By Kenneth L. Hardin
I was never great at math so I won’t pretend to do it here.
But the 71, 35 and 31 words from oaths and pledges I was force-fed to learn throughout my formative education years, supposedly to ensure loyalty and commitment to this Country, have turned out to be merely suggestions.
106 of those words are spoken with a forked tongue by men and women elected to ensure this Nation operates with integrity and holds true to the freedom and values we’re trotting around the globe telling other countries we stand for and asking our sons and daughters to die behind.
Those numbers represent the Presidential and Congressional Oaths of Office as well as the Pledge of Allegiance.
The latter, those 31 words, is what I learned going back to elementary school. Even as a child, I took them seriously enough not to engage in any behavior that may have brought shame on my Country or myself.
I understood the significance of its meaning enough to realize it wasn’t a suggestion or a recommendation that I could ad- here to if the wind blew just right or if my stomach didn’t hurt that day.
Viewing this hypocrisy through older eyes now, I imagine after Thomas Jefferson finished his forced sexual liaison with his slave, Sally Hemings, and checked on his other hu- man property, he felt compelled to write that all men were created equal and had the inalienable right to declare their independence.
The hypocrisy of this country astounds me.
Maybe those 31 words that debuted in 1892 and were adopted by Congress as our pledge in 1942, should be revised a wee bit to read more honestly, “I pledge allegiance to the hypocrisy of the United States of America and for the arrogant hate inspired vitriol, which is allowed to stand in this Nation, Godless, easily divisible, and with a lack of liberty and injustice for all.”
That would be a more accurate representation of this nation, especially the one that was allowed to thrive and flourish under our incoming Racist in Chief and his insurrectionist wing of the MAGA Republican Party.
I wasn’t surprised at the January 6th “ish” show attempt to overthrow our government and murder our elected leaders. The fact that you would commit such a heinous and traitorous crime and have the audacity and arrogance to feign anger at being held accountable for your actions is the pinnacle of out of control white privilege.
Even crazier is that so many now view this as patriotic and they may receive pardons next month.
The domestic terrorists on January 6th and their sympathizers were upset they lost the election. They were afforded their constitutional right to vote, but be- cause their cult leader fell short, the process was called fraudulent, so they decided to riot.
Africans in America have been denied equal voting rights and had freedoms restricted for centuries. With Project 2025 looming, the MAGA Administration will again try to deny voting rights to Africans in America while also stripping away civil, religious and other basic human and constitutional rights.
But I guarantee you not one person with a dark skin hue will storm a building or threaten to kill any elected official as a result.
There are many other privileges rooted in hypocrisy that those with the complexion protection enjoy that Africans in America are denied, but I’ll just continue to place my hand over my heart and still silently mimic those 31 words.
Kenneth L. (Kenny) Hardin is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.
