Yesterday, I got so angry and discouraged that I didn’t know what to do with myself. All I could think of was what would help people get their acts together. I saw Episode One of “Lawman: Bass Reeves” on Paramount. It was also the last episode that I will look at. I read that it is a true story about a slave who later in life became a federal deputy Marshall who survived the rigors and racism in the Wild West post-Civil War. The story is well-written, and the actors are well-respected and convincing. In fact, the story and scenes were convincing enough to have taken me back in time and emotions. I started questioning how hatred could be so acceptable by the so-called Christian folk to cause them to abuse, mistreat, and kill another group of people who didn’t have the same color as them. I got disgusted and angry, so I had to research who Bass Reeves was and why this was the first time I ever heard of this black lawman.
The deeper I dove in, the more I realized that this slave who became a top lawman was intentionally kept in the history books. Black people were not meant to have heroes. It also seemed to me that black folks are not meant to arrest or shoot white folks, either, which Mr. Reeves could do both and be supported by the federal courts, not always by the people in the courts. I’m a Lone Ranger fan, and I never heard of this man, but from my research, it could have been reasonable that Gaylord Dubois used Bass Reeves as the template for the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger had Tonto, the son of an actual Mohawk Chief, who rode with him side-by-side. They were able to enter Indian territories and make arrests of the white men seeking to hide and Indians who broke the law. Bass Reeves lived with Indians and spoke several of their languages. They accepted him, even deputizing some of them to become lawmen. Like Bass Reeves, the Lone Ranger wore disguises, fooling so many outlaws that some even accepted him in their camps. We know that the Lone Ranger was fictional, but we know now that Bass Reeves was real.
What tripped my emotions yesterday convinced me that people are willing to hide the historical values of what others did to build this country by devaluing their contributions and rewriting history to protect their weaknesses. We see it daily in folks fighting against the freedoms the ancestors and founders of this great land died for. Certain books cannot be read, racism does not exist, and people who are “woke” are wrong, but liars and deceivers are accepted and followed. Why rewrite history when it's easier to ignore it? Nearest Green, a former slave and master distiller, was finally recognized as passing the process of making whiskey to the maker of Jack Daniels. Not many people, drinkers and non-drinkers, are aware of this. It had to take Fawn Weaver, the Black CEO of the Uncle Nearest Brand, to bring this hidden gem to light. History is truth, whether we like it or not. Not being taught and not being educated about the very tenets this country was built on is hiding the truth of liberty.
Many of these people who are against the freedoms of others are descendants of immigrants who left their countries for the very freedoms they were denied there. I refuse to believe that this great nation has become a nation of hypocrites and fake Christians. I think the majority is silent and has become numb and quiet to the shame they are witnessing. But I also believe that God is still in control and that we all should reconcile with him before we reconcile with each other. I cannot change the heart of my brother, no matter how much I want him to see things my way and vice-versa. Only God can do that, so we should run to Him. Then I could see you and me working together towards unity.
Honorable mention to Bishop T. D. Jakes, whose sermon was meant for me during my anger, disgust, and discouragement episode.
