Lately, I've been concerned that my perspective on race is unfounded. How could I possibly think I'm seeing the things that are before me?
On the issue of race today, it seems a huge majority of blacks and a good number of whites are seeing something else compared to what I'm seeing. In the Zimmerman case, people see a man playing judge and executioner on an innocent teenager because of his color. I see a tragedy within a tragedy. I see the result of a culture that's extremely out of control with crime and violence and THAT should be addressed with high priority. It appears that if you acknowledge that as a problem, you're a racist, or if you're black, a Tom.
So I concede to being a "Tom". I should point out that I don't find the title offensive anymore. Seriously, what does it take to be a 'Tom' these days anyway? The same thing it takes to be a racist these days, absolutely very very very very little.
• "You don't agree with the rest of us? You're a Tom."
• "You think blacks need to get their house in order? You're a racist."
I'm trying to understand a race that has established some exclusive, yet questionable standards for itself.
For example:
- "Nigger" is supposed to be a despicable word. No other race can use this word, but WE can. Oh, and there's a difference between "Nigger" and "Niggaz".
This is a lame rationalization at best, don't you think?
Only children can get away with this.
"Cool. Let's address ourselves as such and put in it our music too. That's right, we're a PROUD people."
- I'm also trying to understand yet another questionable standard:
No other race can kill us without the scope and scrutiny of the nation and the attention of a raging populace, but we can. We can murder our own, in massive numbers if we want. And guess what? We do.
Don't even think about talking about it. Don't protest about it. Don't be enraged. Don't cancel your gigs because of it. Don't report it.
Just let the media dictate or manipulate what your concerns should be, the outcome of which is clearly to THEIR benefit.
I am concerned that I must be deadly wrong about all of this.
Don't even think about talking about it. Don't protest about it. Don't be enraged. Don't cancel your gigs because of it. Don't report it.
Just let the media dictate or manipulate what your concerns should be, the outcome of which is clearly to THEIR benefit.
I am concerned that I must be deadly wrong about all of this.
What I'm I missing here? What's wrong with my eyes?
Unless we can have an honest dialogue about it, race will always be an issue in this country. The most vocal people on the subject of race are those who see it everywhere, and those who see it nowhere. Neither case is true, and both camps are so entrenched in their positions, they seem to have adopted an adversarial attitude towards anyone who dares to disagree (this is where the labeling comes from, and the "rules" on who is allowed to say what).
ReplyDeleteWhat is severely lacking in all of this is empathy. Racism itself is, at its core, fueled by the absence of empathy, so it is both ironic and sad that it is empathy that is keeping us from understanding why we are unable to agree on how to solve a problem that all but those on the fringe would most certainly love to solve.