[Trueblackman]

I wrote this in response to this mornings AP Article, since I lived it.

[gunnersmatePCF12]

I went thur those gates March ‘66. Thanks shipmate.

A former Tin Can and Swiftboat sailor

[CodeMasterPhilzar]

Thank you for your service to the country, and for a (regrettably uncommon) voice of reason. Dealing with prejudice sucks - no matter what the source.

Have you been back home on leave lately? How is PG county, and Charles county? I used to live out that way. (Waldorf MD)

[redhead]

"Thank you for your service to this country."

Amen. God bless you, and THANK YOU.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Blacks who make the choice to serve often get no thanks from their own community

Well! They do from ME! I'm personally SPONSORING 4 black Sailors....so there! ;)

And thank YOU for your service!!!

[SauronOfMordor]

I think the military has done more for blacks than anything Jesse Jackson has ever done

I've noted more than once that the Civil Rights movement did not really get off the ground until after we had a large number of black combat veterans coming home from WW2, Korea, and Vietnam, people who were disciplined and unlikely to be cowed by some redneck sheriff with a puny handgun. The trend was more in the Korea/Vietnam era, since blacks in WW2 where more segregated into supply functions rather than frontline units

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I may have already said this to you, but I’ll say it again: Thank you for protecting and defending me, my country, and 300 million others.

As an aside, I was shopping for CDs to listen to on my July roadtrip to the Pacific NW, and I decided to buy some rap. Then I saw on the labels such things as “East Coast Rap” and “West Coast Rap.” I decided then to pass as, last I’ve heard, the East Coasters and West Coasters are in a feud that has gotten people killed. There’s no sense in funding such a thing with my CD purchases.

[Frwy]

People are people. It’s what they choose to do that distinguishes their character. It’s character that matters, not something so ridiculous as skin color. I honor you for your choices sir. Thank you for serving this country in the Military. It may be an easy choice for some but I know it can’t be an easy thing in the doing.

[KoRn]

Thank you for your service to our nation!!!

[blam]

Excellent. Thank you for your military service to our country.

[Freee-dame]

Thank you for your service to our country.

[cpdiii]

Great Post Kevin.

[Congressman Billybob]

Your's is a powerful and honest voice. It is good to hear it in person, and to read it on the screen.

I think you will find my column this week, interesting.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article, "Duke is Not Off the Hook"

[EverOnward]

I’ve had the privilege of working with people like yourself: smart, industrious, having integrity, hardworking, with a desire to achieve — all the while putting up with an attitude from family and friends as you have described. I respect you as I respect them. Thank you for your service and thank you for being so decent!

[Hot Tabasco]

Boo or Thug Bitch,”

Oh oh, I don't think you can say that......

[Libloather]

...I have a better chance of getting killed on the streets of Washington DC by another Black Man for $10, than Terrorist in Baghdad...

[sneakers]

TBM, speaking as a mom of a sailor, I’ll bet your parents are proud of you!! :-)

Thank you for your service! We owe you, and all our military - past and present - a debt of gratitude. Your fortitude and determination is what makes this country great!

Gob Bless!
sneakers

[hosepipe]

HOO WEE thats true.. Black culture sucks so bad it vacuums up any good there.. Wear this little essay above on a sandwich sign and walk the streets of Washington D.C.

AND you might live the day.. within two days you'd be a statistic..
NAH! they'd kill you the first day..

[Clemenza]

TBM, I appreciate your candor, and service to this country. You are NOT alone and are NOT the first person to express such sentiments.

Dakine, You are correct about the military as a means to upward mobility. As someone who has studied the history of Central and South America, I can tell you that it is true in other areas as well. Even more true down there as, to this day, the ONLY way an Indian or lower/lower middle class mestizo can rise in those societies is through the military. Sad as it is to say, Hugo Chavez wouldn't exactly be welcomed into the business world of Caracas, even if he wanted to go that route, due to race/class issues.

Thankfully, despite lingering racism, this is NOT the case for most "people of color" in the US, as evidenced by the large number (relative to other countries) of black professionals/MBAs who I meet on a regular basis. Nevertheless, among the lower middle and lower tiers of black America, what TBM (and colleagues of mine) states is often the case.

[Cheburashka]

Vernon Jarrett was a black and a journalist in Chicago for the Tribune in his late career and no friend of anything conservative or Republican. I didn’t read often his work and usually can’t remember most of his work since it was so forgettable, but one thing I do remember was one time he described his early life in rural Tennessee.

He said the local white power establishment paid attention to the local black(of course they didn’t use the word black) teenage boys, young men. They didn’t have a problem with the these boys bragging about their conquests the last night, last weekend, they encouraged bragging about their sexual prowess (not with white girls of course, want to make that clear). But Vernon was one of those quiet studious boys, head in a book all the time, and there were comments made about it, it wasn’t looked on with favor. Something wrong about a black boy wanting not to be ignorant, even if he was the son of two schoolteachers.

There was a hint in Vernon's story that it might have turned out poorly for him if he'd stayed in that town, but he went to a a black college, then came north to Chicago, and left that environment behind.

I guess the point of the story is that nowadays it's their fellow blacks that deride a young black man for trying to get ahead, they don't need a white mayor, a white sheriff in order to encourage young black men to waste their lives.

Anyway, I hope that your example might encourage some young men to get past the negative attitude and peer pressure. The ones that try to cut you down feel threatened by what you've accomplished that they have not, and they resent that.

[lctxken]

I certainly thank you for your service for our country and I truly appreciate your positive attitude. I too am a Vet and over the years I have worked with many folks of various races. The best of them - and I use the term “best” relatively - the ones I got along with “best” are those who put aside their racialness and regarded themselves as fellow members of the human race.