camp before my junior year at Tennessee planting a stolen Citadel class ring in my dorm room hoping that the military police would find it (I got there first), to half a dozen similar incidents that people tried to derail me and my career. Tangible, provable incidents. No imagination here.

Yet here I am. And you know what? I still love the heck out of this country. No matter the amount of jerks I have encountered in my lifetime. I have been to many places around the world and to be quite honest, I would not give you two cents for many of them. Sorry, not sorry. When we read how some 60% or more of high school grads think communism is better than democracy, I shake my head. People are angry about Trumps UFC night at the Whitehouse but say nothing about the trans men showing their “boobs” and all the other nonsense on the Whitehouse lawn while Biden was President. America on its worse day is better than most countries on their best.

All of this being said, I will be one of the first to admit that America is not perfect. I have written on this before. Like most people and every other country on the planet, America has a huge closet full of skeletons. Unfortunately, way too many people cannot get past these historical skeletons. I am not saying we should ignore our history, especially on this 250th Anniversary, but history is not to ignore but to learn from so as not to repeat it for future generations.

When I think about this great country of ours, I for the most part always go to WWII. My brain goes there automatically with most things in my life. I love what this country did against Naziism and Fascism. How can you not? But for me, as a Black guy, when I see a photograph of a huge formation of B-17s headed for Germany, I know that there were no Blacks on those planes. Why? We were not allowed to be there. When I watch the Normandy beaches being stormed, I know that it would be 15 years after that day before a White and Black boxer could actually fight in Texas. The 40-year Tuskegee Syphilis experiment had another 28 years before it ended and school integration was likewise years away as well as other issues that plagued this country. For what it is worth, June 6 1944 is the benchmark I use in all my discussions of equal rights in America. Let there be no doubt that many of the men who stormed the beaches in Normandy to fight Nazism, went back home and did their utmost to prevent my relatives from living a normal life inside the US. I met and dealt with many of their offspring during my time in college and the Air Force so I know what I know. I actually had a face-to-face confrontation with a Klan guy who was a student at UT. He clearly did not like seeing me with my White girlfriend. Yes, this was 1982, not 1862. Likewise, in NATO I flew with a really nice guy we called “Uncle Chet.” He was from Oklahoma and we got along great. One day he told me he would love for me to visit his home and even go to church with him. But then he warned me. He said I could go to church but because I was Black, I could never join his church if I ever moved there. Hmmmm, 1992 folks.

Regardless. I love the heck out of this country. I would love to see folks who say they hate this country and want to leave; leave. But, this actually being my 200th Robservation, I still feel like I can say what I feel to be true. Mrs. Grant has always given me such latitude. Back in 2018, Mrs. Grant asked me to write about the new Equal Justice Initiative Museums here in Montgomery. It has since grown from its initial 2 museums to 3 incredibly extensive and larger venues. So, as for my 250th Anniversary contribution, I want to relate that Robservation. I cannot stress enough that this is in no way an attempt to malign this nation but at the same time, the 250th Anniversary is certainly different for different people. There is no need to recount hundreds of examples here today. Here is my Robservation from 2018.

Strange Fruit:

Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root

Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant south, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck

For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop

Strange Fruit, Billie Holliday

After I had already submitted my Robservation this month about the Red Baron, Mrs. Grant asked me if I would like to write something about this past weekend’s (26-28 April) events at the Equal Justice Institute’s (EJI) National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum. For my next Robservation, I will write about it in a little more detail. Until then . . . .

Go to the memorial and museum! People who know me know I love history. Happy, sad, bloody, cheerful, uplifting, deadly, with few exceptions, I love history. This trip down America’s memory lane, however, may be too painful for some to bear. I get that. But that is what history is supposed to do; bring our past to light, teach us who we once were, no matter how dark, and upon reflection, make our future better.

These two new exhibits here in Montgomery may not, however, be an easy pill for many to swallow. In a country, and dare I say the city of Montgomery, where stark lines of division once separated us based upon our race, I definitely see anger, bitterness and unforgiveness being the end result of these venues for some. Not all, not me, but definitely some. I saw it on the faces of more than one person last weekend. Likewise, I saw a lot of tears and sadness from folks both Black and White. But as a historian, that is the price one pays for, you guessed it, history. Honest, blunt, in your face history. Walk through an old battlefield like Gettysburg or Verdun and that is exactly what you get.

For me, the excursion downtown was a little different because of course I am a black guy and these exhibits deal with my heritage. With parents and grandparents from East Tennessee, I have grown up hearing of stories of lynchings and injustices my family lived through growing up in Morristown, Rogersville, Thorn Hill and Puncheon Camp, Tennessee. Likewise, I have gone through the Holocaust Museum in DC and walked the grounds of the Concentration Camp Dachau in Munich, Germany on at least three separate occasions. Each of these have one common theme that links them all; hate. Man’s unspeakable inhumanity to man and our unbelievable ability to rationalize those evil actions.

For now, this is all I will say about the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. If you can, I do recommend going to them. Little kids, not so much. Some of the images will certainly be disturbing to some; actually most. Also, I recommend going on YouTube and listening to Billie Holliday’s song, “Strange Fruit,” which is about lynching. I actually sent a letter to the EJI recommending they include this song and/or the lyrics in the museum. Just one of two small recommendations I made. I will share the other in my next Robservation. Likewise, I will share both my hopes and fears with these two exhibits. But overall, I have very positive hopes for what they will bring to not only our city but to the country as well.

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As for me on this 250th Anniversary, I will most certainly have the 50 odd flags posted around my house as I always do whether it be the 4th, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day or Armed Forces Day. Why? Despite any and all things mentioned in this Robservation, I love this country. LOVE IT!! Freedoms we have here are only pipedreams to millions, dare I say billions, around the world. I can honestly say that there has been no greater professional honor than serving the first half of my adult life as an officer and pilot in the United States Air Force. A close second would be having been afforded the great gift of being a pilot at Delta Airlines. Two things made possible because of this country’s greatness. And even more important than those professional honors, the ability to serve my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ without fear is the greatest gift this country has afforded me and my wife. The freedoms this country offers is amazing but pales in comparison to the freedom we can all have in Christ. Christ is our freedom and in America, we can say that without fear. I am not saying that people might not like it but they too are free to express their views and opinions. In any number of countries around the world, however, we would be dead for practicing our faith. My friends, this is a fact. Just watch the news and look at Christian persecution not only in the Middle East and Africa but also in countries like the U.K. where it is growing daily.

America is a great country, but it is not perfect. You want a perfect place to live? I will see you in Heaven. Until then, this great country is where I am going to be. Happy Birthday you big, beautiful nation!

THE VIEWS OF SUBMITTED EDITORIALS MAY NOT BE THE EXPRESS VIEWS OF THE ALABAMA GAZETTE.