Vantage Point Vignettes
Comments and Commentary by Dr. Ron Daniels
Yesterday was Memorial Day, one of America’s most “patriotic” holidays because it honors those who have served in the armed forces, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend the “land of the free and home of the brave.” But. Less we forget, Africans in America, Black people have been America’s most patient patriots; appealing, volunteering, begging even to fight for a nation whose founding documents commit to “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and “freedom and justice for all.” Promises that Africans in America, Black people have yet to fully enjoy to this very moment.
From Crispus Attucks, who gave his life standing up to British soldiers determined to extinguish the flames of rebellion and demand for independence from its “colonists” and the hundreds of quasi-free Blacks who fight in the American Revolution to the untold thousands who fought in the Civil War, Spanish American War, World Wars I and II to the Korean conflict and the war in Vietnam, Black soldiers have fought to defend democracy and freedom while living as 3/5 of human beings in this country.
The historical record reveals the names of the likes of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, Monfort Point Marines and leaders like Medgar Evers who was gunned down in his driveway in Jackson, MS by a white supremacist because he was registering Black people to exercise the democratic right to vote in America. And yes, we recall the “Bloody Red Summer” of 1919 when Black soldiers were gunned down in their uniforms in cities and towns across that nation after returning from fighting to defend democracy against the onslaught of the armed forces of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.
So, on this day, as the struggle for full freedom, justice and equality for Africans in America continues, let us pause to reflect on the commitment, courage and valor of Black soldiers. #America’sMostPaitientPatriots
