Oct. 13, 2025

A Black Veteran on Service, Racism, and Belief with 1st Sgt. (Ret) Leround Mitchell

A veteran’s origin story rarely starts where you expect. Ours opens with Gomer Pyle, a folded flag at a funeral, and a seventeen-year-old who thought honor was simple—until basic training taught him what that flag really costs. From there, we ride with a retired Black first sergeant through three decades of infantry life, where discipline arrives early, identity gets tested often, and promotions can hinge on more than performance.

We dig into the questions many whisper but few put on tape: What happens when bias shadows your career? How do you counsel a young person weighing service against the claim that the military is a “white man’s Army”? He shares a raw story from Korea about a promotion penciled over for someone who’d already left, then contrasts that with a counterexample from our host—two truths coexisting inside one institution. The tension sets the stage for a wider look at race, merit, and the uneven progress from the Vietnam era to now.

Faith threads through the conversation with real vulnerability. Dragged to church as a boy, he found his way back as a soldier in Korea—after twice failing to walk through the door. That return sparked a habit of reading, testing, and refusing easy answers. We wrestle with a big claim—“Christianity is a white man’s religion”—by separating origins from empires, belief from weaponization, and spirituality from labels. He argues for character and conscience over tribe, and for reading widely so your convictions grow roots instead of slogans.

We close on the government shutdown with a ground-level view: TSA and air traffic controllers working without pay, military towns bracing, safety margins thinning, and leaders insulated from the fallout. It’s not politics for sport when your mortgage, medical care, and flight paths depend on it. Along the way you’ll hear humor, candor, and a hard-won takeaway: know who you are in and out of uniform, question what doesn’t add up, and keep learning long after you hang up the boots.

If the story moved you or made you think, tap follow, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the moment that hit you hardest. Your notes shape future episodes and the tough conversations we take on next.

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00:00 - Meet First Sergeant Mitchell

02:50 - Why I Joined: Gomer Pyle and a Flag

06:20 - Would I Do It Again? Growing Up Fast

09:40 - Advising Today’s Youth on Service

12:35 - “White Man’s Army?” Diversity and Power

15:20 - Racism in Uniform: Promotions and Pushback

22:00 - Different Times: Vietnam Era Influence

24:20 - Life After Service: VA, Atlanta, and Care

28:10 - Blackness, Identity, and Navigating Society

31:40 - Faith Lost and Found: Korea to Church

37:10 - Belief, War, and Conscience

41:10 - “White Man’s Religion?” History and Debate

47:40 - Spirituality Beyond Religion

52:00 - Current Events: Government Shutdown Stakes

58:10 - Final Reflections and Read More

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U.S.

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Army veteran, retired, first sergeant, infantry, the round Mitchell.

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Brother Mitchell, are you ready?

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Christian veterans provide face to face place for Christian veterans of color to discuss the challenges you face in your daily lives.

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Well, let me just say thank you so much for taking the time today.

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But let's jump right into it.

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First and foremost, can you tell the audience a little bit about yourself?

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Yes, I can.

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Well, I am a veteran.

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I am a black man.

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I am the man.

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Yes, you are, brother.

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But uh, yes, I have uh I I did right at 30 years military, okay, army, infantry, all the way, airborne, aerossault, all that good stuff.

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Uh I got three kids, three grandkids.

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Um, and you know, right now I'm a hundred percent retired.

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So I do what retired people do and what some of them would like to do.

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Okay, what's that?

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Enjoy.

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All right, right off with no worries, no bills to worry about, no bad kids to worry about, just enjoy stress-free.

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Yeah, all right, I appreciate that.

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So, when you joined the meet the military, why why did you join?

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What was your reason for joining?

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Okay, um, I joined the military because of Gomer Powell.

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What?

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I used to watch Gomer Powell all the time.

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Okay, okay.

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And I said, hell, if Garma Powell can make it, anybody can make it.

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Goma Powell.

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I was 17, I believe.

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Okay.

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Yes, because my mom had to sign for me.

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So I had to be 17.

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So uh, yeah, Gomorpowell made me join the military.

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Watching Gomapell.

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And after that, uh, you know, I will I was already in the process of joining, but to like say, uh put the icing on the cake.

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Uh I went to a funeral, a relative funeral, and you know, just to see that flag, right?

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Okay.

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And how they took the flag off the coffin and they folded it and presented it uh to the spouse.

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And I said to myself, I want that flag.

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You know, and that that was the icing on the cake to go ahead on and join.

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But I never thought about to get that flag, you had to be dead.

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That did not cross my mind until after I was in basic training, and I said, I be damned.

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Okay, well, first of all, uh shout out to Goma Powell for his contribution to your decision.

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Um But yeah, you're right.

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I think a lot of us who join don't don't think about uh the other side, like once you get in and the sacrifice that comes with it.

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Um so I totally understand that.

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Um knowing what you know now, if you had a chance to do it again, would you?

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Yes.

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Okay.

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Uh hell, if I had a chance to do it again, I'd try to do it when I'm 15.

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Okay, why?

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Why 15?

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Man, being a soldier, you ain't gotta worry about this age thing to go in the club and just party.

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You know, that's the advantage a soldier has.

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You know what I'm saying?

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They don't have to wait till they're 21 to drink.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Man, I'd be 15.

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I'd be like, party.

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Okay, okay, you know.

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Hey, you know, you got a point there.

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You you you definitely have a point.

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Um partying and whatnot.

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15.

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Dragon, right?

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You know, hey, whatever's clever, brother.

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Um outside of that, is there any other reason why you would join or or not join?

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Well, um, yeah.

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Um outside of the the party being in the army, now it wasn't all good, but they had some good elements.

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It like made me think a little more mature at an early age.

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You know, it made me be more responsible at an early age.

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So being able to really, you know, think maturely, being responsible, uh it you know, helped me to to uh be able to prepare myself in life as it came along, you know.

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Uh I wasn't struggling to do certain things because of being in the military.

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Uh I didn't make all those kind of bone head decisions that I probably would have made, like my friends that didn't go in made, you know.

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And when you make those bone head decisions, you know, it's it's it's uh repercussion for that, you know.

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So yeah, uh going in the military made me grow up and grow up fast and take life uh a lot more serious.

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Okay, yeah.

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Okay.

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So just along those lines, um if you were to come across a young person today who was thinking about it, would you advise them to go into the military?

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Yes, I would.

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In fact, I had uh I think earlier this year, or maybe last year, I can't quite remember.

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Late last year, if it wasn't earlier this year.

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Uh no, it was this year.

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I talked to two guys.

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Uh one went into the Air Force, and the other one I talked to, he was like, uh nah, the army or the military, man, that's that's the white man army.

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And I was like, okay, you would make a good, good coon for the orange man.

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And he looked at me, I said, because that's what the orange man want, an all-white army.

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I say, now, think about this.

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What would this country be like if the military was all white?

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Hmm.

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Now you you well, what are your thoughts on that?

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What do you what do you think?

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How do you think it would be?

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How how I think it would be?

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Yeah.

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Well, number one, you wouldn't be doing this podcast.

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You be out there in somebody's field.

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So if the military was all white, you don't think I'd be I'd be uh interviewing you today.

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Sir, you be in a field saying, yes a master.

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Yes um.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Well, that's interesting.

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Um so that that individual said no because it's the the white man's army and pretty much decided they weren't gonna go um into that.

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Well, that leads me to my next question.

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So while you were in uh during your military career, did you experience any negativity due to you being a service member of color?

00:10:58.960 --> 00:10:59.600
Yes.

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Hey, you know, a question like that, I would be like, man, do a chicken have lips?

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Doesn't you you tell me you know, yes, uh, you know, well, I'ma put it like this negativity, you know, it's it's an old saying for somebody to win, somebody gotta lose.

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So where there's positivity, I guess there's negativity, you know.

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Some they say that some white man that's supposed to be smart said that, but I think it was an African that said it first.

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Positivity and negativity, you know.

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But uh, yeah, as for the the negativity, you know, negativity for me, the main thing, racism.

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I mean, uh, it was there when I was born, and it'll be there when I die.

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You know, I mean it is what it is, and uh it's sad, but you know, not to get off base, but uh you know, I mean I assume there was a time where there was no racism, but now and during our time, it is and it will be for some time to come.

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But uh yeah, I I face racism was the biggest thing.

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But uh and and and it you know set you back just a little bit, but not enough to be in it, you know, to like destroy you or anything like that, you know, because I always overcame it, uh defeated it, you know, stuff like that.

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So yeah.

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So what year, what year did you go in to give people an idea of what times were like?

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1976.

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76, okay.

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All right, so when you went in, what just one instance of negativity you faced due to your your color um that you can remember?

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Just one uh yeah, you I can say like uh promotion, you know.

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Okay, uh you know, all the from E1, private, to E2, private, so from private to private, that promotion was automatic.

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But from private to PFC, private first class, that wasn't automatic.

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They had to like you know, choose who they wanted to become, you know, to get promoted to private first class.

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And they came down with a list, like we would call it like a dream sheet, and you put a check mark, you know, each each company in the battalion would get X amount of slots.

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You know, if your company got three slots, you had three people you can promote to private first class.

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Well, anyway, I I just knew I was gonna get one of those, and then when I learned that my uh section leader or section sergeant, a staff sergeant, uh a white guy, instead of putting a check mark by my name, he pencil in a white guy name, and this white guy had PCS the unit.

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He left the unit maybe two months earlier.

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So two months earlier, that's mean he already in his new unit, and he penciled in his name.

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So, yeah, that's devastated.

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Man, I want to peel that dude's head.

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I did.

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I mean, I was in Korea, and I thought about it long and hard, long and hard.

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Because in Korea at that time, you can peel some heads, and every now and then, every now and then you get locked up, but not all the time.

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You know, I mean, it was a totally different army then.

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I got you.

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I got you.

00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:38.080
Well, let me ask you this.

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So just playing devil's advocate.

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You said something that made me think about something.

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Do you think it was possible that uh he had, you know, I don't know the exact situation, but had made his decision long before the guy left.

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And perhaps it just took a while for it to catch up to him, even though he had PCS'd already.

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Is it possible, or do you feel like it's no, that was straight racism?

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Well, I'm just by at the time by me knowing how a little bit about just a little bit how the military worked, to me, logic would tell me you don't try to promote a soldier that is not in your unit, and that is not in your understanding, platoon, not in your squad.

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If you could promote somebody, it should be the one that is in your squad, which was me, me yeah.

00:17:49.680 --> 00:18:01.519
You know, so when he chose not to promote me why, I'm like, okay, maybe I need to be a dirt bag, you know.

00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:04.480
I feel you.

00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:05.359
I feel you.

00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:09.440
Well, let me just toss this out to you, you know, chew on this for a little bit.

00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:13.680
I I bring it up because you just reminded me of something.

00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:16.880
Because I was stationed in Korea as well, as an E2, right?

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That was an E2.

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Um, it was my first duty station.

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So you know how you come out of basic, you get your E2 right away, right?

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So yeah, so I I got my my E2 while I was over there, did a year, came back, went straight to Desert Storm.

00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:41.039
Um maybe after 30 days, right?

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Came back, 30 days, kicked it for a while, and all of a sudden we on a plane to the desert.

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I didn't have time to, you know, think about anything.

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But two so that would have been two months, right?

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So two months after I left Korea, we're in Saudi Arabia.

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In formation, they call me up and they pin PFC on me, E3.

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Come to find out the orders were signed by my lieutenant back in Korea, a white guy.

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So it went like what you just said in reverse.

00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:17.839
A white guy did it for me.

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I don't think it had anything to do with race or anything, but I think what happened was right before I left, I got really into um PT.

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And this lieutenant happened to be an avid runner.

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And so when we would do P.T., he would just take off running.

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And one day, me and this other guy decided to keep up with him.

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And he, boy, he tried to bust our heart.

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I mean, this this white dude was running.

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And when we were done, we made it with him.

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I didn't make it in front of him, but I made it with him.

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And from that point forward, like I he never even spoke to me again.

00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:05.039
But I think that had something to do with you know, him promoting me and the other guy who went to a different place.

00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:09.680
So I'm just saying it could be.

00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:10.799
No.

00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.480
I mean No, no, it could not be.

00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:15.920
No, okay.

00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:17.200
Oh, okay.

00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:18.799
Okay, right on too much.

00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:20.160
I'm just telling you my experience.

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That's what happened.

00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:29.119
I mean, which is which was good, which was good, which was good, and and and that's fine.

00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:51.680
But again, the guy been gone for two months, and you got you, soldiers under you, and you know that they you know, they're trying to be good soldiers because they want to get promoted and move up like everybody else.

00:20:52.960 --> 00:21:06.400
You know, I mean, you know, if if he couldn't get that guy promoted before he left, then that's a lick on him.

00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:13.839
Yeah, you know, I mean, at that time, promotion came around.

00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:20.559
I I mean, I don't remember how often promotion came around, but it did come around.

00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:26.000
And uh, so you know, nah, I mean, nah.

00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:26.799
I got you.

00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:27.279
I got you.

00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:29.519
It just, you know, for me, it's I guess I just looked up.

00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:30.240
I looked at it.

00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:39.359
You know, you you just then you know the the climate was probably different, you know.

00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:40.480
I'm sure.

00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:47.039
Because for me, yeah, when I first went in, we had a lot of a lot of Vietnam veterans.

00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.720
A lot of okay, you know.

00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:59.200
So, you know, I went in 76, Vietnam, what they pulled the last people out in 74, I believe.

00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:11.039
So you had, and you know, I mean, in the 70s, you know, the the racial tension was different than Western.

00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.599
So yeah, it's it's slightly different.

00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:14.480
I get it.

00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:16.240
He knew what Red.

00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:17.039
I totally get it.

00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.640
I I he knew, he knew.

00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.359
I think I got you, man.

00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.720
I don't discount that at all.

00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:24.799
That was a different uh time.

00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:26.880
Um, so I get that.

00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:44.799
So looking back to the day you left the military now, after doing all those years, um, and now you're a veteran of color, what advice would you give your younger self about how society is going to treat you as a Christian veteran of color?

00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:57.920
Well, advice I give myself, my younger self.

00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:00.240
Younger.

00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:05.920
You are black now.

00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:10.559
You go be black later.

00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:16.400
You have that military uniform on, you're a black man.

00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:21.839
You have the uniform off, you're a black man.

00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:25.759
So you go be black.

00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:28.319
Period.

00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:44.880
So as as long as you are aware of your blackness, then you can navigate through society, through life, and all that, you know.

00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:53.759
Uh you runs into difficulty or heartbreak when you forget about your blackness.

00:23:55.119 --> 00:24:04.400
Sometimes, an example, you can do that interracial marriages.

00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:11.119
And you say, Okay, man, I'm marrying to the white.

00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:15.440
No more.

00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:17.519
Tell you F up.

00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:22.960
Then you find out, oh yeah, you black.

00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:23.599
Okay.

00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:26.480
Okay.

00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:28.319
Oh yeah.

00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:33.200
So, you know, I mean, and that's what I tell my younger self, you know.

00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:41.920
I mean, there's there's gonna be time even in jobs in the civilian world, sometimes in the military too.

00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:48.880
Sometimes you will feel that you gotta do just a little bit more than that gray man, you know.

00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:51.359
Just a little bit more.

00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:56.559
It shouldn't be like that, but it is what it is.

00:24:58.079 --> 00:24:58.880
I got you.

00:24:59.039 --> 00:24:59.839
I got you.

00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:17.279
So let me ask you this along those same lines that you're talking about, being a veteran of color, a black man, but also being a believer, has that caused you any difficulty?

00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:18.079
Right?

00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:29.200
It's it's one thing to navigate having, you know, just based on your race, but also being a believer sometimes can bring negativity.

00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.160
People like to, you know, those who don't believe.

00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:35.839
So you don't want to go there.

00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:37.519
You don't want me to go there.

00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:39.519
Go there, brother.

00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:39.920
Go there.

00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:41.519
I just curious.

00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:46.640
Being a believer, I'm gonna tell you the truth.

00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:49.039
Tell me the truth.

00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:55.039
When I was a young boy, I I used to be in be drugged to church.

00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:56.160
Come here, boy.

00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:57.759
He used to pull me by my ear.

00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:58.559
Come here.

00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:05.200
And I got older, they gave me the opportunity whether I want to go or not.

00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:07.920
You know, when you're 13, they don't drag you.

00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.240
They say, I'm going to church.

00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:16.400
Well, I I'd rather go outside and play marbles and stuff, you know.

00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:22.319
So I I stopped going to church for a while.

00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:35.279
Uh in fact, it was when I was in career when I decided to start going back to church.

00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:46.480
Okay, it hit me because I I mean I always had some type of spirit, man, you know.

00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:49.119
Right.

00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:54.720
Uh but you know, I felt I was missing something.

00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:00.640
So I decided I'll go to church, and you've been in Korea, so you know how it is.

00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.440
You can either go to church or you can go in the village.

00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:05.359
Right.

00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:09.839
So I tried to go to church.

00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:12.000
Okay.

00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:16.960
I went to church, but didn't make it in.

00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:20.079
I turned around.

00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:20.720
Really?

00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:25.039
And went to the bus stop, got on the bus, and went to the village.

00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:30.799
The next Sunday I said, I'm gone.

00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:32.960
I'm gone.

00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:44.480
Went to church, touched the door handle at the church to open the door.

00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:46.960
I could not pull that door open.

00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:49.200
I let the door handle go.

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:51.519
I turned around, I left.

00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:54.319
Went to the bus stop, went to the village.

00:27:57.039 --> 00:27:57.359
Okay.

00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:00.000
So it took three tries.

00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:14.000
The third try I I went, you know, because what my fear was, I'm a believer, but I say when I go in church, you walk in, everybody gonna look at you, then they can start talking about you.

00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:15.759
And and that brought fear in me.

00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.200
I said people gonna be looking at you all crazy and talking about you.

00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:20.559
So I wouldn't go in.

00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:25.279
But anyway, that third try, I did it and I went in.

00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.400
And I was shocked.

00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:31.599
Ain't no damn body look at me.

00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:35.279
It did as if I didn't even exist, you know.

00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:38.880
But anyway, that was my first step to going back.

00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:58.559
And and ever ever since that, I was until this day, I I'm almost uh uh uh uh every Sunday going, unless I'm sick or I'm out of town somewhere on on the road, but other than that, you know, I'm in somebody church, okay, from being a believer.

00:28:58.720 --> 00:28:58.880
Okay.

00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:18.720
So but to your question, yeah, uh being a believer made me notice some things and made me question some things.

00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:21.599
You know, okay.

00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:43.359
So well, I I question, okay, why we gotta go fight over there when nobody came here and do us anything.

00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:45.440
For instance like Vietnam.

00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:58.960
And when you question that, and you in the military You know.

00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:13.279
You know, hey, hey, you know, uh uh uh you know it's it's almost as if, you know, what are you a communist?

00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:16.319
You know, you're not one of us, you know.

00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:22.640
I mean, I gotta agree with everything you agree with for me to be one of y'all.

00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:25.279
You know what I'm saying?

00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:29.039
So let me ask you this.

00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:34.880
Is it that your belief caused you to question that?

00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:42.480
Or like what what how does your belief tie into you questioning?

00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:52.000
Yeah, I mean, my belief uh gave me something that I didn't think I had.

00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:54.240
Common sense.

00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:05.039
Okay, you know, I mean, coming up, you know, them old folks used to say, boy, you ain't got no sense.

00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:08.319
So I thought I had no sense.

00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:41.440
You know, but but really, you know, uh, yeah, my belief gave me common sense, and well, you know, when you're a believer and you seeking something, you you seeking uh, you know, and and and and I can back up back to career when I decided to go okay to start going back to church after having a hiatus for I don't know how how many years.

00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:45.599
I think I was 13 when I stopped going.

00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:48.799
I was about 20 when I started going back.

00:31:49.519 --> 00:32:36.559
So but before I even went, you know, I had my little Bible I would read, and I would pray, you know, maybe a couple of weeks before I start going, or I attempt to go, I would pray that you know, I would learn as much of the truth as I possibly can, and that my spirit would not let nobody of the cloth, whether it's a preacher, a priest, a rabbi, whatever, deceive me.

00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:45.920
You know, let my spirit reject what it should reject and let it accept what it should accept.

00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:52.480
So that was my prayer, and I pray that prayer several times before I start going back to church.

00:32:52.960 --> 00:33:01.680
So uh uh, so I've I've been steady trying to, you know, learn here, learn there, and boom, boom, boom, boom.

00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:04.480
Then you develop this belief system.

00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.559
Okay, yeah, mm, yeah, mm, mmm.

00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:24.480
Okay, so this is how we treat people, uh this is what these several different types of love or whatever, boom, boom, okay, yeah, and uh so yeah, uh.

00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:45.680
So when you made that comment earlier about how the young person said that they wouldn't join the military because it was the white man's army or whatever, did you ever run across anything like that when it came to being a Christian?

00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:49.599
Meaning, you know, okay.

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:51.039
Tell me about it.

00:33:53.440 --> 00:34:10.000
I mean, man, I used to run across some little young Muslim wannabe, and and they be trying to talk me into, you know, converting, whatever.

00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:12.800
You quit.

00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:17.440
Man, that Christianity, that white man, religion.

00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:23.679
And I'm like, Okay, you damn skippy, it is.

00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:27.280
Wait a minute.

00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:27.920
What?

00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:34.880
Yeah, you say it is and then I then I school him a little bit.

00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:37.519
I said, yeah.

00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:54.639
Oh it was the Christians that put some of your ancestors into slavery.

00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:55.920
Yeah.

00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:08.159
I said, but also the Muslims put some of your ancestors into slavery.

00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:23.360
I said, if if if you read a little bit, you would know that the two religions that did the most killing in the name of religion, Christianity and Islam.

00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:33.280
So you know what religion is Muslim?

00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:35.440
I see the white man religion.

00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:36.239
Hmm.

00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:36.960
Okay.

00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:46.239
Brother Man, okay, is that a black man religion?

00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:56.559
You know, and hey, oh well uh, and this fool didn't even know that they had white Muslims.

00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.880
I said, you want to join something that you don't even know nothing about.

00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:05.599
You know, so I'd school him a little bit.

00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:23.679
Well, my my hope is that moving forward, that were to ever happen again, we know to not agree that it is that Christianity is a white man's religion.

00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:38.239
And when it comes to slavery um in terms of the age of Christianity, Christianity was long was around long before slavery started.

00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:54.239
So and and why by slavery, I'm assuming you're talking about the antebellum slavery here in America, and it just so happens that evil men used the Bible to enslave Africans.

00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:57.199
But I wouldn't call them Christian.

00:36:58.400 --> 00:36:58.719
Right?

00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:02.719
The Christian religion was around long before that.

00:37:03.840 --> 00:37:04.079
Yeah.

00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:06.719
So yeah, long before that.

00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:16.400
So um, long before it it reached the shores of what we call America today, Christianity was was around long before that.

00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:39.920
So anyway, um, so so when you know, I I I say that because if someone says to me, why are you joining that white man's religion again it's not but like you said, you have to school and and talk about history and you know this country is not that old.

00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:42.559
But Christianity is is much older.

00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:52.800
So so with that, anyway, um so now that you're a veteran, right?

00:37:53.199 --> 00:38:29.039
You're a veteran, you've gone through all those trials, tribulations, all that good stuff, um and you're a veteran of color, a black man, just in your everyday life are there challenges you face out on the street today due to you being a veteran of color, as as opposed to or in comparison to perhaps white brothers and sisters who are veterans, perhaps they don't have the same challenges that you face.

00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:29.920
Is that the case?

00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:41.599
You know, since I uh I I really can't.

00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:52.320
I mean, since I retire, it's almost like things start falling in place.

00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:58.960
You know, it was like Okay, I won't lie to you.

00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:17.840
The whole time I was in for all those years, you know, you had this, although they try to hide it sometimes, but it's it's it's it's they didn't just see green, you know, the uniform or whatever.

00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:21.360
They they they seen color of skin.

00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:53.840
But once I retired, and when it came time for me to get things done for me, or get you know me taken care of, or you know, getting what the military owe me, I I didn't really have no real issues that would would make me feel that one race would get this and the other one don't.

00:39:54.159 --> 00:40:01.360
I mean not me per se, you know, because things start that's good falling in place.

00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:30.719
But what I did notice and maybe that's just because it's Atlanta, I would see more people of color in the VA uh clinics than I would see the gray folks.

00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:45.599
So, you know, when if they had to go to the doctor to get something done so they can file a claim if if you want to use if I can say claims, then they would do the do it mostly do it on the civilian side.

00:40:46.159 --> 00:40:53.679
But us people of color, we just go straight to the VA and do it on the VA side.

00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:57.840
But that's really I don't think that's have that much significance.

00:40:58.000 --> 00:40:59.679
I don't I I don't know.

00:40:59.840 --> 00:41:13.280
But as for me, nah, you know, I mean I I I think I was things that just fell in place, you know, as for all that crap I had to put up with all them years.

00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:16.960
You get out and things fall in place, like you get your bonus.

00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:19.920
Boom! No, that's good.

00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:22.400
That's good, that's good, man.

00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:39.519
Um I asked a question because many have many veterans of color have expressed that VA health care treatment doesn't seem to be equal a lot of times.

00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:43.440
But if you have not experienced that, then that's fine.

00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:44.159
That's great.

00:41:44.719 --> 00:41:45.840
Health care treatment.

00:41:47.920 --> 00:42:12.000
Yes, like um for instance, if um you go to the VA hospital um in terms of the the the demeanor of the healthcare professionals towards you versus towards perhaps um a white counterpart, um, a lot of times veterans of color feel like it's a little different.

00:42:14.559 --> 00:42:17.280
I guess they not in Atlanta.

00:42:19.119 --> 00:42:32.320
You know, I mean, and I say that because you know, I had several VA doctors, all of them were black.

00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:35.519
Oh you know what I'm saying?

00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:47.920
Well, okay, yeah, so even the specialist that I would go to if I had to go to specialists, except for one, my my heart specialist was white.

00:42:49.679 --> 00:42:56.880
But I guess she was okay because she said, why why in the world they got him on aspirin?

00:42:57.440 --> 00:42:59.920
Put him on blood thinner, boom.

00:43:01.280 --> 00:43:04.480
I said, maybe I said maybe she liked me.

00:43:05.280 --> 00:43:27.519
You know, but yeah, so uh, I mean I I like I said I I I hadn't experienced that because you know, I mean, if you know, we uh you know people of color, we gonna we gotta treat people like depends on how we wake up in the morning.

00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:32.159
You know how y'all folks are, you know.

00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:38.079
Okay, okay.

00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:42.400
Well, so let me ask you this question.

00:43:42.639 --> 00:43:46.400
What is the one thing people get wrong about you the most?

00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:53.119
Uh something that you you did not that long ago.

00:43:54.639 --> 00:43:56.639
Oh Lord, what did I do, man?

00:43:56.960 --> 00:43:59.199
They assume that I'm unlearned.

00:44:01.519 --> 00:44:03.519
I assumed you were unlearned.

00:44:03.760 --> 00:44:11.599
Okay, we I I don't want to go there because you know this is your podcast, but uh do do it.

00:44:11.679 --> 00:44:13.440
Go in, brother, go in, correct?

00:44:13.840 --> 00:44:19.679
We talk about Christianity and how long it been.

00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:47.920
Well, yes, it uh been there long before the ancestors came to the United States with chains on, but still it was them that put you put those chains on you.

00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:50.960
Uh Christianity.

00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:59.199
Those those Christian folks, those those spies they sent were so-called missionaries.

00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:14.559

A Black Veteran on Service, Racism, and Belief with 1st Sgt. (Ret) Leround Mitchell

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