Friday, February 14, 2003
Welcome home.
Here I was, on American soil after a year abroad and I naturally wondered: what had changed, what had stayed the same? The answer to both is "nothing."
Oh, I could go on here. I could talk about war - and antiwar - fervor. Madison Avenue. Style over substance. The Osbornes. The relentless march of commercialization. Church versus state. Suburban sprawl. Fox. But what I really want to talk about is race.
We’re still utterly clueless.
When will we finally start dealing with people as people? Many maps have been drawn, but collectively we lack the sense God gave a slug to sit down and read one. We continue to polarize the issue, like everything else. We can’t find the integrity to talk about men and women; no, we fritter our invective on that most fatuous of distinctions, that of black or white.
People, get over yourselves. ‘Cause I don’t see the difference.
Why is everything politicized? Labeled and vilified? Take affirmative action - how is it that those who favor it think those who don’t are conservative, uneducated backwater scrunch wads? And those against it think the pro-camp are liberal hippie pound-puppies? How do both invoke the legacy of Dr. King and claim if breathed today he’d be on "their" side?
Uh-huh. Please, the man is dead. Let him rest in peace. Pay heed to his words and actions from his all-too-brief life and don’t waste time or insult his good name by fantasizing about what he could have said. He ain’t here to defend himself. You want to celebrate King’s legacy? Then dream. That’s about the only thing we all can get together on. Then in your waking hours treat everyone with the same degree of justice, equality, and fairness.
Both sides make good arguments, but at the end of the day ask yourself this: would you be prouder knowing that you or your loved one landed that new job or promotion because you earned it or because of political favoritism? Let’s increase everyone’s ability to earn the jobs, pass the tests, receive the appointments. But don’t hand them out as a way of proving how just you are.
Root out racism where it exists and fry it to ashes, instead of launching pre-emptive strikes against the bigotry we assume to be present. Is White America Saddam Hussein and racism its hidden weapon of mass destruction? Consistency is what’s called for here.
Geeze, we can’t even agree what to call each other! In one culture alone, we have "black" and "African-American" and something else thoroughly odious. Three names for one culture - what is this, a Tolkien novel? Blacks call each other "blacks" and save "African-American" for the TV cameras and journalists’ ink. How can we say with a straight face that we’re making strides toward racial equality when we keep playing Mickey Mouse games?
Or look at the recent movie "Barbershop." Great movie that provides a glimpse of how a people lives, breathes, and earns its self-respect. A family flick. But Spike Lee, self-appointed Cultural Ambassador, can’t shut up about it. He criticizes a character for speaking his mind and the producer and writers for filming it. But the movie is genuine, of real people having real discussions, and all Spike can say is that young people will form their opinions of Dr. King and Rosa Parks around this one movie.
If that’s what he thinks about youth culture, then he better get on parents and teachers and churches. Get on Mike Meyers. He’d better serve the community by telling those thugs with the recording contracts to stop calling each other the most reprehensible names around. As Chuck D of Public Enemy raps, "Knowing where the word comes from/ I must be three times stupid and stuck on dumb." One gets the feeling that if Spike were white, he’d throw up his dukes whenever anyone would dis Elvis.
The late chicken pitchman Frank Perdue said it best: "Parts is parts...." Or "people is people." Forget this polarizing gar-bage and start treating each other as "brother," "sister"..... and friend. Respect the culture but ignore the color. Offer your hand, not a political slogan.
And that’s the American soil I love.
posted by mark 12:20 PM
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