Letter to the Editor: Timothy Dolan and Denzel Washington an expression of how sick this society is

Op-Ed Letter: from Clifford Jackson, Larchmont

America is a country that has always been predicated on fantasy. Kurt Andersons book ” fantasy land” brings home Americas obsession with Hollywood and so-called celebrities. Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Denzel Washington are glaring examples of individuals who are idolized for this kind of fantasy worship that does not recognize the perverted Christianity that both of these men embody with their words and certainly their actions. Timothy Dolan is a politician that does not follow the real meaning of Jesus of Nazareth. His racism and Archie Bunker like ignorance makes that clear.

Dolan said ” we have religious freedoms here that other places don’t have”. His ignorance is quite conspicuous when you look at the fact that when he made that statement he ignored the fact that native Americans had ways of worship that existed for tens of thousands of years on this continent. Their religious freedom was wiped out by the white western world , by the British and even more by the Americans. Native Americans were massacred and butchered throughout the 18th and 19th centuries especially under presidents Washington , Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Native American children were sent to boarding schools to deculturalize them. Supreme Court decisions and congressional acts like the ” Indian reorganization act” further led to the extermination of 90 percent of the Native American population.

Dolans racism and Archie Bunker like ignorance was really conspicuous when he said ” Charlie Kirk is bringing Christian’s back to the fold”. He also said ” Columbus brought Christianity to America”. When I heard and read about these two statements I not only saw RED it showed me how profoundly ignorant Dolan and many Americans truly are. To say that one of the most notorious mass murderers and an avowed white supremacist brings home and symbolizes Christianity confirms what I have always understood that this is certainly not a Christian nation and that Timothy Dolan is a fraud.

Denzel Washington and other so-called celebrities are attached to a level of importance and significance way beyond who they are and their impact on society. As Kirk Anderson made clear in his book, people like Washington are deified; unfortunately, his character and what he says are a perversion of the legacies of Dr. King and Malcolm X. Washington is not a leader and certainly not a role model. In a conversation with former congressman J.C. Watts, he said,” I have a lot of respect for George W. Bush”. The same George W. Bush who is a war criminal with his execution of Operation” Shock and Awe”. Where there were no weapons of mass destruction, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women, and children were killed for profit, with Bush’s overthrow of the Iraqi Government, so that Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, and James Baker would take in millions. Vendors like Halliburton and the Carlyle Group would see enormous profits.

Washington has always been a whore with his ” my savior is our lord Jesus Christ, and that is the only thing I listen to”. The problem is that this individual has no sense of social justice. He is typical of black people in Hollywood and professional sports. Charles Barkley and Whoopi Goldberg are blatant examples of this, because these people, along with Washington, have a constant theme which is to ” diminish the significance of RACE. ” It allows them to not only continue with their very colonized minds, but also to ingratiate with the larger white community. Washington has said, ” The issue with Black Lives Matter is more about culture than race”. Washington’s searing ignorance prevents him from understanding that the BLM is a continuation of the fight for black people, specifically, and people of color, not to have their race and humanity criminalized by white America. No, Mr. Washington, it has always been about race and how people of color have had their humanity defined as subhuman throughout the history of this country. He obviously does not know about the history of Malcolm X who said in his speech in 1962, as far as the self hatred that blacks have been conditioned with” you don’t want to be around each other but you will fight to be with the white man”. ” you bleach your skin and change the texture of your hair to be like him”. Washington’s ingratiating comportment prevents him from understanding that. Malcolm X said this 63 years ago, and this self-hatred continues to this day.

Washington also said that the conflict ” is between both sides in this country and that you can’t listen to either side”. He shows how much of a prostitute he is with that statement because if it wasn’t for one side he would not exist. That one side fighting against white male patriarchy and supremacy and all of the hate towards blacks, women, Jews , immigrants and certainly the lgbtq community is the same side that eliminated slavery and 100 years of American Aparthied. It is the same side that was a part of the legacy of Malcolm X , who was Rosa Parks personal hero, where if it wasn’t for theses two individuals and the legislation they help get started from the 1957, 1960, 1964 , 1965 and 1968 civil rights acts this very sorry actor would not exist. His philanthropy does not mean he is doing gods work as he and others have tried to say, notwithstanding that people who receive the help may need it. I have always understood the statement I am about to write and received confirmation when I read recently what Dr king said 60 years ago ” philanthropy may have its place but doing gods work means fighting the injustices that lead to the need for philanthropy”.

With Washington and others their philanthropy is self promotion that is the reason why we have heard of it. Celebrities are not hero’s more often they help protect the status quo. Washington, Barkley , Goldberg and many other so called celebrities are in this category . Exceptions were people like Harry Belafonte and his mentor the honorable Paul Robeson. When you see self serving celebrities say ” we are free” , he and refuse like Charles Barkley are adding to their asset base but certainly are not people to idolize. Also all of these people from Dolan to Washington and many others are conspicuously silent about the evils and outrages going on today. Malcolm X, Lorraine Hansberry, Fannie Lou Hamer are the real role models who followed the real meaning of Jesus of Nazareth.

Cliff Jackson, Larchmont