After the graduation ceremony, I walked over to where my car was parked near our football stadium. As I was walking I saw one of my roommates(We’ll call him Easton) and his twin brother getting into their car and thought I’d sneak over for one last goodbye/joke.
As I got closer I saw that the window was down so I slowed down to make my approach more silent. Before they knew it I was on the driver’s side and I screamed,
“ahhhhh give me your money!!!!!”
Easton - *Looks at me and then forward acting nervous* “Oh man…it’s scary because…he’s A Marine.”
*Mass laughter ensues*
My roommate was white by the way. This would be our typical interaction. I’d do something and he’d make a comment that would allude to something racist and when I asked him to elaborate he’d divert at the last second to something else.
Boy, do I miss the dynamics in my room for senior year.
There were two whites, a yellow, and then myself(the black). At the school, most rooms had two or three midshipmen to a room but mine had four. Our jokes would be non-stop. I recall one time sleeping in my rack(six feet off the floor) Easton and my Asian roommate(“AA-Ron”) would spring up and jump-scare me. My usual response was that it was not the jump scare but the fear of a combo attack involving Manifest Destiny and Kung Fu. During Halloween on the yard, AA-Ron and I tried to pull off Rush Hour but my Christ Tucker wasn’t that great.
I’ve been in racist situations and my parents even more so. But my family as a whole was never really concerned about racism. As long as you work hard enough to show the Darwin fanboys that you’re not inferior, your life will be easier.
I’ve seen many examples of people leaving the race-hate-industrial complex which is a positive. However, most of this is due to one individual but don’t worry I won’t give my usual spiel about him.
I will be talking about something I saw the other day that inspired me to write this post which is another’s view on this man and his influence.
Why Is This Gaining Views?
Everyone is Green…some might be a darker green
Race Dynamics
Wrap Up
One More Story
Why Is This Gaining Views?
Around four years ago I got a video recommendation in my YouTube feed that came at the right time. I was searching for answers, I was hungry, I was thirsty, and I was severely injured in a sense.
Because of this one instance, I’m aware that the “Algorithm” can bring about something good. What do they say, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” But I’ve also come to realize that the majority of the time, this thing that is talked about as just code, can be used as a rudder. Other than workout/training, and certain religious videos I usually try to turn the map around and ask, “Why is this here?”
Sometimes with the above topics I still ask that question.
“You’re paranoid”
Me - “Ahhhhh, who said that?!??”
So the other day I was looking at some of my recommendations and saw this video around the topic of being black in Trump’s military. I won’t share the video cause I don’t wish to support what I believe this video is designed to do and provide further fuel to the “View Count” fire. I was interested because I’m black and served during Trump's presidency so I clicked to see what this person had to say.
Interestingly enough the woman talking in this video was an Airforce Academy grad which meant we probably graduated from our respective schools around the same time. Military life as an officer vs enlisted can be a night and day difference.
However, I must admit that I didn’t watch the entire thing. Because within the first minute, I was getting riled up and wanting to stop “Racist Orange Man” with my votes/peaceful protesting. She was good. I could learn a thing or two from her persuasive abilities.
“Man does not have the right to develop his own mind. This kind of liberal orientation has great appeal. We must electronically control the brain. Someday armies and generals will be controlled by electric stimulation of the brain." - Jose Manuel Rodriguez Delgado 1974
But the more I research the more I realize that various ideas and people are placed in front of us for a reason. Most folk don’t realize this and assume certain figures have risen to prominence due to the quality of their character/work. I believe the algorithm is more than just “Code.”
Someone - “You’re just salty about the poor performance of your own youtube channel!!!”
Me -
But, from the little of this, “Black in Trump’s Military” video I watched it seemed her story was dealing with bad superior officers, airmen talking about the border, and how their racism towards her was created and then emboldened by Trump being in office. Near the end of the video, she said something around the words of,
“We can not let this happen again.”
With those words, I was so bewitched motivated that I stood up and saluted my laptop screen with tears streaming down my face.
I’m joking about this last part lol.
Everyone Is Green…some might be a darker green
I was one of several black Marine officers both in my unit and on the island of Okinawa and most of us knew each other. There were never any stories about racism but the Marine Corps is a different culture. There are no black, brown, yellow, red, or white Marines. We’re all green as the joke goes. I served with and under all races and there was never a problem.
The only time I encountered something close to racism was when I was at a joint command in Syria and I was with mainly the Army and the Airforce.
The base commander was an Army Major and I did notice, and hear, differences in how he interacted with the white soldiers vs the non-white soldiers in my communication shop. He also utilized every base meeting to single me out and make me look inept in front of all the other officers and senior enlisted on the base. Jokes on him though as I already had a decent relationship with some of my peers and they saw through these games.
Was this racism…maybe. But for that Major, it could have been some ignorance on how communications work and being frustrated by this as well as him having little interaction with officers of a more chocolate skin tone…dark chocolate.
So I don’t mean to completely disregard the account of this prior Air Force officer in her video but turning the map around it was easy to see how this video could be fanning the flames for something in the future.
Race-Hate Industrial Complex - “TrUmP cReAtEd A rAcIsT eNvIrOnMeNt AnD hE wIlL dO iT aGaIn.”
Create a powder keg ready to be set off at a moment’s notice.
Maybe, we were all conditioned to look for things that weren’t there. Maybe this country received a false-positive diagnostic of racism. Maybe it got the PCR, Population of Coloreds Reaction….ok I’ll stop.
Based on my interactions with the Air Force especially during my period in Syria, I would say there might have been something to her claims.
Sorry to any of you people in here, but I have met some Air-folk who were diamonds in the rough though.
This racism might not have been of a Trump origin at all.
Despite this, we always have the power to influence our environment. I at times was horrible at this. Knowing what I know now I could have avoided a great deal of pain within Syria or on Okinawa. I could have had a better working relationship with that Army Major if I had been a better individual.
Race Dynamics
I grew up in a somewhat diverse part of southern California. My schools from elementary to high school were majority Hispanic, followed by similar White and Black populations with Asians being the smallest. I only had one problem with a white kid calling me the N-word(with ill intent) in middle school but other than this I was fine with almost anyone.
I took this experience with me to the military. But I noticed while at the Naval Academy and during the Barrack presidency, race was becoming a bigger issue. Random (heck maybe orchestrated) events of altercations between whites and blacks were being talked about in the media in increasing frequencies. The whites were usually in some type of security or law enforcement occupation and we would be presented with some out-of-context story designed to get people angry and fighting one another.
I believe the flames of racism were increased long before Trump came down that escalator. Racism has always been there but my upbringing, I believe, provides an example that there was a time when no one was really concerned about the color of another’s skin unless it was to crack jokes. Like all things in this post-9/11 world, I believe this chaos was manufactured.
My Boss - “Hey can you grab me the black tap…never mind I need to be more politically correct. Hand me the gorilla tape…”
This boss I was working with when I got out of the military felt the same way. He noticed a shift in how people talked about race during the Barrack years. We had a great relationship despite our outer shell being different colors. What mattered the most was our respect and trust for one another.
Wrap Up
I know I’m probably preaching to the choir on this in regards to psyops/population manipulation but I wanted an excuse to give yall more of my back story.
“Why does he always say, “Yall” even though he’s a Californian?”
This “election” might be more wild than the last one. Whatever happens, there’s always a possibility that…
Modern Industrial Medicine
The Military Industrial Complex/The Surveillance State
& The Fed Reserve
…will grow in power. Based on who is let in the Oval Office this will either be obvious or more subtle.
Despite this, we all hold the power to change things through our lives and relationships with others.
Thank you for making it to the end and let me know your thoughts below.
Until next time…
One More Story
Midshipmen who wanted to be in a relationship couldn’t be in the same company (100ish midshipmen). There were thirty companies total on the yard. The process that occurred was called a, “Love-Chit” which was documentation saying that these two people were in a relationship as well as who was staying within the company. The person who left didn’t go far, just a few floors up or down to a different company.
One of my roommates(“Edward”) was developing a relationship with a woman(“Caroline”) in our company and it was obvious. One night after Friday meal he pulled us all together and told us,
Edward- “Guys I’m in love with Caroline. I’m going to love-chit out of the company.”
*Brief Silence*
Me - Guys…I also have something to tell you…*Heavy sigh*……I’m black.
Easton - *Becomes upset, storms over to the door, and partially steps into the hallway* “THERE’S A BLACK MAN IN HERE!!!!!!”
It was a white captain during my second pump on Okinawa who, more than anyone, soured me on making the Corps a career. However, it was two extremely admirable and professional white officers, named Bailes and Kratochvil, who later more made up for the vicious racism of the white captain. It all worked out, for I left the Corps and spent the next twenty-eight years in the best job I ever had in my life. (Thank you, Grant!) No matter who you are, you WILL run into people who don't like you just because you are YOU. Just be yourself, do the best of any job given you, and the right people will see you, and will reward you for your faithfulness...
I haven't seen a Barricade Garage video in awhile, a bit intense but good comedy.
Our forebears fought and worked hard to reform our institutions, recognizing that injustice on a societal level is contrary to individual rights. We're not perfect, the work isn't done but the race baiting definitely undermines what has been accomplished.
I'm white, grew up in a mostly rural area where the underground railroad was part of our history. Most of the black homesteaders in our county had left by the early 20th century. We had one black kid in town, his name was George and one time the two of us found this giant toad behind an Inn where my grandfather stayed.