I JUST LOVE commenters, especially when they “miss-the-point” as they provide a platform for me to expound on the issue. First and foremost, I didn’t write the op-ed for Black History Month for “praise” but to highlight my experiences as a Black U.S. Citizen in the CNMI which was just a partial reflection of other U.S. Citizens from the mainland (Black & White) who also have ideas but are afraid to even mention them for fear of being shunned by Locals and even fired —I guess elkapitan didn’t get the memo that I marched with Dr. King who was for EVERYONE being treated fair and equal. It’s common knowledge that many locals don’t like outsiders telling them what needs to be done but I’m a breed from the Civil Rights Movement, unlike any other kind the CNMI has seen before. But if you think about it, given that the ideas I mentioned could have surely helped the CNMI to be a better place one would think I’m due some praise for at least trying to help make a difference which is WHY the Humanities Council recognized me for fighting FOR the People my entire lifetime, which none of my critics have ever done FOR the CNMI. Sometimes the truth hurts and can even make me look good — so stop hating.
I know that many locals don’t like the fact that “I TOOK ownership in the CNMI and dared to speak-out to tell Locals what needed to be done” but I guess they forgot that the CNMI is America FOR ALL U.S. Citizens this is not “America FOR Locals” only. I think it is a horrific miscarriage of justice that “an adopted Chinese child has MORE rights in the CNMI than American Citizens from the mainland” who have sent BILLIONS to the CNMI. We are still fighting for “Black Lives to Matter” on the mainland and I’m fighting here FOR “ALL American Lives to Matter,” and to end this “local supremacy that has turned mainland U.S. Citizens into a Renter-class” no better off than a CW and in some cases worse-off. CWs have a guaranteed job and even some help with their Healthcare which is far better than the contract that our teachers sign at PSS, especially mainland teachers who are a “Renter-class and can be fired without cause.” It doesn’t sound so good for teachers which is why there is always a challenge to have enough teachers. Equality & Fairness is not just about Black folks but ALL Americans in the CNMI, as “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” as Dr. Martin Luther King once said.
Why tell me to run for office if I want to change things but I beg to ask WHY can’t an ordinary citizen make a difference in the CNMI if they have a good idea? Critics will say anything that sounds good to them and saying I can’t compare myself to Don Farrell just shows they will say anything. Mr. Farrell and I both wrote Local Textbooks and we both were on the Board of Education at one time but I guess these true facts of comparison are not good enough for elkapitan who wants to twist things. And it’s not just about the solutions I offered but the solutions that sooooo many other Americans have to offer but are afraid to speak up. I had one mainlander who was here before me to tell me, “Ambrose you can’t tell these people what they need to do; they aren’t going to listen regardless of the merits.” This is the sentiment among other U.S. citizens that my Local Critic elkapitan seems to know NOTHING about. Also FYI elkapitan, I never implied being the only one “engaged in the ideas I raised” and the fact that others were gives even MORE credibility to my argument for the ideas. But I am the only one still fighting FOR these changes over the years, which no-one can deny.
I do want to thank JackLord5-O-670 for his respectful and appreciative “Thank you Ambrose for keeping the Hope & Dream Alive. God Bless America.” At least there is ONE patriotic American who was willing to thank me and realize that I’m not fighting for Ambrose but for ALL Americans and the American Dream in the CNMI to become a reality for ALL including Locals. I’m fighting for “Justice and Equality” which are some VERY powerful principles that are valued in America and fighting against these principles that history has taught us is futile means it’s just a matter of time before the “Day-of-Reckoning.” FYI readers, the last Census showed that only 26% of the people in the CNMI are Local which means 74% of the people are NOT Local and that 26% are controlling the overwhelming majority in the CNMI which is why these Special Preferences FOR Locals over everyone else has lasted. Life and prosperity for a U.S. Citizen is supposed to be about a person’s character and deeds, not their race. But one day the wrongs perpetrated by Locals towards fellow Americans are going to come to real fruition and it’s up to Locals to set the conditions for a “fair & equal CNMI” or face the reality of being FORCED to be “fair & equal with their fellow Americans” just like we saw with minimum wage and immigration. Heck, if we don’t do something that is real REFORM driven by Legislation, the Feds are going to take over our workforce too — I Told You So, as I may not be here to see it happen but it will HAPPEN! Prosperity is not preserved for Locals only, as WE will ALL find prosperity together or not at all and continuing to flounder in the sea of disarray& inequality.
One People One Direction.
The writer is an Economist, Political Scientist, retired teacher, former CNMI Board of Education Member, James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
Ambrose M. Bennett
