Tag Archives: prejudice

It’s not all black and white

I’ve referred to this before, but not only are the answers to our society’s problems in shades of grey rather than black or white, so are our races & the way we view them.

Our society doesn’t have a clue as to how bigoted we really are until we actually stop & think about the people who we call “Black”. For the record, I prefer the terms Black & White for those races because I don’t use euphemisms, except that I’ve somehow gotten trapped into using the word “issue” at times when I mean “problem”, at least when I trying to sell a “problem” on somebody as an “issue”, but I prefer to call the so-called African-Americans “Black” & the Caucasian European-Americans “White”. So sue me or call me archaic in that respect; I can live with that, but let’s call it what it is.  After all, aren’t Egyptians & the various Muslim-based Saharan tribes of North Africa & the whites in South Africa actually African-American if they come here to live, even though these people don’t have black or dark brown skin?  Calling someone who’s Black an African-American isn’t being completely truthful, and to step away from the word “Black” by Blacks means that they’ve accepted that the word “Black” is a negative connotation that they don’t want to be a part of, and that’s truly lamentable, as we White people are the root cause of that.

We call Maya Rudolph & President Obama “Black”, but they are neither — they are mixed-race, being 50/50 White & Black, and since the term “mixed race” implies “impurity” as to race & because they have an ounce of Black blood (the ancient “one-drop” rule), our society automatically calls them Black, which is a negative in the eyes of White society if they have any color other than White in their ethnicity.

But the fact is, they’re as White as they are Black if they’re 50/50 White & Black. So think about this — if they aren’t called “White” because they aren’t 100% White, why should they be called “Black” if they’re not 100% Black?

As far as changing society’s ills & our preoccupation for what color you are, it won’t change socially until there is a desire for change in the masses, and it probably won’t change in our lifetimes and probably not in our grandkids’ lifetimes either. Blacks have been free for appx 150 years and it’s been a slow climb to get where they are now (which isn’t nearly where they should be by now & not entirely their fault by any means), and a lot of their brothers & sisters haven’t made the climb very well, if at all. They have freedom, but they don’t have true acceptance or universal social equality here or abroad, and they have a lot of problems within their own society that might not be cured anytime in the next 50 years — it took the White Italian immigrants about 100 years to rise out of the slums and be accepted as mainstream Americans & move to the suburbs, and there are still times that they have trouble gaining acceptance among the more pearly-white Americans of Northern European backgrounds.

As The Rev Charles once said, Luke is — not from New Jersey

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Let’s start this with something the far right can understand and appreciate — biblical scripture — Luke 9:51-56: “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?’  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.’  And they went to another village.”

What this says to me is liking or hating anyone simply based upon their beliefs, race, or being different in any manner that they cannot change is prejudicial & wrong — end of discussion.  I know that religious beliefs can be changed, but that doesn’t mean they should be changed simply because they don’t agree with yours.  Heck, in my opinion, the fact that you embrace religion at all is a negative to me, but I respect your right to be ignorant as long & deeply as you want.

The biggest problem I have with the far right is that they believe their religious beliefs & their use of them for personal/financial gain & human segregation is beyond reproach, including the use of them to align groups of people against each other socially & professionally. This type of behavior is just a stone’s throw from radical Muslims who kill people whenever their religion is “blasphemed” in their eyes, or Hitler Youth for that matter — the Jews of yesterday are the social/political critics & “deviants” of today.

Intolerance seems to be the theme in many religions & politics, which tends to go against the intent of the founders of them, like Jesus, who would surely abhor the bashing of those who don’t believe the same as he did.  This is a (surely fictional) being who helped the poor, walked among the lepers, and threw out the moneychangers, all ideas that today’s Christians & Republicans don’t embrace, which is the true meaning of the work “ironic” if you ask me.

I understand that people are passionate about their religious beliefs, but I’m not, and I don’t like the level of intolerance they invoke when confronted by people like me who do not believe as they do, labeling me as a hatemonger when I point out the fact that religion is simply unproven theory and that I have no respect for the idea of it.  I don’t hate them; I simply have no respect for their ideology.

I find it hard to discuss anything rationally or intelligently with most people on the far right, especially those who consider themselves highly religious. I don’t agree with speech that demeans a person or a particular group simply according to their race, religious choice (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, or nationality without regard for any other issue thereof, nor do I support any group of people or any person who holds those views, and I don’t believe (the fictional character of) Jesus would have either. People have been using certain archaic notions written in the Bible for centuries to justify their hate for various groups and it will probably never end.

It’s a different matter entirely to not like an idea that is detachable from a person vs not liking that a person is gay, or black, or some other condition that they can’t & shouldn’t change.

You’re so “gay”?!?

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The problem with many heterosexuals (or those who outwardly act/claim to be heterosexual) is that they are simply ignorant or at least short-sighted.  They make disparaging remarks and use “gay” as an attack word against a heterosexual as slur or curse word against them, such as “that’s so gay” or “you’re so gay”, then they apologize for saying it & that’s usually the end of it without any thought as to the thought process behind this.

Keep in mind that this argument is being made by a hopelessly-hetero, married Southern male, and I’ve never had a gay experience or even a thought about it in my entire life — not that that’s wrong, as “Seinfeld” famously said; it’s just that I’m wired “straight”.  I almost wish I was gay because I get so pissed at the “team I’m playing on” (another “Seinfeld” quote) at times — does quoting “Seinfeld” make me gay?  I think it makes me intelligent more than anything, as I’m not busy watching Larry The Cable Guy, who by the way isn’t a redneck, but close — he’s from Nebraska, just another backassward Red state.

What we have to change is not just the speech, but the mindset of these idiotic people.  For example, we have pretty well banned the “n-word” from public use throughout our society unless you’re a black comic or rapper (and they’re surely next), but we have plenty of people who use the n-word privately, and those who don’t in racial situations in many cases are thinking it, and they’re living their lives segregated from others of different races by choice.  The Civil Rights Act of 1968 broke down the legal race boundaries, but it did nothing much for social race boundaries, although I do admit things are much better now than they were 45 years ago — your local country club has at least 1 non-white member and maybe 1 woman member — great progress, eh?  What a waste of land those places are.

We have to first get these people to realize that their religion shouldn’t apply to others who don’t believe in it, and if their religion says that homosexuality is bad, it’s not a good religion at all if it excludes people who have no choice being what they are, and that being that is not a birth defect.  We also have to show them that whatever sexual preference people have should have no bearing on them as a person anymore than being left-handed, red-headed, a person of some color other than peachy white, or disabled.

Armed school security doesn’t work well & isn’t the answer

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History shows us that armed school security didn’t work at Columbine HS, which had an armed security guard who was a 15-yr veteran of the Sheriff’s office there, yet it didn’t stop the infamous rampage there.  Virginia Tech had an entire armed campus police force, yet 32 people were killed by a lone gunman.  Eliminating access to “assault weapons” & expanded pistol clips is a start, and though it will do little in the long run, it’s still a must as every little bit of effort counts.

More importantly to the issue is proper parenting & proper education, and even more important is teaching our children (and our adult peers) not to exclude & bully people that seem different or weak to them, as these societal victims are the ones who invariably end up on the front page for these horrific crimes — after all, it’s not the Homecoming King/Queen or the BMOC perpetrating these crimes, it’s the downtrodden souls who don’t feel they fit in because our society treats many people as social outcasts, especially those who don’t support the status quo.

Unfortunately, a few of these ill-fitting outcasts decides in their deluded mind that the only answer for them is to go out in a blaze of notoriety/glory & they take out a bunch of poor innocent souls with them, and then we wonder why it happens.

We need to show more compassion & tolerance with others & learn to incorporate everyone into our inner circle & not ostracize people, and provide quick access to help, counseling & treatment for those who don’t/can’t fit in and ask ourselves why everyone must conform to certain standards and why we must exclude people in order to make ourselves feel superior, and why must we strive to feel superior in the first place? Maybe there will be a future where people respect and love each other without demands, where people feel accepted, wanted & loved, and can get free & good mental help (and get real help from those in control in our society, like teachers & school counselors) when they feel they don’t fit in.

Like all cops, armed school security can’t be in all places all the time.  We need figure out what does work most effectively in securing the schools until we can make changes in our society to help rid ourselves of this phenomenon by getting to the core of it.  Stricter gun laws will help, but they aren’t the foolproof answer either.

The best answer we have to prevent mass shootings like this is rooted deep within our society in how we treat each other.  The people who do this are typically those who are alienated from mainstream society by socio-political forces within it.  The more inclusive we become of everyone in our society, the faster we heal those mental wounds.  We also need people to act more responsibly in parental guidance & teach their children to respect everyone & be compassionate — like Jesus.  

Funny how the religious crowd and those who have the money & power in our society are typically the ones who don’t show compassion for those who have-not or are on the outside. Those are the folks who would’ve kept & ate the 2 fish & 5 loaves of bread themselves.