Is it that BLACK & WHITE ?

It is obvious that some people are color blind, but their sense of political colors and inclinations together with their social associations and partnerships are very keen, exactly like a bull, who only reacts to red while he sees it grey. Politics have no religion, no color and no assertion, it preys on cosmic schemes, with equal and opposite embodiment of evil, in an arena of pretenders and contenders. This association places us with Caesar uttering : “ You too… Brutus “. Special interests, education, rationale and public awareness of the individual and maybe a nation, will dictate the colors under which we place ourselves, pride ourselves of, and react to the social pressure cooker, we harbor in.

In reality, we all are followers of somebody or something, be it to our benefit or detriment, not that there is anything wrong with being a follower, but it seems we have never been weaned, the suckling of all kinds of horror ideas and distorted rationales continue to take us down toward the endless abyss.

Not long ago, on one sunny afternoon of New York glorious Octobers, I was privileged to hop on a subway heading from Manhattan to Brooklyn. I guess, I thought for a moment, that I was fortunate to have the cart for myself, I hoped to catch some zeez. To my chagrin, my dream aborted before it had chance to be conceived; at the next stop, a hurdle of people filled half of the cart, and the movie started without announcements, previews, credits or freedom of selection.

I found myself, with the presents, forced to become spectator in an arena with no hold bars, no etiquette, no manners or respect for fellow travelers. Two kids playing hockey bumping against anybody and everybody while their mother watched and smiled in approval; two women whispering and chuckling; one business woman reading and ratifying her papers, absorbed in her world; some occuping two seats, one well-dressed man looked nervous and showed it in the constant movement of his body, as one having a restless night sleep, tossing a pencil from hand to hand, while his head is gyrating in all directions. Few were sleeping, while others kept their heads moving back and forth, left and right, screening other riders, the rest were standing.

Watching the cart being filled at each stop, you could appreciate the potpourri that New York is made of, as you watch the slightly visible number of certain ethnic people who embark or disembark at each stop. The cart now looks like a multinationals multicolored balloon ready to explode at any given moment, yet like a tight sardine container, where intimacy is often forced on you but rarely sought for.

As soon as we crossed the bridge, the passengers of the cart, including yours truly, have felt the congestion ease, and with it, our faces reflected some détente from the claustrophobic sensation that ran through our brain sending electrifying terrifying shocks into our spine and body.

Inspite of the serpentine swaying and monotonous clicking of the carts, the shrieking of the wheels against the bare rails, the stopping at designated stations, the influx and exiting of riders, the flickering of lights, the snoring of some dozers, one could hear a faint heated debate escalating between two middle age riders, sitting diagonally of each other, one white and the other African American. To this date, I do not know if they knew each other, or bumped into each other on the subway. Nobody knows what has triggered this debate. The white man, with a stack of newspapers and magazines in his lap, gave the impression of someone in the editing and critique business, while the African American man, dressed in a grey suit, reflected an image of government issue personnel.

The tone of the conversation became louder and louder until it commingled with the clobbering of the carts, and the debate became so agitated and intense, that, short of a miracle from the Almighty God, a murder could have taken place that moment. Many people hopped to the adjacent carts, escaping the verbal carnage, and possibly a physical one, should perturbators decided to solve their sociopolitical differences in twentieth century duel, where by-standers are often easily hurt than the perpetrators.

The subject in question was “welfare”, this controversial famous infamous charitable system, that rewards its recipients with all kind of goodies: shelter, medical, food stamps and spending money, including in the package but not limited to laziness, idleness, dependency, exploitation, extortion, gangrenous social decay and vicious attitudes.

It seemed neither of them cared about the other passengers’ right to a quiet ride; as the conversation became more audible, one could detect an eminent interest on the part of both men to express their views, hoping either to entice others to join or impress the hostages into appreciating their debate and the level of intelligence they both exhibit.

While the African American was smirking, the first clearly audible opening statement by the white man was :

“I am sick and tire of the abusers, like you,
90% of Welfare recipients are charlatans, quacks and thieves…
You’re stealing our money,”
We…we…we work hard and pay taxes,
while people like you, are sitting on their fatty behinds, and collect.”
You don’t look to me sick .”

They continue their debate, oblivious to the boarding and hoarding people at each stop, and to the dismay of their fellow riders; they didn’t even have the courtesy to lower their voices, so to spare the poor riders’ virgin ears this Byzantine debate…

Unaware of how and why this debate has started, and what was said by either one to ignite it to a full pledged verbal and loud confrontation, one can wonder about their background, their education, their professions, their daily activities, as well as their political and nationalistic association. They look like two bright dudes, yet they were determined to be in an East and West orbiting rather than North South positioning, in their views and insights and understanding.

The African American retorted, trying to overshadow the high pitched voice of the white:
You’re wrong…
You’re wrong …
Wrong … wrong… and one million times dead wrong,
Not everything is black and white … man…
let me tell you why I collect welfare.

The white man interrupted :
Because you’re sick…
I’m sure you have a back problem ?
The oldest lie in the book !
No… No … No …, my man, the African American man answered and continued:
you need to change your glasses, I don’t think you’re getting it, you see…

The white man : I don’t see …

The African American ignoring the interjection, added :
The welfare office do not know the real reason …,
They don’t check all the stories people fill in their applications …
I am collecting welfare… because it is my pay back
White America have slaved us for so many years.., you see ..
And now it is time for the white to work and pay us.

You must be out of your mind, the white, interrogatively, hurried and blurted :
When were you slaved?
You don’t look to me 150 or even 50 years old,
You’re barely 25 years old?

The African American, calmly responded :
It doesn’t matter… You see
I told you, not everything is black and white,

I don’t see … the white man retorted in protest
Because you’re blind, that’s why you do not see, riposted the African American, and darted…
Whatever happened to my ancestors happened to me,
And it is time for collection, and for the rest of our life,
You will work and provide for us…
Dreams… Sweet dreams, the white man caroled.

I have every right to dream, heralded the African American:
Dr. King had a dream and it is now reality.
My dream, one day, for the African Americans to slave all the whites …
I tell you … it will happen

Before the white man, who now looks so enraged and dismayed, was able to speak, the African American went on to explain:

I am collecting now, and one day I will collect much more in retrospect…
You see … like the Jews, who still collect from America for Hitler’s holocaust,
We have experienced our holocaust on the hands of the white Americans…
and the Americans should pay and will pay.

The white man hurried and interjected :
How many think like you ?
You compare your situation to the Jewish Holocaust.
You should be grateful for your freedom .. and… and

Once again it doesn’t matter, white thick head,
This is what I believe and
This is my life goal … this is what I am going to pursue …
America is paying to the Jews, without having caused the Jewish holocaust,
Why don’t they compensate us for the injustice they caused us.

The white man squirted in disbelief:
What injustice and what compensation, you’re talking about.
Everybody in America, at one time or the other, experienced injustice…
not just African Americans …
You consider yourself American,
You must be crazy … you belong in a nuts house.

No, I am African first, and American second.. that’s why I am African American…
This country has rights on you and expects you to be first and foremost American

I don’t need to,

At this juncture, I wonder what was going on in the heads of the cart’s riders, are they all bored to the bones to enjoy this harassing and intellectual charade or lazy and coward, like me, not to leave the cart or join in the dramatic performance those two are putting on.

Do they agree … Do they disagree …
With whom … About what … Which point …
The polls and scoring remained a mystery except in each individual mind, and
God only knows to which direction.

As for me, I was now numb, mentally worn out and physically exhausted, yet I found myself, repeating to myself some of what I am hearing and debating it with myself by myself.

The cart looked like a court room, in a journey to nowhere, somber and quiet, except for the noisy ride, the jolting at each stop and take off, and the chaotic give and take of the two opponents, who, short of flashing their legal attorneys’ diplomas, could have passed the bar exam in a twinkling of an eye. Our courtroom cart was endowed with much more than twelve interested and disinterested spectating jurors, with no judge, no bailiff, no stenographer and no Marshall or Sheriff.

The African American, with a decisive voice and determined tone, bounced back :
We are considered minority, and have rights and privileges,
We have the right to get jobs without qualifying …
We have the privilege to get scholarships without grades
We have the right to receive welfare
and whites working to support African American,

You are not minorities, racewise, the white man inserted,
you are one of the majorities of America…
Americans of all ethnic origins are the real minorities,
In numbers … you are more than most of these minorities…
And together they are the backbone of America.

You have a point there, man, but they were not slaves…

You are hallucinating … Mr. African American …
This country is full of immigrants, who left their countries because of persecution, oppression, slavery, and have more love and respect for this country than you have,

Let them have more love, but work and provide for me and all the African American people.

The fact of the matter … you call yourself African American,
That means you’re immigrant as well.
And the African American people do not need you as their public defender,
The majority are decent citizens …
But people like you with twisted ideas should be expelled from America.[/nextpage]

You’re still waving your white supremacist sword,

Nobody dare to kick me out…

At my stop, I hurried out without looking behind me, without waiting to hear the sentencing and with mixed emotions, dismay and bewilderment; I was so disgusted and sick to my stomach that I almost threw up on the platform…

I do not know what happened after I left…, I could not come to grip with what I have witnessed on that ride … could it be that I saw the ugly face of disintegration and friction or I discovered some underlying truth about the sentiments running wild like an underground river, looking for an opening to dash through in a cataclysmic fluvial explosion.

For days, I spent sleepless nights, I guess, I could not stomach the hatred, the debauchery and the intolerance of the decrepit and anemic reasoning and conviction some people would like to embrace blindly, arrogantly and vengefully.

This experience brought back despondent and ominous bitter memories of the atrocities I witnessed in my homeland, Lebanon, where the same people, one day before, were singing homage in one accord to the beauty of the mother land, and woke up the next morning, turning against each other in one of the ugliest civil wars, this world has witnessed.

Clanism, Tribalism, Nationalism, Racism, Territorialism, Denominationalism, Religionism, Confessionalism, and Ethnicism are all based on Separatism, and will always corroborate to strengthen the struggle between the people of the same country, which reminds me of the saying: my brother and I against my cousin, my cousin and I against the outsider.

This world is doomed, and sooner or later, it will comprise myriad of small tribal factional countries, if anyone succeed to secede, I may add, whose patriotic sentiments, clan associations, religious beliefs, sworn creeds, political inclinations, autonomous instincts, and futuristic goals and aspirations will dictate their togetherness. I guess, the United Nations buildings and auditorium should occupy half of Manhattan Island, to contain all these factions and tribes, and the tribal faithfuls should erect their separate tabernacles, temples, synagogues, churches and mosques, and raise separate edifices for colleges and universities. If that is what this world is heading to…then welcome to the 21st century’s Babel.

Is the superpower America going downhill, like all the great kingdoms before, or shall it continue to be the ever hoisted banner of civilization, cohabitation and equality, and the beam that light up in the hearts and minds of all Americans, to motivate them to be hardworking, productive and patriotic. Then, the real disabled and handicapped will always find in our America a real mother, caring and providing, because the healthy and handy-able is doing his/her part, honestly, caring and loving in harmony with all values held high by the Americans, regardless of their origin or ethnicity. That is what made America great, and only all the Americans united can keep it so.

No matter how big the population of this world will be with their metropolises, cities and villages, 80% of this earth is still in its natural state, unspoiled and untamed. So, if you find few crazy, disoriented, disgruntled personages in every country, and if you find people who love to exploit under any possible pretense, have heart and look around you, the majority of people are good and decent people.

Let bygone be bygone, as all the oppressors and oppressees are long gone, and we Should really care to raise a generation that learned from the past to spare the future generations the agony of hatred, retaliation and handouts. Let’s keep America the land of opportunity where everybody deploys his/her share and offer his/her services to the glory of Almighty God, whose Book was the inspiration for the only true haven left on this earth. Travel as I traveled for over 47 years around the world, and you will develop a sincere and unconditional love for this country as you will not only constantly pray for its unity, harmony and prosperity, but you will also learn how to honor and protect her.

Let the handy-able roll his/her sleeves and lend a helping hand to the real handicap and needy, thus, the wealth of substance, character and loyalty of this great country’s united people coupled with true love, peaceful cohabitation and Godly tolerance, will produce the perfect health to our ethnic and social faltering, and if we care to preserve this haven, let’s compete to make it even better in mutual respect, with loving care and good spirit for our individual sake and for the sake of our America.