Offense - Race

This will be my first post on an actual subject, not just a random bitch fest. At the end of my last post, I said I would likely talk about racism. I thought about it for the last few days, and I decided that I've got a lot of shit to say about race, and that there are very specific things about the race issue in this country that piss me off. Again, I'm not out to O-fend anyone, so if you don't like what i have to say, you only have yourself to blame for reading it.

I want to put something right out front first. I have a deep appreciation and understanding of what black people have gone through in this country in the last 100 years. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X... all great people who fought for equality in a nation supposedly founded on it. As George Carlin said "This is a nation where all men are created equal... except for niggers and women and indians." Check out the story of Emmett Till to see some real evil shit that went down in the 50's. Black people in America have struggled and have created a unique culture in this country; I have all the respect in the world for black people. As i said before, we are all from the same clay. So, enough bullshit...

Racism is a strange issue to me. First, only 'white' people can be racist in this country. I cannot walk down a street with a shirt that says "White Power" without getting my ass kicked. But, a black guy can have a Black Panther shirt, or an Obama shirt that says "Finally, our time has come!" and I'm an asshole for making a comment on it. (I voted for Obama, by the way. Ok, that's a lie, i didn't vote at all, but i WOULD have voted for him!) "I hate white people" can be said in public; shouting "I hate black people" will get you fired.

I get SO tired of seeing news reports concerning ANY interaction of black people with white authority figures, and it being labeled a Race issue. I just read an article from a few years ago about a kid found hung from a tree in Mississippi. Forensics found no evidence of foul play... the kid wasn't tied up, he wasn't bruised or molested in anyway... just hung. The police called it a suicide. BUT, because it was a Black Guy HANGING in Mississippi... it must have been a race issue. Jesse Jackson went there, and was PRAISED for braving the heat, and pressuring police to investigate further.

To me, it seems as if people like that want to keep fighting. Like, that's all that Reverend Jesse ever had was the fight for equality, and now that blacks are equal in society, what's he going to do now? Black Americans have made tremendous strides in every aspect of our culture in the last 50 years. Stop struggling and relax! its not a race!

Now we get to the real point. Affirmative Action. The NAACP. United Negro College fund. It is my belief that these institutions have run their course and should be disolved in this country. These efforts were necessary in a time when 'people of color' were thought of to be inferior. Now, it is these institutions that maintain that there IS a difference between people. Affirmative action is used to suggest that you, the employer, need to hire me not because i am qualified to work for you, but because i was supposedly born at a disadvantage by not being white. and need assistance. The same goes for the United Negro College fund; because it promotes a difference between people in an age when we are supposed to be uniting as 'one' people. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People should be changed to the National Association for the Advancement of ALL People. How is the NAACP NOT involved in racism from the African point of view? It is these institutions that are involved in 'keeping the black man down', merely to keep up their payroll. Chill the fuck out, Jesse. You've done great work, now its time to move on.

On a side note, where do American Indians fit into the racism debate? Lets ask them... Oh, wait, there AREN'T any! If anyone should be pissed off at this level, it is the indians, who are STILL suffering from segregation. But, do you hear Chief Watanabe talking about affirmative action? Hell no, he just wants to maintain HIS traditional way of life... AND, make a few bucks at the craps table. (That whole thing about paying reparations for 'damages to a defeated nation' is a bunch of crap. That was 150 years ago! You think Charlemagne did that when he conquered central Europe? Fuck no, you just rebuild what is now YOUR land, using the people of that land. Look, jobs!)

That's my thought on the subject. Race WAS an issue, during an age of ignorance. In order to move past it, we need to drop the issue from the conversation entirely. I am only speaking of America, which is supposed to be the enlightened center of the world. And, to show racism is dead, I'm going to end this peice with some classic dialogue from one of my all time favorite movies... Menace II Society.

O-Dog: Hey, man, who the fuck gonna be old out there at twelve o'clock at night, bitch? Shit, nigga, I'll smoke anybody, nigga. I just don't give a fuck. Shit. I'm gonna hit this shit, nigger.
Caine: Look, all right, not me, all right? I'm not killing no kids.
O-Dog: Hey, you know what, nigger? You acting like a little bitch right now. You acting real paranoid and shit. Now, these motherfuckers smoked your goddam cousin in front of you, nigga! Blew his head off in front of your face, and you ain't gonna do shit? You acting like a little bitch right now, nigga. Man, fuck that. I ain't letting that shit ride. We gonna go in and smoke all these motherfuckers. I don't care who the fuck out there. Goddamn it, is you down, nigger?
A-Wax: Man, both of y'all shut the fuck up. Both of y'all acting like some motherfucking bitches. Shit. Scared to peel these punk-ass nigga's cap. Now, give me my motherfucking joint, nigga.