Wow. What a media week. Obama and his controversial birth certificate problems and the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton. What struck me about the Obama/Trump fiasco in the news was how he was continually pressed with supplying an original copy of his State of Hawaii Birth Certificate
This struck me because of THE REAL ID ACT of 2005 at some point all people residing in the United States will have to prove legal status. It's amazing he thought of if as being such a distraction. He's now responded twice, once in 2008 with a non-legal copy of his "Certificate of Live Birth" and then again this past Wednesday April 29, 2011.
You can view a better copy of President Obama's Birth Certificate, Courtesy of:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/27/president-obamas-long-form-birth-certificate
The question of racism arose from several fronts, from the media, from talk shows such as "The View" and then will be showcased on Monday May 2, 2011 on "Oprah" when he and First Lady Michelle Obama are the invited guests. I found racism to be alive in my own case at the Utah Department of Motor Vehicles Fairpark Office in Salt Lake with my confrontation with "JOYCE" the supervisor, covered in my NOTE/ENTRY: "UTAH DMV Evil or Good? You tell me...I'm Illegal...or not. I'm NAVAJO!" I too realise racism does exist and must be constantly aware of it. I was so upset with Joyce, I immediately called my friend Jim who with the aide of Utah Senator Gene Davis, and now former Utah State Division of Indian Affairs Director Forrest Cuch called Nannette Rolfe, Director, Utah Department of Public Safety Drivers License and discussed the insulting incident regarding my Utah Drivers License as a result of The Real ID ACT of 2005 authored by Wisconsin Senator James Sensenbrenner. Through Nannette Rolfes office, Jill Laws had me fax my documentation, set up a new appointment for the following Thursday and I proceeded to obtain a six month temporary paper State of Utah issued Drivers License (not a plastic card).
What struck me was how a supervisor would treat people so horribly and make them feel lower than dirt. On my second visit, Thursday, I made it known to all the workers who the offending supervisor was by pointing "Supervisor Joyce" out and stating: "The lady wearing the red shirt with the short hair is the person I talked to on Tuesday." They immediately took her aside and separated her from the rest of the employees. What I hope happened is she was given a choice of sensitivity training. The Salt Lake City Fairpark DMV office caters to a minority population, mainly the Rose Park community, largely Hispanic. The reason I made it my mission to take it to a higher level was because I was floored a supervisor could treat people so poorly, mostly those who would be indigent, minority, hispanic, and who would be used to this type of treatment. What a dis-service from a public servant, someone hired by the State of Utah to help, assist, provide superior customer service. The situation needed to be exposed. As you know by my Note/Entry "UTAH DMV Evil or Good? You tell me...I'm Illegal...or not. I'm NAVAJO!" I did exactly that. I felt vindicated and hope that the Utah DMV is monitoring and will maintain a no-tolerance on discrimination to their minority population from that moment forward.
Getting back to Obama and his birth certificate. If this President had been of Anglo-Saxon, German, Swedish or any other "white-race", it is doubtful his legal presence would be questioned. What I want to interject here is, me being a minority, there have been instances in my life, including the Utah DMV incident, where being brown (Navajo) has not worked on my behalf. What I want to convey to you, is you have to look out for number one...the ME factor.
No one else will. Some will pave the path, but you must make sure to tread it, or create one that others will follow. It's not easy being the person who makes change. Change is scary. Change is unsure. Change happens whether you are the cause or not. Time, circumstance, everything changes.
In my case, I was not willing to accept the one month extention Supervisor Joyce gave me as an ultimatum when I knew the law of The Real ID Act of 2005 and what my rights were. I had the upper hand through knowledge, wisdom and fortunately a good friend who had political connections to assist me in my time of need. Again it took SIX people, including myself, to schedule the second appointment. Sometime you have to realize within yourself that you must reach out to others who can help. It's amazing who stepped to the plate. I will forever be indebted to my friend Jim for the role he played in this incident.
Another point I want to make: I don't care what color you are, I am, or who anyone is. Sure physical beauty will create a first glance, but in the end what will trump anything are intellect, personality, and the beauty of the soul.
Talking about beauty, did you get to watch the Royal Wedding this morning?!? I accidentally fell asleep but watched it in a rebroadcast. Did you notice how similar Prince William looked like his mother Princess Diana?
Prince William, screen shot; Princess Diana, Peter Skingley/AP/pool
As an adopted child, a constant is not looking like, acting like, having the attributes of fellow adopted siblings and parents. Beside the fact that I needed to obtain a birth certificate, once I found my biological family in Ganado, Arizona back in 1985, there has always been that comforting feeling of not being alone. Knowing there were others who had the same bloodline, features, quirky mannerism I possess. A completeness, the last piece of the puzzle. The same occurred when my cousin Matt came to visit Los Angeles last month
My cousin Matt,
Uncle Bob's son.
Even though he lives on the other side of the United States, when he was in my presense, there was a closeness, a bonding that felt, a relaxation from being guarded, a trustworthy feeling that people who are not adopted, those who live with their "natural" biological family unit take for granted. That is what I think adoptees constantly search for until they finally meet their natural relatives. Unfortunately for me, I will not be able to meet my brother Christopher, my mother Linda, but perhaps my biological father might be alive??? I have many other natural relatives who are alive. At some point I will meet them and be able to see myself in them. That will be the next phase I will concentrate on doing.
That said, I have to make a living so, my goals are changing toward my professional life a bit more during this depression. YES, it is a Depression we live in. I was reminded of that by a lady over at the California Employment Development Department (EDD) downtown just yesterday. I referred to the current state of our economy as a "recession" and she immediately said "THIS is not a Recession, THIS is a DEPRESSION". Yup. Now back to the grindstone.
By the way, I am currently selling some items on Ebay, feel free to notice those postings on my Facebook Page wall:
"Adopted Native American Citizenship Affected by The REAL ID Act of 2005"
You may press the "DONATE" Button on my Blog:
Adopted Native Americans/Real ID ACT
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Enjoy life and those you choose to surround yourself with.
Thank you for reading.
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