Men who could be anachronistically described as “right wingers” lead the abolitionist movement. Sowell w…

One day, back in Jan/Feb of 1986, while we (Air National Guardsmen on full-time status as government civil service) were sitting around the TxANG Turbo-prop shop smokin’ & jokin’, there was this black guy that just got out of Active Duty and came in for a job interview with the section chief and shop supervisor.

After the interview and the applicant had left, the supervisor strolled out and told us that this dude told them that he was a “Black Redneck” and that he was gunning for the top. Almost everyone turned and looked at me and one said, “looks like you got competition”. The implication was that the new guy and I would be rivals fighting for rank.

Well after Joe got on board, we became fast friends and he told me that his great-grandfather was a ex-slave turned cowboy and eventually got his own little ranch about 60 miles NE of Dallas. Anyway, jump forward to now and sure enough my buddy has pretty much has reached the top and had to stop, unless he wants to move to Austin and take up a position with the Guard Bureau.

This all took place in a unit that pretty much had closet bigots in high places — standing joke was that they were all Ring-Brothers (Masons), some even rumored to be tied to the KKK, and you had to be a RB to get anywhere.

In fact, it took a lawsuit for the first black guy to even crack the glass wall, not ceiling, into aircraft maintenance, only a few short years eariler. Keep in mind, this was the way of life in the Texas Guard, and nothing to do with other States or even the Air Force politics/policies. As a result of that experience, the “wall-breaker” became an union steward and active in the local NAACP chapter. Fortunately for the rest of us that followed, the Ring-Brothers were in decline as they were dying or retiring left and right.

In my case, I had always wanted to be a pilot, but with 20-100 vision — fat chance — so aircraft maintenance was the next best thing. However, less than a year after the Black Redneck joined us, there was an opening with the Flight Engineers that offered me the chance to get into the cockpit. It also meant that my buddy and I would no longer have to compete on the same track.

In spite of the Chief of Flight Engineers being a Ring-Brother and making it clear that he didn’t want me in there. I fought for the position as best as I could within the existing system — I didn’t want to be tagged as an AA token — and calling on every favor owed me, to no avail. He eventually selected a white boy for the spot.

As a result, the aforementioned union steward was urging me to take legal action as a “victim”, and the Chief of Loadmasters was offering me a slot as a consolation. I decided instead to give up the civil service job and take a job with a major company in the jet engine industry — mo’ money and better fast-track opportunities.

A few months later, the new Flight Engineer-in-Training was killed when his C-130 crashed in Little Rock, a couple of miles short of the runway. I took that as a sign that God telling me to plan on getting out of the Guard. So I got out when my enlistment ended a few years later.

Well, that’s my little Black History lesson for ya’ll on the Texas Air National Guard from my perspective. However, thru it all, I really loved being in the Guard, and tho I was reluctant to give it up, I gots no regrets.

Anyhoo, for your Friday enjoyment:

Thanks for the comments about Black History Month.

There is a rich history of Black achievement before the “Civil Rights Movement”.

My favorite stories are of Black Cowboys – former slaves looking for work. Hard-working, free spirits – the American spirit at its best.

I showed this stuff on the Internet to a number of Black friends – they were stunned – most had never heard these great stories.

I asked a Black Democrat friend (EEO Director) if these stories had been “supressed” by the “White Establishment”? Her answer stunned me.

She said, no, that the “Black Establishment” was not interested in telling these stories. Cowboys were too independent-spirited for the Black Victimhood Establishment.

Perhaps the “White Establishment” has re-written a lot of history for their own gains – both emotional and political. White liberals are overcome with guilt about slavery – so they favor a vision of Blacks abused by White men.

The “Black Establishment” has done the same, for different motives.

If I have WET (White Entertainment Television, and aside from the obvious argument of “They’re that now!” I’m talking about a SPECIFIC channel dedicated to showcasing white singers/entertainers) it will be immediately decried as racist/bigotted, and people will be marching in the streets. This is the same for a WHM, where Prominent whites from the past are showcased and their accomplishments seen.

If you consider me racist for that view, so be it, but then, I consider you racist/bigotted for saying I *CAN’T* be proud to be white.

As always, La Shawn, brilliant website, keep up the good work! We’ll all get along when we can have meaningful dialogue without having to worry about offending someone (ie, please feel free to discourse with me, but don’t berate me).

Dan

I remember as a child feeling pride in what my ancestors had accomlished against extreme odds and conditions. That’s no longer the focus of the message and sad to say, this is probably the first year I really have not paid much attention to the goings on of BHM.