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Little Has Changed in American Life and Policy
By David Truskoff, North Granby
It was my original intention to write a simple piece about Black History Month. My new book, The Second Civil War, deals with that subject. A strange thing happened on the way to that article. Amy Pagnozzi, a columnist for the Hartford Courant, decided to quote me in her article of January 22 [Today’s America Would Horrify King]. The article not only dealt with Martin Luther King on his day, but covered other subjects as well.
She received the usual letters attacking her and obliquely attacking me. I felt compelled to respond, and on Tuesday, January 29, the Courant carried my response [Columnist Was Right About King]. Hoping that would be the end of it, I settled back into the task of promoting my books—but debris is still flying out of the fan, so I would like to address those who have bothered to write to me.
First, I said that Harry Truman was the worst terrorist of the 20th century for dropping the atom bomb. Two World War II veterans (I am also one) challenged me and claimed the old Truman rationale that he saved millions of American lives. One even went so far as to say, "If we had embargoed the Japanese many would have starved to death." So we killed well over a hundred thousand to save them from starvation. Kind of like deer hunters in the suburbs saving the deer. The truth is that in a speech in 1956, Truman admitted that he knew the Japanese were seeking Russian help in ending the war in the Pacific. Many high ranking officers were quoted in the New York Times as saying that no invasion was necessary. Truman, a longtime Commie hater, simply did not want the Soviets to have any influence in that part of the world and dropped the bomb for political reasons—making him a terrorist.
The other subject that drew so much fire I needn't spend much space on, because my statement has been verified by over one hundred Israelis solders who are now refusing to carry out the killing missions on the West Bank. I said that many in Israel now see the Palestinians as the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
The final issue was, as Pagnozzi's column was titled, that "today's America would horrify King." The Martin Luther King that you do not hear much about, the man who lived from 1965 to 1968, was very seldom quoted in the press because he not only was speaking out about the war in Vietnam, but was calling for structural changes in America. The Washington Post said that "King has diminished his usefulness to his cause and his country." Others went further than that, calling him a traitor and Communist.
Today in Hartford, Weaver High School is all black; Simsbury high school is all white. A national report from the Black Alliance states that African-Americans make up 13% of the population. The high school graduation rate for whites exceeds 78%; for blacks it is only 56%. In 1999, for every dollar of wealth held by the average white household, the average black household held 9 cents.
With America doing the carpet bombing of Afghanistan, with U.S. troops being deployed all over the world, I am sure King would be horrified. At Riverside Church in 1967, he said: "We will be marching for these (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand) and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy."
There has been little change in American life and no change in foreign policy.
David Truskoff is author of The Second Civil War; he can be reached at <www.erols.com/suttonbear>.
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