May 19, 2005
Widespread "disrespect" afflicts the USA
The brilliant Zapotec legal scholar and Mexican President Benito Juarez said something very simple but extraordinarily truthful and far reaching in a speech on July 15, 1867. Upon re-establishing his government in Mexico City after the defeat of French forces at Puebla on Cinco de Mayo, Benito Juarez said, "Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz". For our English only readership his statement translates as, " Between individuals, as between nations, the RESPECT for the rights of others leads to PEACE".
There is no doubt that today, America has forgotten the meaning of the word RESPECT and no longer practices this precept when dealing with other nations, cultures and religions. In fact many of America's present internal problems are in most cases due to the lack of RESPECT for the rights of others. This is true in relationships within families, between neighbors, between the genders and between the government and the governed. The problems generated by American's lack of RESPECT are more apparent and serious in the areas of intra-ethnic and intra-racial relations which has led to major riots in the large cities. Today there is no PEACE in America due to the lack of RESPECT that permeates society at all levels and it is getting worse. Congresswoman Maxine Walters coined a slogan that is synonymous with that of Benito Juarez' when she said, "No Justice- No Peace".
There are many contemporary examples of the lack of RESPECT in America that is threatening to bring down the country like a hut of straw, just read the news. Some that come readily to mind is President Clinton's lack of RESPECT for the White House when he proceeded to insert a cigar up Monica Lewinsky's vagina in the Oval Office. Another is the recent shooting of a minority neighborhood by 10 Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in which 120 bullets hit a vehicle of an unarmed Black motorist and seven homes in the area. Yet another involves sodomite Catholic priests lack of RESPECT for the innocence of children. The lack of RESPECT for the sanctity of human beings by US soldiers was graphically depicted on the horrific pictures that came out of the Abu Ghraib torture prison.
Lack of RESPECT is also manifested through radio and television. Bill Handle of KFI radio in Los Angeles recently said over the airwaves that LA cops "should have parked a flashlight up the anus" of a Black man that was chased and savagely beaten by the police. Lack of RESPECT for womanhood was demonstrated by talk jock Bill O'Reilly when he asked journalist Andrea Mackris whether she "got off with a vibrator". Lack of RESPECT is also rampant at Disney owned KABC radio in Los Angeles and especially against the Mexican and Mexican-American community. Recently they called a popular Spanish language newscaster a "rata" (rat) and sent him some fake cheese and a funeral wreath.
With American's innate sense of "lack of RESPECT", it is not surprising to learn of what they did at Guantanamo prison with the Holy Qu'ran. This "lack of RESPECT" for Islam and Muslims has already had major repercussions. There is a high probability that if America had RESPECT for Islam, 911 may have never happened. Flushing the Holy Qu'ran down the toilet serves no purpose and only disturbs the PEACE. Hateful USA Islamophobes are now filling the blogs and chatrooms with proposals to use the pages of the Holy Qu'ran to "wipe their asses" or as toilet paper. This is a situation where Benito Juarez' statement rings more true than ever.
Perhaps "RESPECT" should be taught to Americans in the public schools, colleges and universities. "Respect 101" would go a long way in bringing PEACE to the world and the country. It should be part of every curriculum and mandatory for graduation. Remember, "Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz" - Benito Juarez, July 15, 1867.
