I Plead Not Guilty

With Obama’s Philadelphia speech to explain his relationship with Reverend Wright, a cacophony of articles and opinion are endlessly bringing up the concept of “white guilt”. Well I for one plead not guilty. I’ve never owned a slave, nor have any of my ancestors. I have never prevented anybody, black or otherwise, from achieving their potential. I don’t view black people as a monolithic group, nor do I give much credence to the concept of black “leaders”.

I have throughout my life dealt with every black person I’ve encountered as the individual he or she is, giving them the benefit of the doubt until their individual character could be discerned. Some I’ve met were natural leaders that I would gladly follow into the hobs of hell; others have been as close to me as my own brothers. Some have been talented coworkers and others have taught me valuable skills. Some have been hateful bigots that were discarded in short order. There is no monolithic body of black people; there is only an accumulation of many individuals that share pigmentation.

As to the argument that I’ve been the recipient of largess from society simply because of my race, I’d truly like to know where that’s happened. I’ve been turned down for many positions I’ve applied for, I’ve been pulled over by the police when I’ve wandered into areas where I was out of place, and the education I received wasn’t some form of largess, I had to work very hard to attain it. My admission to college wasn’t because I was white, it was because I was a straight A student. My tuition wasn’t paid for me because I was white; it was paid because I’ve served my country. The benefits I have received from society are the result of hard work on my part, and sacrifice to the society first.

I’ve taken my licks at the hands of fate without seeking to blame others for it. Sometimes you just draw the Wonka ticket and have to make the best of it. I’ve done a lot of jobs I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I know the sting of hot sand on sweaty flesh in the hot August evenings at a foundry, where I used a sledgehammer to break castings loose of their moulds to cool. I know what it feels and smells like to work all day in a pig pen shoveling matted straw and poop out of the pens. I’ve worked on roofs with my boots and pants cuffs covered with hot tar in the sweltering sun. I’ve cleaned grease traps in restaurants and shoveled rotten corn from the bottoms of storage silos. Each of these jobs built my character and provided me funds along the way. None of these jobs were at the expense of anyone else.

In short, I have nothing to feel guilty about. I haven’t sold drugs, didn’t quit school before I graduated, and never sired a child out of wedlock. I don’t go through life with a chip on my shoulder blaming others for my misfortunes. I simply refuse to buy the premise of a hate mongering reverend that has the audacity to blame racism for the problems in the black community. That a Princeton educated lawyer with a half a million dollars in annual income and a serious candidate for president wants to tell me how bad black people have been treated is laughable on its face. Here’s a sermon that should be preached every Sunday until it soaks in. Get down off your cross; build a bridge with the lumber; and GET OVER IT! As for me atoning for my “white guilt”, I have nothing to atone for, so go pound sand.

Scottie