COWBOYS, AMERICANS & THE 1%

I am thinking about this. Gregory's words always grab me deeply. Such gross tragedy. I didn't watch either convention. I just caught the highlights on CNN International and BBC World. Both are quite balanced broadcasts, at least compared to CNN in America or Fox and so forth. What I saw about the Republican Convention was more than disappointing. It was pathetic. Here is the point. In Europe I am seeing a huge portrait of the bad assed cowboy. I mean, the Good, Bad and Ugly? Next came Clint looking like he just woke up. Later I hear he ad libbed the entire talk (talk his words: I don't do speeches, I just talk). Why Clint? He was the mayor of Carmel; a 1% village close to San Francisco. A lovely town to visit... I digress.

The Wild West cowboy symbolism is still being drawn on to reach Americans, white and rural most likely. The winning of the West involves not genocide, but real deal *murder* of the indigenous of North America. Native American? America is a word derived from an explorer from Portugal.

So, I was sitting here thinking, oh dear, from Ronald Reagan to Bush the Younger; the Republican Party has been using the Cowboy imagery to promote their values and platform. America the Beautiful should be apologizing for the mindless brutality of those who won the West, including the Railroad companies. So the Euro-Anglo from Mexico to sea and shining sea murdered people to gain control of a continent. Vote for the Cowboy. It is "our" heritage. Is that the symbolism here? At least the Dutch teach their children of their complicity in the African slave trade and selling guns to the North and then using the profits to buy cotton from the South.

The Euro-Anglo white man, i.e. Americans, needs to rethink the Cowboy, and the rape of a continent. The one good thing about Clint, and I think it is rich in irony: here is an American Icon (and I do like a lot of his movies) in his 80's, who didn't comb his hair, ad libbing his speech to the world. Supporters and the media called him loopy and funny, to be polite I reckon. I say it was symbol for this: Romney and his party represent the 1%: most living either in places like Carmel or gated security neighbors, most old and if not old kids who don't understand American History and love Cowboy mythology. Contrast that with a youthful family man of color trying to serve the best interests of a land of thieves, murderers and religious nuts. An African-American who I reckon has a forgiving heart and an African-American trying to help the global economy by helping raise the standards of America's neighbors.

The American white atonement will never happen, at least in my lifetime. At least we have the words of lads like Gregory to just remember. It is hard to remember sometimes, especially if you are guilty. As Chris Rock likes to say, it is just ignorant. It is just ignorant to project the Cowboy to the world. America; the "leader" of the world. -  Forrest A. Wright  9.19.12

Bondage 2