Gallo Notes: My wife and I took the grandkids to the beach for a few days. The price they had to pay was to take in the extracurricular activity. That meant visits to the incredible air museum in Pensacola, the Alabama battleship and submarine in Mobile. It also included a lecture on freedom as we passed the cemetery of heroes where the symmetry of small white crosses still the senses in more ways than one.
I thought about those heroes again when I heard Rev. Wright talk about today’s America as a vile, sadistic land where African-Americans are enslaved by a government that would rather spend billions on killing innocent people abroad than feeding its own here at home. This comes from a man who will spend over $10 million American dollars buying an American dream home in a mostly exclusive white neighborhood-in America! The heroes in those graves beneath the simple white crosses don’t deserve that kind of disrespect. They made the ultimate sacrifices as Americans; Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, African-American…AMERICANS!
There are several things I’m sure of in this Rev. Wright issue. One is that he is making the most out of his fleeting celebrity status. I think to ensure himself a life of financial security he would say just about anything to keep the flames burning as long as the dollars roll in. Rev. Wright is no different than Rev. Jesse or Rev. Al. It is controversy that sets them apart and dollars that bring them together. Somewhere in the near future, maybe the “Chickens will come home to roost,” and African Americans will not stand for racism in any form.
I was most disappointed to hear the legendary James Meredith on my Program several weeks ago say basically the same thing. Meredith blasted this country as more racist now than ever and stated that opportunities for African-Americans were less, not more. I replied, “Sir, you personally opened the door for literally millions to follow and on a path a million times easier than you had. How can you say that this country doesn’t provide the opportunity today for anyone who wants it?” The reply was typical liberal from a man who called himself in the past a Conservative. No opportunities? Give me a break. The African-American kids going to your school’s first grade glass today can become doctors, sports stars, lawyers, leaders, CEO’s, business owners, judges, coaches, actors, singers, writers, etc.
Let’s be truthful, the opportunities offered for success today are not limited by government, the soldiers who gave their young lives made sure of that. If there are roadblocks to those opportunities, they are placed there by racist black leaders who say African-American kids can’t learn and can’t achieve success. They are placed there by a fatherless family and a generational system of dreams being limited by government entitlements. Rev. Wright ought to be ashamed of himself for cursing America to ingratiate his portfolio.
I told my grandkids when we stopped at the military park, “Those young men died before they even had a chance to live. They made the ultimate sacrifice that guaranteed you and every single other American child, regardless of who they are, can be anything they want to be. In giving their lives, they’ve given you freedom. And remember this, whatever you do with that freedom, in the opportunities that you use or lose, never forget where they came from.”
That’s the sad part. I think people like Rev. Wright have either forgotten or just don’t feel enough apart of America to care about the consequences of their words.
