The following article
originally appeared in The
NorthStar Network.
White men in power rarely apologize for their indiscretions. In fact,
in most situations, they manipulate instances in which most of us would
feel shame and find ways to profit from their immoral behavior. Just
look at the Watergate alumni. Richard Nixon, though resigning from
the presidency in disgrace, went on to become a best-selling author
and highly regarded in the field of foreign relations. G. Gordon Liddy,
the underbelly of the Nixon scandal, found refuge as a radio talk show
host and media personality.
There are other examples. Oliver North was the shadow behind the Iran-Contra
scandal, betrayed the nation’s trust as a military officer, convicted
of a felony and later cashed in as a conservative radio and television
talk show host. Journalist Mike Barnicle was caught fabricating stories
as a Boston Globe columnist and was promptly rewarded with a job on
the MSNBC cable news channel and an offer from the Boston Herald. Bill
Clinton engages in a sexual liaison with a young intern, is impeached
admittedly for an indiscretion that doesn’t rise to the level the Constitutional
standard of a high crime or misdemeanor, but shows little remorse en
route to cashing-in with a multi-million dollar deal for his memoirs.
Even when apologies are offered they tend to be so trite that as soon
as the words roll of the lips they evaporate into thin air. Such was
the case with President Bush’s feeble apology for the abuse of Iraqi
detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. Not only was the president slow
to show any remorse for the physical abuse and humiliation imposed
by members of the U.S. military, when he finally did exhibit a feint
degree of humanity it was in passing and communicated to King Abdullah
of Jordan, not directly to the Iraqi people. Adding insult to injury,
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, under whose watch this shameful
episode has occurred, appears before members of Congress and offers
a sorry apology on one hand and displays the utmost arrogance on the
other.
What has become painfully aware to many in the Arab world is what
Black Americans have known for some time: the United States has no
standing to be the moral arbiter of the world. Our experience from
slavery to Jim Crow to the emerging apartheid state has been of a nation
predisposed to the use of violence to maintain white supremacy. It
is naïve, at best, and ignorant, at worst, to believe that a nation
that engaged in the genocide of American Indians and the dehumanization
and enslavement of Africans, and subjugation of their ancestors, is
capable of acting humanely toward people of color on another continent.
There is no getting around this point. What has transpired in Iraq
is part and parcel of the American experience. It is the part of our
nation’s history that is conveniently forgotten by this war’s apologists
and the media. And it is our present reality. The disproportionate
incarceration of African American and Latino men, many on minor drug
offenses, and their conviction under sentencing guidelines that are
patently racist and result in the warehousing of hundreds of thousands,
provides the context for Abu Ghraib. As does the hundreds of incidents
of police violence and killings of Blacks. Is there any real difference
between the brutality exhibited by U.S. soldiers against Iraqi detainees
and what local police departments habitually impose upon Blacks across
the nation?
And speaking of apologies: When do we receive ours? Even a lame one
at that. It is particularly offensive to hear government officials
offer an apology, albeit late and insincere, to foreigners but trip
on their tongues when the subject of the experience of Black African
descendants is raised. And believe me, it’s not the apology I really
care about. It’s the acknowledgment of the pain and suffering this
nation caused my ancestors expressly to maintain white privilege, the
economic benefits derived from Blacks’ free and exploited labor, and
how that legacy transcends generations and continues to impede Blacks
full and equal participation in American society.
What we see in Iraq is simply our own reflection.
Walter Fields is Publisher of The
NorthStar Network.