#83. Real American Heroes

Debuting in 1964, a toy would take the United States by storm and spawn a multi-billion dollar franchise that recently culminated in a live-action Hollywood film that garnered more than $55 million in its opening week.

G.I. Joe, named after the term ‘General Issue’ and subsequently a generic term used to denote all U.S. soldiers, is as American as apple pie. A Real American Hero was G.I. Joe and millions upon millions of children played with the various toys in their different incarnations from its genesis to the 1980s version that spawned a hit cartoon and cartoon movie as well.

Extolling the virtues of Pre-Obama America and protecting the United States of America from the evil terrorist organization Cobra, G.I. Joe represented all that was great about the nation. The finest troop’s were selected to fight for G.I. Joe, and in the 1980s cartoon, were overwhelming populated by white people.

Black people enjoyed the cartoon show, entitled G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, because they were represented with the great character Road Block. But as the show went on, they realized that the Black character Road Block was seemingly an innocuous character, a Token Black, that had little impact on the overall G.I. Joe universe.

In reality, it was but white people that saved the United States time and time again from the evil plans of Cobra Commander and his Cobra Organization. It became increasingly obvious that only white people were synonymous with “Real American Heroes” and that Black people were but secondary characters in the fight to save Pre-Obama America.

Interestingly, in the War on Terror and the fight for Iraqi Freedom, it has been white people who have died in incredible numbers defeating and then rebuilding Iraq. 75 percent of the deaths have been white personnel and only 9 percent of the deaths have been Black people. Real American Heroes, in the fight to bring freedom to the Middle East has largely been the burden of white people, even though the military is making every effort to get Black people to die for Post-Obama America.

Black enlistment in the military is declining, which leads one to believe Black people don’t want to be real American heroes, even in the new Age of Obama:

“Defense Department statistics show the number of young black enlistees has fallen by more than 58 percent since fiscal year 2000. The Army in particular has been hit hard: In fiscal year 2000, according to the Pentagon statistics, more than 42,000 black men and women applied to enlist; in fiscal year 2005, the most recent for which a racial breakdown is available, just over 17,000 signed up.”

Real American Heroes have always been white people, as they have died in numbers that are usually disproportionate to their actual percentage of the population, especially in the latest military conflicts around the world.

However, the recent rise of The Age of Obama has created a new hysteria among Black people to fall down in obsequious praise to their leader and this new found desire to serve their leader – Mein Obama – culminated in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

In this film, G.I. Joe is no longer fighting for just the United States, but is an international organization that includes a Black person from England, a couple of white people and a little revisionism of the cartoon as Ripcord is now a Black person, although he is a white person in the cartoon. Played by Marlon Wayans, Ripcord is now a Black guy that can even fly an advanced fighter, even though the real Air Force is less than 2 percent Black pilots.

The G.I. Joe film reflects Post-Obama America and Black people love it, even though it has no reflection on the actual military that – in reality - defends the country they love to hate. Black people, you must remember, don’t like pre-Obama America.

Most telling, the film has depicted the enemies, led by Cobra Commander, as a bunch of white people. You see, in the Post-Obama America, the enemies can only be white people. Black people are the new heroes.

However, the reality of special forces in the United States paints a depressing picture for Black people and their involvement in them, and further pushes the G.I. Joe movie into the realm of absurd fiction:

The Army Special Forces, known by distinctive green berets, has 234 African-American officers and soldiers in a force of 5,200 men. Blacks make up 4.5 percent of the Green Berets, compared with nearly 24 percent of the male soldiers in the Army.

The Navy has only 31 blacks among its 2,299 Sea-Air-Land, or SEAL, commandos, less than 2 percent of the force. African-Americans constitute nearly 17 percent of the male personnel within the Navy.

And, the Air Force' s special-tactics groups have only eight blacks in a force of 472 men, less than 2 percent. Servicewide, about 14 percent of the Air Force' s male personnel are African-American.

The new G.I. Joe is the stuff Black people enjoy, because it has replaced a key component of the Stuff Black People Don’t Like, pre-Obama America iconic figures. G.I. Joe was an institution and represented the best of pre-Obama America, but it was too white. Now, the multicultural cast of the new movie perfectly depicts the fantasy that Black people have created in Post-Obama America.

Stuff Black People Don’t Like includes Real American Heroes, because they represent the virtues of Pre-Obama America, and Black people know that any time white people think about the good old days of America, they fondly remember only Pre-Obama times.

And remember, knowing is half the battle.