Well, Marley K., you wrote two chapters and prompted me to do the same.
White culture is so self-centered, because it revolves around fitting in; being born on the inside, staying on the inside, climbing the insider ladder, and keeping “other” people on the outside. How could it be otherwise? The white world is such a tiny place, there isn’t enough room for all the white people, let alone “others”. That is the reason, so many people are living on the streets.
Why would I fight to get inside, when I am free to roam the outside without fighting any one at all? I’ve grown quite comfortable out here. Not only is there more space, there are more people out here too. We may be strangers to insiders, but we are not strangers to each other. As I said, my own children have written the same things Marley K. has written here.
In Allegory of the Cave, good old Plato said the exact same things I am saying now. I checked and Wikipedia has a good overview of this famous play. No doubt in my mind, white people are prisoners of the cave. FoxNews and TalkRadio keep them terrified of the shadows while they narrate their story. Is it any wonder, white people feel like they are losing their freedoms? Until they find the courage to leave their cave, they will remain chained inside their cave.
Out here, on the outside is where I was born and it is where I will stay. I am an outsider, that is my identity. I belong to me and no one else — not even my own children. I do not own a credit card. I owe no one any money. I do not believe in usury.
I live in an Elm Forest, with green grass that people say looks like a park. I tend a garden; goats, pigs, horses, chickens and cattle live beside me. I get my eggs while they are still mama chicken warm. You should see all the pretty colored eggs, the bright orange yolks, the easy peeling. At night, at the end of the hall, through the bedroom window, a bright neon sign reads “WalMart”. That sign gives me comfort for it reminds me that I live “outside” city limits.
Come summer, when the weather is fine and the wind has stopped her blowing, my daughter and I host our annual picnic. Beneath the shade of the Elms on a carpet of grass where the children play baseball, our friends and family gather. The food is amazing, the company is fine, the music fills us up. People say we look like the United Nations and I suppose we do. Like birds of a feather, outsiders flock together. This is just one of countless reasons, I am so certain that outsiders can build a better country.
All we need to do is stay outside and stay away from insider’s caves. If insiders want to participate, they must find the courage to walk outside their cave.
I wonder what people would say, to a Constitutional Amendment adding all Ten Commandments?
