Saturday, February 16, 2002 :::
The Month of February
This month, as many people in America know, is Black History Month. I've recently been pondering the signifcance of it. I mean, I know it's to make people aware of the struggles that many black people faced in the past, and to acknowledge their accomplishments. What I don't get is why a whole month is devoted to them. I think that teaching about the history of segregation, and those famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s are important. I just don't understand why it is that Black Americans get a whole month recognized. I'm sure it has something to do with America making it up to the black race for past cruel and unfair treatment. My question is, "How long do we have to apologize for actions that most of white americans never even engaged in?" Also, "Why is it that younger black americans think that we owe them for what they never had to go through?" I think that America needs to stop Black History month for the simple fact that blacks have voiced their anguish of not being treated fairly, but if you think about it are they really treating other cultures fairly? I hate how we single out blacks as the only ones to have felt prejudice. We only seem to recognize them as the only part of an American culture that has suffered.
I grew up as a child in the eighties, watching cartoons about friendship and loving everybody. I watched cartoons like: The Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, the Shirtails, and the Get-Along-Gang. I think that they were great cartoons for children because they all dealt with differences and learning to appreciate and care for others. So, when I think of Americans I tend to see every color of the rainbow. I don't look at it as Black and White. I loathe the perception that Blacks were the only group who had hardships in the past. I will say that blacks had to face discrimination for a longer period of time, but does that justisfy more recognition? I don't think so. Almost every ethinic group who came to America had to face discrimination. Granted, none were subjected to slavery. With that in mind, it leads me to another observation: that many people seem to think that just because you are white your great, great, great, great grandfathers were slave owners. That is highly unlikely. In a college history class I took the professor had a statistic of the amount of whites that were slave owners. Referring back to my notes, I had written down that:
1.) 75% of Southerners did NOT own slaves
2.) of the 25% left over 88% owned 25 or less slaves
3.) and the 12% were wealthy plantation owners
I think too, that people don't take into account that even white ancenstory is from all different places, and that many came over here after slavery had already been abolished. Even light skinned cultures were subjected to unfair treatment, for example: the Irish, and the Italians. Also, many Asian cultures faced obstacles as well. Since Sept. 11th the latest we as a nation realize is those from Arab nations.
Now, I'm not saying that every black person believes what was previously mentioned is true, but I do feel that a majority do. My experiences with people have led me to believe that what I had said to be true, when it comes to the Black and White thing. I certainly don't expect anyone to agree with me. Prejudice is a nasty trait that we all carry, whether we are conscious of our biases or not. We must learn to tolerate differences. Lastly, I want to say that the point that I'm trying to make with all this is that we shouldn't celebrate one culture that is in America. America is a country of many cultures, and to acknowledge one, instead of the many that have contributed to making this a great nation is quite discomforting to me.
::: posted by Anonymous at 4:15 AM
Thursday, February 14, 2002 :::
The Histaminic Perfume of Obligatory Sentimentality.
There is a competition afoot today here at work. At regular intervals women pass by my desk, destination: the front security desk to claim their birthright. It has been going on since about 8am. Almost every woman in my unit prancing up to the front desk in response to a call that has come in that they have a package. They go in anticipation…did I do an adequate enough job of making him realize the living hell his life will be if I don’t get the most obnoxious floral arrangement in the building, nay, in history? On their return they gloat and float back to their desk, each one the hero of the moment, each one dancing to a backing track of ooooos and ahhhhhs from the fellow females celebrating the capitulation of the weaker sex that allowed themselves to be hijacked into showing some love. As the day has progressed the title of Queen of St. Valentines Day has been passed around more than a sex video of a make-believe lifeguard and Rock and Roll Drummer. They display on the tops of their file cabinets just who has the man that loves them the most as indicated by the size of the arrangement (size = cost, you see). The air in this place is thick with allergens. My eyes and nose have been runny and irritated all day. And all because my fellow man can’t figure about a way to be worth a damn the other eleven 14ths of the year.
Riddle me this St. Valentine, if everyone I talk to says that Valentines Day doesn’t mean anything to them, who the hell is buying all this worthless shit?
I must flee the building. The last Queen-to-be just passed my desk on her way to collect a menagerie of love made up of flowers, and balloons, and streamers, a spotlight, a fully armored Panzer Division, and a life-sized heart-shaped replica of the fucking Hidenburg.
::: posted by Mike at 4:33 PM
Saturday, February 09, 2002 :::
W.W.J.D.?
Ok Kids,
For those in the back of the class that haven't been paying attention...
If posed with the question of What Would Jesus Do?? please note that any answer not beginning with, ending with, or including lengthy descriptions of crucifixion, torture, crowns of thorns, and the whole grab-bag of insufferable agony, is wrong, wrong, wrong.
The tenants of widely practiced Christian doctrine are all about what Jesus did do, not what he would do in any given situation. This goes especially those situations that are ultra-modern (heroin at the Marilyn Manson concert; sneaking out on a school night to attend said concert) and would task the comprehension of a zero-century mind, earth-born master deity or not.
::: posted by Mike at 9:17 PM
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