“You must never be fearful about what you’re doing when it is right.” – Rosa Parks
The other day I was perusing Instagram when I stumbled upon a post thanking our beautiful black service women. So I scrolled through to see which branches they had posted, not mine, but there was a fair representation. I scanned down to the caption and likes. The caption read:
“Thank you for serving us and inspiring us.”
I had an “Awe Shucks” moment and skipped right to the comments to show my appreciation for their gratitude. Now what I saw in said comments gave me pause. The flood of negativity from some of the black community had me ranging from clutching my pearls at the sheer audacity, to full blown chick from around the way, Sha-nay-nay “Oh no you did-int”, “AWWW HELL NAWW” hold my earrings.
The comments ranged from and I quote:
“Still don’t get why black people in general are in the military”
“They have been brainwashed by the c*****r cave demons into that slave mentality”
“What rights are you protecting when we don’t have any”
“They brought us over here and oppress us and you still wanna sign up to support the man smh”
“They aint inspiring and don’t deserve our respect”
And it only deteriorated from there. Now, when it comes to things like this I try not to hate, but to educate. So that’s what I did. I explained to them about the benefits that comes with military service which for some out-weighs the sacrifice. All I got back was how I wasn’t “woke” , how we have no rights, how I’m sacrificing my dignity for a paycheck and how I was a race traitor. One went as far as calling me a “homo-loving, liberal feminist who should kill herself and her unborn for tainting the gene pool.” I reported his ass quick fast and in hurry. Aint nobody coming for me and mine, and I reported him on facebook too.
As I read and argued, no informed, all I could think was, “This is why we as a people can’t progress.” So you’re telling me because I put on this uniform and every day and serve my country I’m not black, and I’m a disgrace to my race? Granted I get the whole we didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us. Hold up Militant Malakai, you are aware that when the slave traders came to Africa to get people, it was their own tribes who traded them, and some of them were POWs. So sure we were brought over against our will, but others of us provided the means. #research
How can I fight for a country that we have no rights in?
So free speech is not a right? Because I see you exercising the shit out of it. Where as if you were in countries like Iran you wouldn’t be able to go online and do that because they actually censor the internet. How about that public or private education you received? Yeah… not guaranteed I other countries.
Some trick had the audacity to tell me it was her right to hate America because we have no rights. Now I’m not saying that this country is perfect, but come on now we as a people do have basic human rights. Some people don’t even have that. Now I’m not going to sit here and ignore the systematic oppression that is blatantly obvious, but lets place blame where blame is due, and its not on our service members. These same service members who sacrifice and fight fir the basic human rights some take for granted.
Do they not realize through their hate speech they are destroying the very thing they claim they are fighting for. That the whole f-whitey routine is basically the same as f-blackie, just a difference in skin tone. Some girl went as far as to tell me we (African Americans) are the chosen people and everyone else were inferior cave dwelling demons. I wondered if she wanted a hood to go with her hate speech.
It’s sad to say as a military member most of the negativity I receive aren’t from uninformed racist, but from my very own people who claim to be fighting for our equality. There ain’t no such thing as conditional equality or freedom. Some of y’all want acceptance by this country, but cant even accept some of your own who don’t even fall in line with how you feel a proper black person should be. A little ass backwards huh? But you sit there and have the gall to call me a coward and a traitor.
I get up every morning and it this uniform on knowing full well there are people who hate and would even kill me for:
- Wearing the uniform
- Being black
- Having an opinion
I get to deal with hate for what I do, who I am, and how I feel. This uniform doesn’t protect me from racism or systematic oppression. I’m still black with or without it, but as Maya Angelou said, “Still I rise.” So tell me I’m a coward while I face the world and you hide behind your ignorance. Tell me I’m a traitor because I fight to better an imperfect system, while you sit there and stew in your negativity. You can miss me with that shit. Because I am The Very Few, The Very Proud, and The Very Brave.
I’m a veteran as well, I was also raised by a Marine. My maternal grandfather (a 30 year Marine vet) always said he wanted to be a mechanic & own his own shop up in Philly but due to institutional racism, that wasn’t a viable option for him. The Marine Corps was the quickest way out & the best way to take care of a growing family. In my humble opinion, due to the institutional / systemic oppression that we’re subjected to, any black service member’s loyalty should be to themselves first & foremost.
Like you said, the military has plenty benefits that we should be able to take advantage of. We have to navigate our reality, we gotta survive, gotta make money. If the military provides that for us, so be it. So with that being said, I believe it is absolutely possible to be woke & serve, but I also believe that slippery slopes are real & as usual we have to be careful due to our social position as black people. Either way I’m here for this post. I absolutely loved it ❤️ keep thriving sis! 🤗
Thank you so much for your support.