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By Jumasa Kofi Sankofa
..December 7th, 2001

After almost two decades of undisputed dominance, West Indies cricket has fallen to an unflattering demise. But the rise and fall of West Indies cricket cannot be divorced from the struggles and afflictions of a formerly colonized people.

Following seventeen years of dominance the seemingly impregnable wall of cricket supremacy began to show signs of vulnerability in 1992, during the South Africa inaugural tour to the West Indies. South Africa had just returned to the arena of international cricket. The tour constituted of one test and three one-day international matches. Although West Indies won this encounter, it was not with the dominance and conviction to which West Indian cricket fans had grown accustomed. It was particularly disappointing because South Africa had just returned to test cricket, having been banned from the international arena because of its policy of apartheid. After winning the close one in Bridgetown in 1992, then West Indian captain, Richie Richardson, commented that this was Ajust another game.@ Critics were livid. In 1999, captain Brian Lara, echoed similar sentiments after West Indies was white washed in their tour to South Africa. Regardless of what these two captains meant or thought they meant, it was a sign that a different mentality had taken effect on the field of play.

Historian and author CLR James was among the first to note that a certain mentality powered, and was significant to the success of West Indies cricket. James wrote, AIt was not mere skill. They played as if they knew that their club represented the great mass of black people on the island. Y No Australian could teach them anything in relentless concentration.@ James also went on to note, AI haven=t the slightest doubt that the clash of race, caste and class did not retard but stimulated West Indian cricket. Y I am equally certain that in those years social and political passions, denied normal outlets, expressed themselves so fiercely in cricket (and other games) precisely because they were games.YThus the cricket field was a stage on which selected individuals played representative roles which were charged with social significance.@

For West Indian people, international cricket has never been just another game. It was a mission inspired by the mentality exhibited by the determination of a people. It was part of their struggle for actualization, independence and recognition. It was a struggle to reaffirm their place in the history of human civilization. It has always been a statement of struggles and triumphs of a people over slavery, colonialism and white world supremacy. The dark peoples of the world dictated the respect of those who had relegated them to the outer limits of humanity.

As West Indian people struggled to throw off the yoke of colonialism, so did West Indies cricket. It was a crusade of courage, a pilgrimage of pride, a message to the colonizer from a people who will not be demeaned or ignored. It was a demand for respect B an exercise in self-assertion. It was a statement of resistance, particularly, resistance against the colonizer=s efforts to assume control over the mentality and consciousness of a formerly colonized people.

Thereby, West Indian people took cricket and transformed it into their own art form of socio-politics, style and grace. It was in recognition and respect to the unique combination of aggressiveness and grace, power, speed and control, with which West Indians distinguished themselves, such that the inventors of the game called us the calypso cricketers. And with names like Learie Constantine, George Headley, Alf Valentine, and others too numerous to mention, Black men pioneered their way into dominance of the white man=s sport, set the standards for others to follow and eventually became the sport=s most feared competitors. In his tribute to Gary Sobers, calypsonian, Hollis AChalkdust@ Liverpool states, AThis black Sobers is chairman in their hall of fame.@

Today West Indies cricket tatters on the brink of decay, while a demoralized and angry populace, unwilling to accept defeat, place liberal investments in the hope of a recovery. We search frantically for the skill or talent to launch that recovery. But such a search is futile since it is not for a lack of skill or talent but a lack of the appropriate mentality that has driven West Indies cricket to its current demise.

Incidentally, the growth of West Indies cricket did not occur without its self-inflicted wounds and internal conflicts. The colonialism that it struggled against on the outside was tearing it apart from within. One of the more obvious vestiges of colonialism was the bias against players of the smaller islands based on the presumption that players from the larger islands, mainly Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana, were superior cricketers. For years, the people from the smaller islands were baffled as to why high performance players in first class cricket were constantly being passed over. These include such players as Irving Shillingford, Livingstone Sargeant, Len Harris, Jim Allen and others. Finally, Nevisian and Leeward Island leg spinner, Elquemido Willet broke the spell in 1973. And with the sterling performances of Andy Roberts, Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose and others, the words of Frank Worrel rang through the smaller islands like a prophecy fulfilled. AThe cream of West Indies cricket will come from the smaller islands.@

Viv Richards epitomized the mentality that could make the West Indies cricket team the warrior to be feared. But following his resignation as captain, Richards was summarily discarded and was not invited to participate and bring his experience to further the growth of West Indies cricket. Here is a man, groomed in his Afro-consciousness and self confidence, who walked to the wicket and took command of the game. Here is the ultimate warrior-chief who never lost a battle. Here is a man, most suitable to groom the mentality of the young players who followed him - the mentality that is so sorely lacking. Unfortunately, here is an administration that has failed in its responsibility, and as it fails, it takes West Indies cricket with it.

Much can be said about the failures of individual players. But in recent years, the administration has made several blunders, and as it expands its power, its defeatist mentality has infected the field of play. Suffice it to say, the administration failed to bring a format of transition and continuity to West Indies cricket. In addition, it has resorted to the old format of ignoring the players from the smaller islands. This can only be termed a mentality in regression, no longer consumed by the idea of commanding respect.

The years of dominance left us the assurance that we were finally putting behind us the colonialist limitations on our growth potential. But having acquired political independence, it would appear that we have lost the enthusiasm to assert ourselves in the international arenas and have abandoned the struggle for independence of thought and consciousness. It is no mere co-incidence that West Indies cricket spurred to its heights when the spirit of independence swept the Caribbean, and reached its zenith at the time when the revolutionary music and lyrics of Calypso and reggae filtered into, and awakened our consciousness. Sadly, the spirit and the music have passed into oblivion. At the current time, neither the administration nor the players seem sufficiently consumed of this consciousness. It has regressed to a mentality that is convinced that the colonizer is better and is certain to win. It has regressed to a mentality that is convinced that our best achievement is a close imitation of the colonizer.

By: Jumasa Kofi Sankofa

Most people, Black or White, who attempt to discredit Malcolm X, usually emphasize the fact that he said that the white man is the Devil. They dismiss Malcolm=s conclusions as the ravings of a madman who was filled with hatred for white people, and was preoccupied with advocating violence. Upon this, they would conclude that Malcolm was a racist. But a person of the intellectual stature of Malcolm X cannot be dismissed so lightly. Malcolm himself said, AWhen I say the white man is the Devil, I speak with the authority of History.@Therefore, before we so casually dismiss or condemn Malcolm, it is only fitting that we understand the conceptualization of the Devil and see how the evidence of history informs us of the identity of this character.

In Western society, the prevalent conceptions of Heaven, Hell, God, Devil, Santa Claus, Fairy God Mothers and the Boogie Man are mythical creations of mystery and power, defined with an existence outside the boundaries of human experience and reality, but can nevertheless exert their influence on the human condition. Obvious fantasies, but kept real by the fascination and imagination of a mis-educated and gullible society.

Incidentally, Malcolm X was not the first to suggest that the white man is the devil. In West Indian myth and folklore, the devil is depicted as a white man who owns a plantation. In the French islands, this character is given the name APapa@ followed by some term which translates the name into AFather of Evil@. Apparently, this identity was developed from the evil and brutality that exemplified slavery and the plantation system. But in a manner that took all the myth and mystery out of the elusive Satan, Malcolm X brought the devil into the reality of our experience. Malcolm identified the devil by pointing directly at the white man, the people who considered themselves the most qualified to be the administrators of human affairs. This bold assertion by Malcolm X made many people extremely uncomfortable.

Some years ago, Trinidadian calypsonian, APenguin@, composed some lyrics that also contested the Satan myth. His calypso, titled A Look De Devil Dey@, suggested that we can observe the physical presence of the Devil in our everyday reality. The first verse of the song states:

So you >fraid Satan
A mysterious man
And you keep saying, in hell he living
It=s time you know, you thinking wrong
Devil for so, all over town

In effect, the underlying message is that there is no mystery to the identity of Satan. It is simply a matter of identifying the source of evil and understanding how that evil manifests itself within the reality of our own experience. The problem is that the devil is often characterized in a number of figurative expressions, which if misinterpreted, loses the message and distorts the reality.

Interestingly, if we analyze our social experience and the information disseminated to us in the process, we arrive at the same conclusion as Malcolm X. For purposes of effective communication, this analysis will be based on the concepts promoted in Western culture. As a result, it will reflect the counsel of Christian theology that dominates western socio-cultural thought in this area. Under this theology, Satan originated in the angel Lucifer who, out of arrogance, separated himself from the circle of heavenly hosts and sought to place himself above it. In that, the Devil proclaims superiority to God. The philosophy of white superiority is very significant, since the propagation of this philosophy plays out the identical scenario. The philosophy of white superiority not only misrepresents the shape and essence of humanity, it represents the white man=s declaration of his separation from the circle of humanity and his attempt to place himself above it. In other words, white superiority announces a proclamation of superiority to the creator. Based on this philosophy, the white man created his own order of human value and declared himself the sole authority to determine where other human beings fit into that order. Specifically, while the creator made African people completely human, the white man decided to supersede the creator and determined that blacks were subhuman. The case of Dred Scott v. Sanford is instructive. In this case, the United States Supreme Court stated that citizenship of the United States was reserved for human beings and since blacks were not humans they could not be citizens. The court, to affirm its contempt, gave reason that, Athe black man had no right which the white man was bound to respect.@ Evidently, this conveyed the message that the white man refused to recognize any right in the black man, even the God-given right to be human. It is impossible to explain how this arrogant posture is anything less than a claim of superiority to the creator.

In most, if not all cultures, the Devil is portrayed as a character that embodies evil, beyond redemption. This character can be identified from the white man=s actions in history. For instance, under the guise of bringing uncivilized savages to Christian civilization, the white man in the 15th century, began to appropriate the land and assert dominance over the life and resources of non-white peoples with incomparable barbarity. Today, the white man of the 21st century continues to capitalize on the foundation laid by his predecessors and ancestors. He continues to exploit the down trodden and surveys the resulting atrocities with callous indifference or enthusiastic admiration.

Despite history=s compelling evidence, we still hold the hope that there may be a chance for recognition and redemption. Therefore, when Donald Rumsfeld stated that Ramadan and the killing of civilians are side issues that should not distract the focus of America=s current war (against Afghans), the initial response was to wonder whether there was anything that could appeal to the conscience of these people. Then I recalled, they did not have a conscience, at least, not a human one. This, and the insistence of Americas leaders that this was a war of the civilized against the uncivilized, brought into focus the European assault on non-white humanity, beginning in the 15th century. It also brought into focus the words of Chief Seattle, who said, AThe white man is compelled to be what he is, I only hope that my people can be much better.@ It is noteworthy that Chief Seattle also concluded that the white man=s evil was an integral of his nature. It is practically impossible to conclude otherwise if, after almost six hundred years, the white man has not retreated from his posture of creating havoc and destruction among humanity. His brutality and callousness exhibits a mentality that can only be accurately conceived as the embodiment of evil. The continued survival of such a mentality demonstrates a character beyond redemption.

The preferred vice of the Devil is deception and manipulation and his greatest fear is truth. The tendency for white society to operate on precepts of deception has always been of some concern. W. E. B. Du Bois stated, AThe greatest and most immediate danger of white culture is its fear of truth, its childish belief in the efficacy of lies as a method of human uplift.@ Dr. Carter G. Woodson also stated, AWhites of considerable means have tended to look unfavorably upon the revelation of truth as shown by scientific investigation.@ To see this deception, one need look no further than a people who proclaim that, in recognition of human equality, they designed and operate a democracy with liberty and justice for all. It is a proclamation that is sustained through the mis-education and manipulation of the masses. It carefully avoids the truth that this great democracy raised itself and maintains its prominence by the mechanisms, principles, policies and practices of oppression, human exploitation and degradation, including its participation in slavery and apartheid and its partnership in the most brutal criminal enterprise known to human history.

In light of history, Black people=s support and endorsement of white imperialist initiatives defy logic. Nevertheless, black support for white supremacy appears to have grown exponentially in recent years. Within any gathering of black people today, the outpouring of pro-white sentiment is frightening. The black vote on the military action against Afghanistan is an indication of how terrified we should be. Of all the devotion to Martin Luther King=s philosophy of non-violence that blacks advocate in the face of white terrorism, only one black woman in Congress, Barbara Lee, had the courage to vote by that philosophy. This vote suggest that the majority of blacks believe that the white man=s use of violence, particularly against non-white people, is acceptable and exempt from the philosophy of non-violence. It is always amazing and puzzling how the white man can manipulate black people into treating each other with contempt but treat the white man with such reverence. But this scenario is played out in the story of Adam and Eve, where the Devil is portrayed as deceiving the original people of the earth, enticing them into disobedience to the Divine command.

The parallels of figurative description and reality are unmistakable and more than just coincidence. But because we have been misled into anticipating some grotesque, mythical, figment of the imagination, the presence of the Devil in our actual experience escapes our awareness and cognizance. The Devil that Malcolm X knew was not a figment of his imagination, nor was it conjured from his hatred. Malcolm had the vision to see the truths that the most of us could not. He was a prophet in our own time. Let=s acknowledge that.

The War on Terrorism: A Mask for the Quest of The New World Order.
..October 16th, 2001

By: Jumasa Kofi Sankofa

Whether consciously, unconsciously or subconsciously every white person harbors a desire for the achievement of one objective - the establishment and preservation of white supremacy. Therefore, for the overwhelming majority of white people, the tragedy at the World Trade Center is a blessing. It has become the focal point for the advancement of white world supremacy that has become known in recent years as the ANew World Order@.

The New World Order is the vision and ultimate objective of white supremacists. The idea is to allocate all power and authority in the hands of whites so that the entire world can be operated from a centralized location. As it were, a single white regime governing the entire world- A replica of the Roman Empire and later, the British Empire, on a global scale. The proponents of this New World Order/One Regime World pose as advocates for a productive, developing, peaceful world. Actually, they are industrial and commercial capitalists, aristocrats, racists, fascists, feudalists, terrorists, despots and oligarchists hiding behind the rhetoric of democracy, republicanism and respect for human rights.

Sadly, in addition to their internal troubles, Afghans have become the next set of fatalities in this fanatical quest. In effect, the attack on the World Trade Center has become the subterfuge for initiating a war against the people of Afghanistan, drawing sympathy by masquerading as a war on terrorism. As we have learned from the AWar on Communism@, AWar on poverty@, AWar on Drugs@, America=s wars, against what it considers to be the evils of the world, have routinely turned out to be its attempt to assert its supremacy and control over non-white peoples. Case in point: In all its war against communism, America never attacked the Soviet Union, the center of world communism. Instead, America waged and sponsored wars against the people of Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Chile, Grenada and others. At the same time, the white aristocracy generates enormous amounts of wealth while America=s self-serving holy wars spread trauma, poverty and destitution everywhere.

This war against the Afghan people is born of the same hypocrisy and performs two functions. First, it is an arrogant show of force and violence to intimidate those who may dare to oppose America. Consistent with George Bush=s declaration, the choice of other nations is to endorse America or be immediately considered an enemy. Second, it is a testing ground for determining the safety of advancing to the next stage of establishment of the ANew World Order/One Regime World@. The test has desired results. Notice, that although there is loud protest from the people, there is hardly a voice from political leaders, Muslim or Christian, denouncing this brutal attack. So, now that Muslim nations have given their endorsement to white Christian aggression against another Muslim nation, or are at least disinclined to denounce this aggression, the community of Islam, its collective security and solidarity has been compromised. The weakness of targeted nations is showing and the conditions are right for the implementation of divide and conquer- an elementary tactic of war. The entire Muslim community is under siege. The quest for a One Regime world may be on the last leg of its journey.

Unless we suffer from some sort of paralyzed mentality, we should remember that Adolph Hitler attempted this same feat just a few years ago (in historical terms). Hitler however, did not wear the mask of human rights. He boldly proclaimed his contempt for people who were not white, holding no responsibility to respect their human rights. Incidentally, this was the same pronouncement that The United States Supreme Court made regarding blacks in the Dred Scott case in 1857. In addition, Hitler violated the terms of the 1884 Berlin Conference by making war on other white industrial states in attempting to make these states satellites of Germany. This sparked the second World War, the war that was to end all wars (between white nations), and brought an end to Hitler=s ambitious plans.

However, the plan for white world dominance was never abandoned. It simply applied a different approach. This is the approach which is currently being implemented. It constitutes an alliance of white industrialized countries, with the coerced or voluntary endorsement of non-white countries. For example, it is quite obvious that the U.S. coerced Pakistan=s approval of the military action against Afghanistan. The plan is in progress. The United States, the symbol of the scope and magnitude of white power, the standard for the success of capitalism, is leading the offensive.

In assessing this situation and its implications, we cannot take lightly the history of America=s romance with violence and brutality. In a speech in Rochester New York in 1852, Frederick Douglass denounced the people of the United States for their horrifying crimes which he said could Adisgrace a nation of savages.@ Douglass further stated, AGo where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival...@ From Native American counter attacks on white settlements, to Black resistance movements to the attack on the World Trade Center, America, through sheer arrogance and hypocrisy, has never recognized the cause/effect relationship between white brutality and the resentment of victims of white terrorism. In as much as has changed, Frederick Douglass= characterization of America has not changed since the time Douglass made this profound speech.

Over the last 50 years, the United States has been carefully preparing for the moment of final triumph. It has been strutting around the world, destabilizing economies, undermining social and political stability, creating social unrest, conflicts and wars, deposing leaders, smashing governments and putting its own preference and choice of despotic regimes into power. In some cases such as Zaire, Grenada, Chile and Panama it succeeded. In other cases, such as Vietnam, Korea and Cuba it failed. But whatever the degree of success or failure, social and political tensions and social instability have been the final result.

In the throw of recent events, American leaders keep talking about the civilized world in referring to western society. This is the same type of language that Europeans have used to justify their genocidal pogroms against millions of people in North America, South America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

Incidentally, there is an additional contingent to this so called war on terrorism that is more than just coincidence - the Christian aspect. This war is driven by political objectives as much as it is driven by religious fervor. It is as Christian as it is despotic. The Christian enthusiasm to license this war with some Divine authority exudes no less fanaticism than what the West has associated with Muslims over the years. The initial name, AOperation Infinite Justice@, served notice that Americans had acquired the identity and character and assumed the authority of God. The condescending language resurrects the crusades, that characterized Muslims as infidels. It also serves a grim reminder of the European Age of Discovery, Exploration and colonization where indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa were characterized as savages, and campaigns of genocide launched against them were labeled as noble initiatives of civilization and Christianity.

Finally, the beast that Christians are always preaching about has raised its twin heads of Capitalism and White supremacy and is making its final advance upon humanity. Ironically, Christianity is every bit a part of the body of the beast. While Christians, miseducated by the church, are anticipating some literally grotesque monster rising out of the sea, the real monster escapes their notice. In blissful ignorance, they join and bow in humble subservience and worship of the beast and cannot even recognize it, because their miseducation distorts their vision. They chant, who can make war with us?, as in, AWho can make war with the beast?@ (Revelation Ch.13:4.)

The formula for maintaining a social order (on the global scale) with the appearance of fairness and justice, has already been tested. It is currently at work in the United States, and is evident in the execution of both domestic and foreign policy. It is initiated with mind-numbing exercises of mis-education that paralyze the intelligence, making the masses of the people receptive to anything presented to them through the media. We can be rest assured that the world=s population of impoverished and dispossessed would increase in numbers, as developing technology decreases the need for labor and other human services, and the ruling aristocracy becomes smaller and more powerful. Human rights and crimes against humanity will become dead issues unless the ruling body of the Supreme Alliance wants to replace the regime in one of the underling states. The concept of a peoples self-determination will cease to exist. The Supreme White Alliance will carry on the American practice of determining the type of government that others should have, and who is best qualified to rule. George Bush recently announced that the new name for this practice will be Anation building@. The cry of the oppressed will go unheard because in the absence of a competing power who can raise a challenge? Who can make war with the beast?

Terror Strikes America: A Resolution, The Truth and the Man in the Mirror. ...September 19th, 2001

By : Jumasa Kofi Sankofa

Just recently, a number of current and former police officers in Miami, Florida were arrested and charged with manufacturing evidence by planting guns on the victims of police shootings. Prior to this, the FBI, state and local police in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida conspired to cover up the actions of a white FBI agent who, while driving intoxicated on the wrong lanes (Southbound in the Northbound lanes)of the expressway, caused a collision that killed two young black men. The conspiracy attempted to place the blame for the collision on the young men. Had it not been for the agonized persistence of a distraught mother, and the attentive ear of a newspaper columnist, the conspiracy would never have been uncovered. And to think, these types of occurrences are not restricted to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, nor are they a thing of recent times. They have been going on all over America for decades. Imagine the hundreds or even thousands of lives destroyed by these actions, and the degree of grief and agony heaped upon relatives and friends. But in America, these actions are not characterized as acts of terror and they draw no public outrage because the lives disaffected, are primarily those whose lives America has already devalued and discarded as the waste byproduct of its social operations.

On Tuesday September 11, America was confronted by an offensive, that touched, jeopardized and disaffected the lives of its privileged citizens. The resulting catastrophe claimed some of Americas revered structures and symbols, completely demolished the twin towers of the World Trade Center, substantially damaged the pentagon, destroyed four commercial jet liners with correlative impact on the travel industry and caused the loss of thousands of lives. With an outpouring of anger, grief, horror, apprehension and fear, Americans agreed and concluded that this was an act of terrorism against the world. It seems as if Americans were defining terrorism as willful acts, done with callous disregard for the value of innocent lives. But then, it is not clear whether innocent lives mean human lives, or lives of privileged Americans.

Incidentally, I was socialized to think that my life was more valuable than that of my ancestors, if only for the reason that I spoke English when they could not. I was also socialized to think that my life was more valuable than many of my contemporaries because some European modeled institution had nodded its approval that I had achieved some accepted level of academic proficiency. As I found the opportunity to re-educate myself, I was able to mature to higher levels of consciousness and disentangle myself from this dreadful pattern of thought that proposes that there are legitimate reasons for devaluing human life. I have now fully internalized the belief that my life is the most valuable life there is but it is no more valuable than any other human life anywhere on the planet. So it is from this posture that I mourn the tragedy upon the life my predecessors as deeply as I mourn the tragedy in the life of my contemporaries and progeny. I mourn the dreadful horror of social decadence that has touched this planet. So the day that tragedy struck America is not a special day, just another event in the continuing saga of tragedies upon human life. I felt no greater sense of pain, sorrow or apprehension on that day, than I did the day before or the day after. America and the world will change as they must, and they will remain the same as they must. And contrary to popular suggestion, it is not because the lives of privileged Americans affected by this tragedy are more valuable than the lives of anyone else anywhere else on the planet.

While I identify with the grief and pain of those who lost loved ones and I feel compelled to offer my condolences, I can discern in myself no sense of anguish specifically related to this tragedy. Therefore, I set aside no special day of mourning. But as I listened to Americans, I recognize the expression of deep emotional dread that I have felt when names like Steven Biko, Arthur McDufee, Yusef Hawkins, Abner Louima, James Byrd, Amadou Diallo and millions of others of my time have been added to the list of millions of Africans who have been mutilated or killed in Africa, across the Atlantic or on the plantations of the ANew World@, all the victims of five hundred years of racial terrorism that few seem to notice. I hear the sense of horror that I have felt when I turn the pages and see the pictures of naked Vietnamese children, burnt and running from the napalm of one American attack after another. I hear the same sorrow that I have felt when I look at the parts of the planet ravaged by Western imperialism of which America is an active partner. I hear the same sense of agony that I have felt when I hear mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cry for their loved ones lost to the regimes of people like Augusto Pinochet, Mobutu SeSe Sekou and the Shah of Iran whom Americans orchestrated into power by terrorist and surreptitious means. I hear the same apprehension and fear that I have felt as I walk or drive through the streets and neighborhoods of Fort Lauderdale or Miami. Like James Byrd or Amadou Diallo any day, any moment could be my last. I have many times come close.

For Americans, this terror is something new, something different. It is new because it is not something that is happening to someone else. It is not something they see from a television screen and can lightly dismiss with a shrug of the shoulders. It is happening to Americans right at home. They can feel it because it touches them directly. They cannot turn their eyes away and pretend it is not there. Americans, living in the privilege and comforts of their bounty, remain oblivious to the terrorism that their country has executed, instigated and sponsored in Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean. Sometimes, Americans have even cheered and celebrated the resulting atrocities. These have also resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives, and even if not innocent, no more guilty than the rest of America. Americans have even distanced themselves from the terror that America has inflicted on the underprivileged within its borders.

There are many of us who hope that something good will come out of this tragedy. Now may be as good a time as any for Americans to come to terms with the truth about their beloved nation. Now may be as good a time as any, for Americans to come to grips with the fact that the pain they feel now is the same pain felt by other victims, victims of American terror all around the world. Now is as good a time as any for Americans to begin to think that the lives of privileged Americans are not any more valuable than the lives of anyone else. Now is a good a time as any for Americans to begin to think of playing a role to, in the words of Michael Jackson, AHeal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race.@

But this seems highly unlikely. Such a venture takes the courage and counsel of the human conscience. It would take a great leap of courage for Americans to say, AWe have done our part to despoil the world and wreaked havoc upon the rest of humanity@. For now, America seems unprepared and unwilling to take this aggressive, courageous and radical step. This unpreparedness and unwillingness is demonstrated in America=s refusal to attend the U.N. conference on racism. Such refusal is only another of its unabashed statements that the American people do not find the people of African ancestry, (some of whom they reluctantly refer to as fellow citizens), sufficiently qualified to be considered complete human beings. It is a statement that is consistent with America=s refusal to acknowledge its partnership in history=s most heinous crimes against humanity, refusal to offer an apology for its role in the enslavement and dehumanization of African people (hollow and meaningless as an apology may be), refusal to address reparations, and its persistent attempt to rationalize slavery as a legitimate arrangement because it constitution endorsed it - a blatant demonstration of American arrogance. It can hardly be expected that this display of arrogance could be cured or reversed in time for a resolution of the current matter. Furthermore, the American people, spurred and accommodated by George Bush, Colin Powell and the rest of their leadership, are seething with their thirst for vengeance and blood. And when that thirst is quenched they will call it justice. But such a thirst is never satisfied. In any event, expecting Americans to reconcile with a human conscience is hoping for something greater and more mysterious than a miracle.

Two things fire America=s indignation as it plans its response to this attack. The first is that the attack is assumed to have been orchestrated by people whom Americans regard with suspicion and contempt. The second is that the life of privileged citizens have been seriously disrupted. Meanwhile, Americans continue to invest in the misrepresentation that people hate Americans because America is free, modern and successful. To be certain, a resolution to terrorism and social decadence is sorely needed but cannot be achieved through this misguided folly. To be the part or sponsor of any effective and meaningful resolution, America must first take a long hard look at itself and evaluate itself on the basis of the truth of what America really is.