Betty Chambers Has Spoken

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Random Thoughts on Father's Day
Sunday, June 15, 2008

My father introduced me to politics.

He even wanted me to become a lawyer, but alas that was not to be. He's still around, and lives with my mother of course.

My folks are immigrants, two times. They left their island home for the United Kingdom. My mother foresaw that opportunities in Great Britain might be limited. She decided that America would be the better choice for us. She was right.

This country has always fascinated me - the good and the bad.

Many many years ago my Dad came to the USA, before he married my mother. He was in the deep south having to contend with segregation and the color line. I don't know if he knew about it before he arrived. He did speak about what a tough adjustment it was. The work alone was rough and very very hard.

Now, my two brothers live in the deep south. To say that their lives today are a world apart from what my father went through would be an understatement. Along with visiting my older brother, I go visit an old friend of mine in the deep south.

The only way things can change in America is based on the people, not the government.

The first time I voted was when my Dad took me to the polls. I was quite proud. I vote because so many others died so that I have this right. It is my voice in this representational democracy. I don't take it for granted.

I don't believe that the government can re-create a majority of stable two-parent Afro-American families. I do believe it did a lot of damage to it, resulting in the small number of these families today.

I don't believe the government is capable of efficient, capable, and positive social policy for its citizens. It is too late for that. The only thing it can do is poorly manage money and wage wars.

I sometimes fear that with its profligate spending and wasting of resources this government will collapse under its own weight. I hope it doesn't happen.

Labels: america, father's day, immigrants, politics, segregation, vote

posted by GoldenAh

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