We cannot pretend that the currents in American Society, do not catch our eyes and ears, here in Africa. I find myself reading, watching and contemplating on that country a lot. I don’t know why, but here below are my thoughts.
The American Revolution (1765-1783) and The Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968) gave birth to two types of “Rights” in America. One can hypothetically but factually categorize these as;
- The Rights of Thomas Jefferson, and
- The rights of Martin Luther King.
By timelines, these were two struggles 100 years apart; by agenda, the first was a bout independence and the second was about slavery. Thomas Jefferson and 6 others (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, and George Washington) successfully led the American Revolution (1765-1783) against the British Crown. As a method to strengthen their struggle, they united the first 13 states to establish the United States of America for the first time. There were Americans who supported the British Crown in that struggle, even fought alongside the British. When Americans are talking about their fore fathers, they are in fact referring to the independence group, not the later. What is noteworthy from that era is that none of them was black.
About 100 years later, a new struggle had been building – the struggle of the rights of blacks on one hand and covering Latinos, Amigos and other minority races in America. The heroes of that struggle are found within the Civil Rights movement (1777-183454). This is the second type of rights of Americans, and its main hero is Martin Luther King who gave rise to Black nationalism within America and by extension the race war encompassing Latinos, Amigos, and other “minorities”.
In the current American political complex, it is clear that – Obama obviously is a proponent of the rights of Martin Luther King. He is the modern continuation of that struggle & his mere ascendance emboldened those old ghosts. In his own words, Martin Luther King articulated that“…the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights” and this is the direction that the proponents of these rights have taken. But these rights were not the sentiment of the American Revolutionary War. At the height of the inauguration of Obama, the frenzied masses were chanting “O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!” whereas at the height of Trump’s speeches, his supporters were chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” That’s the difference – between Obama & Trump, Democrats & Republicans, the rights of Jefferson &b the rights Luther. Its the rights of individuals vs. the rights of the country, when they don’t intersect!
To make matters worse, America Revolutionary War history records that numerous black Americans were also Loyalists – to the British Crown. Patriots called them “persons inimical to the liberties of America”. Democrats tapped into the populist rights and got many whites to be sympathetic to the rights of Luther King. All this International Human rights, Geo-political alliances (with the exception NATO) implement in one form or another, the rights of Martin Luther King. Obama further liberalized it and tried to convince Americans that American politics is, and I quote “an intramural scrimmage” – a game in which all players belong to the same team as in a competition between houses.
The problem with an intramural scrimmage is that it is not played at the international stage. But America plays at the international stage. Obama was saying this even as his policies were being blocked left right and center and he had to pass many of them by Executive Order. The rise of gun violence, actually the rise of police violence in America under Obama, where cops shot blacks at unprecedented rate, was the response by those who belong to the rights of Jefferson, to the America that thrives on the rights of Luther King. It culminated in the rise of Trump.
Trump belongs in the rights of Jefferson. America First, America Great – all that means a foreign policy of bursting some heads. This has always got the adrenaline of the far right, running. Not some boring domestic policy. Trump was born in New York which was one of the 13 original Colonies to declare Indepdennce from Britain, and are on the 13 stripes on the American flag.
Obama’s presidency was an outright coup d’état. He overthrew the right wing – the rights of Jefferson. But that was temporary. On the global scale, this war is between the ultra-nationalists – those who believe in rights of those who are grounded in their lands, and the internationalists who believe in a global system of shared values. These are the democrats – shared values being at the core of unity.
Museveni likes saying common interests. But interests on their own only maintain the rich class pitted against the poor class. The rich fight to control the opportunities, the poor fight for the opportunities. Shared interests breed shared opportunism. That idea lead to where Marxist theory begins – the destruction of private ownership of property.
But shared values – we can make a sustained case for shared human values. Human Values are a social phenomena! I don’t think tthere is a race which has values that are more human than another race. Civilization has progressed from an encore of human values of all races. If you say, let me study and understand the way of life of Amigos, you will find in them something which, according to Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative, can become a universal law.
We must know that equality is not about the rich apportioning some riches to the poor, the judges apportioning some justice to the poor, the strong apportioning some to the weak. That justice and equality should be before the law as it is before God. There is no one who can add or remove anything to what God has created. The richest blacks in America are dancers. So do they think they are going to dance their way to the moon, or mix-tape the path to artificial intelligence?
I’m not saying blacks we’re stupid but if a man has to kill a million people in order to become president of the remaining, you tell me if our faculties are okay. Let them each retrace their way home. We can entertain ourselves here, without anyone to remind us of our inherent ignorance. I delved into this topic with one question in mind: what was the role of the blacks in the American revolution. You see I have come to learn that in practice, rights originate from a time which calls you to fight, and you respond positively. That is why war remains one of the most loved brokerage for those who want rights.
