So I've never been the biggest fan of the military. As a teenager I was against the war in Iraq, but I never really thought too much about the military. A guy I was crushing on was planning on going in and me being all Bella-like was prepared to be a military wife. So no at that point I didn't really have anything against going into the military.
But the events of the past few years plus my self learning into how black Americans are treated in this country have really made me gain more of an opinion on this topic. I was reading a post on FB about a black woman that supposedly committed suicide while enlisted. But it all the clues didn't add up. She may or may not have been murdered. But the military, the people she was basically giving her life for closed the case. They agreed with the coroner.
Now some you may know that my boyfriend has been planning to enlist in the National Guard. When he told me I was afraid. I didn't want him to go because I didn't want to lose him. At that point I wasn't necessarily thinking about the fact that he would be a black man in the military. But as I got home and processed it more I started to ruminate. You would have to be under the deepest rock in the sea to not notice at how many black people are being killed in America. It's not just black men though they are more visible. I don't understand why as a black person you would enlist in a army to defend a country that does not care about you. I just don't. I'm sure we as black people feel patriotic just like everyone else. But for me that does not extend to my life on the line for a country that would spit on my grave. Just no.
One of my LJ friends asked me to post the story I sent to my boyfriend. It's a very short story but it seems up what I wrote above in a fictional way.
( Read more... )
This entry can also be found on DW at: http://leia-solo.dreamwidth.org/685190.html
But the events of the past few years plus my self learning into how black Americans are treated in this country have really made me gain more of an opinion on this topic. I was reading a post on FB about a black woman that supposedly committed suicide while enlisted. But it all the clues didn't add up. She may or may not have been murdered. But the military, the people she was basically giving her life for closed the case. They agreed with the coroner.
Now some you may know that my boyfriend has been planning to enlist in the National Guard. When he told me I was afraid. I didn't want him to go because I didn't want to lose him. At that point I wasn't necessarily thinking about the fact that he would be a black man in the military. But as I got home and processed it more I started to ruminate. You would have to be under the deepest rock in the sea to not notice at how many black people are being killed in America. It's not just black men though they are more visible. I don't understand why as a black person you would enlist in a army to defend a country that does not care about you. I just don't. I'm sure we as black people feel patriotic just like everyone else. But for me that does not extend to my life on the line for a country that would spit on my grave. Just no.
One of my LJ friends asked me to post the story I sent to my boyfriend. It's a very short story but it seems up what I wrote above in a fictional way.
( Read more... )
This entry can also be found on DW at: http://leia-solo.dreamwidth.org/685190.html