Kevin Antonelli,
Vienna, NJ.
I remember the riots of the 1960’s yet at the time as a young child didn’t know the reason behind them or what was going on in the world. I was raised by an Archie Bunker and lived in a W.A.S.P. town with one black family. I was a racist but didn’t know why- it just was.
Then I entered the Army and a Black man, Willie, saved my life. I lived with, were brothers with those that were different than me and it shed new light about my fellow human beings. I then worked for a company that secretly practiced discrimination and I was torn between keeping my job and my beliefs that if they qualified for an apt just like a white man did they should have the right to housing.
All through my life I personally tried to do what I could to make a difference in how I treated black at the same time somehow how i was raised was still somewhere influencing me. But then at the same time, I resented the black community calling me racists without knowing who I am but just because I was white I must automatically be a racist. I personally do not believe anyone is better than the next person regardless of the circumstances– and I resent when people act as if they are- regardless of their race. I was passed up for a promotion to Sergeant in the Army because the other guy was black and I was told that outright.
I had nothing against the other man- he was my brother, I had his back he had mine- but he was not better than me. When Obama became President, although I did not vote for him not because he was black but because I didn’t support his political views–i still felt how wonderful it was that this country has come so far as to elect a black person President. BUT then by his actions and those of his wife, those actions of some of his administration such as Eric Holder- in their efforts to make a difference in the black mans lives– they alienated me as an American just because I was white. They themselves demonstrated themselves to be racists and I resent that. I believe that President Obama, his wife and others have created the division that we see in the US now and that although they tried to do good- they brought this country backwards and in the end– did not benefit the people they tried to help
