The Grudges
Eating popcorn on the sidelines
I’ve been nibbling on this essay for a few weeks and it isn’t quite as complete as I’d like it to be, but here it is. Maybe I’ll add to it later.
It’s fascinating to watch on social media as people and groups worry about their ethnic blood lines dying out or being diluted. Be advised, I’m not talking about ethnic genocides, which are always wrong and always evil. I’m talking about those who are up in arms about interracial/inter-ethnic relationships, intermarriage and integration.
Especially confusing are black Americans who go on about those of our number who procreate with non-black persons.
Black Americans ourselves mostly stem from at least two ethnicities; it’s why many-to-most of us look different from black Africans. Ironically, some of these same black Americans strive to differentiate themselves from black Africans and Caribbean immigrants using two terms: African-American Descendants of Slaves (ADOS) and Foundational Black Americans (FBA) - as if all mentioned groups don’t stem from Africa.
These Americans refer to the two immigrant groups as tethers - a nonsensical term when you know the actual definition of the word. With my father being Kenyan, I have been called a tether before, though my mother is ADOS. The idea that my heritage isn’t “pure” enough for me to be considered ADOS/FBA is funny in light of the heritage of black Americans that I mentioned above.
And a further irony: I’ll bet that %100 of the ADOS/FBA activists voted for King “Tether” himself in 2008 and 2012.
Then there are the white people and groups who worry about this. Like many of their ancestors, they feel that it’s necessary to protect whiteness: both the bloodlines and the cultures. However, I’d say that that ship sailed hundreds of years ago with the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Where do they think that all the Central and South American people with Spanish surnames came from? Oh yes and there are the Filipinos and other Pacific Islanders that fall into this category.
Of course, all of this splintered, scattered thinking is a manifestation of the wars among the powers and principalities that rule over each ethnic group. They are doing what they’ve always done: using their human proxies to sow fear, discord, violence, and to jockey for position over other ethnicities.
The short-sightedness is amazing. What happens if you conquer and subjugate your “enemies,” who look totally different from you? Will you live in peace and harmony? History gives a resounding no. Human beings will always find a reason to have tribal/gang wars, sometimes even with their next-door neighbors.
Don’t believe me? How many countries and nation-states have experienced civil wars and/or internal genocide?
Germany
France
Rwanda
Ireland
United States
Off the top of my head.
On X, it’s fascinating to watch as people argue over which group has killed and genocided the largest amounts of other groups. We see modern-day black individuals and gangs attacking and killing non-blacks, mostly whites and Asians. And we are reminded of the countless instances in which whites have done the same to non-white groups and to each other. But white people don’t do that anymore, right?
I wonder whether the latter have become less overt about it, since nearly everything that we use daily and have been using for decades is suspect, including the water we drink and the food we eat. And then there are the vaccines.
And how many observers know why the Japanese are still hated by the Koreans, the Filipinos and, without a doubt, the Chinese?
And how long will all these grudges be held? How often will vengeance be planned and carried out?
Cain started it and, at some point, it will be finished. But I think all peace-loving people are just trying to not be afraid of the interim.
(Thanks to all the Carcass Worshipers of the world)
In the 1980s, I was Chase Manhattan Bank's economist for Sub-Saharan Africa. When I took the job, I immersed myself in writings about the continent. One of the recurring themes was the irrationality of the borders--just about all of which were drawn by European colonial powers. One nation might include ethnicities who differed by language, religion, and history; and some of those thrown together were ancient enemies. Often, a single coherent ethnic group would be divided across several of the contrived nation-states. One African nation was heralded as an exception--perhaps THE exception to these contrivances. That was Somalia, which was ethnically, religiously, linguistically, and culturally homogeneous. Somalia's population was almost entirely ethnic Somalis--Sunni Muslims who spoke a common language. And the vast majority of ethnic Somalis lived in Somalia. Somalia and the Somali people also possessed a stunning piece of coastline along one of earth's busiest trade routes. Surely, observers thought, Somalia had the makings of an exception to Africa's pattern of economic and social collapse. And yet ... ... Somalia ultimately descended into fractious internal warfare among rival warlords; the country became the exemplar of the term "failed state."
"Of course, all of this splintered, scattered thinking is a manifestation of the wars among the powers and principalities that rule over each ethnic group. They are doing what they’ve always done: using their human proxies to sow fear, discord, violence, and to jockey for position over other ethnicities." Thank you as always for this reminder to see through the correct "lens". It instantly makes everything make sense. And reminds believers who we really eternally are and to whom we belong.