We, the People, hold these truths to be self-evident...



Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Not So Fast

And here it goes again, a tragedy that leads to senseless violence.  Yes, the case in Ferguson  was a tragedy, anytime there is loss of life, there is no other way to label it.  However, after that, labeling, mislabeling, relabeling, and unlabeling have run rampant.  Watch social media for 10 minutes and you can plainly see the raw emotion that brims just under the surface of our society.  Bigoted names and claims fly around like Oboma executive orders.  Sadly, nobody is willing to remove this emotion to look at the information laid before them on the table.  The willingness to jump to conclusions by several leaders have lead people down a hard dead end that does nothing to facilitate any kind of relation building... And shame on them for doing so, a-holes.  But all of this has brought me to a point that has nothing to do with the Brown case, as it had nothing to do with race.  It has to do with the reactors, some overreactors, and the audacity of people who can fearlessly hide behind big words and an LCD screen.  During the reading of status updates and comments and replies, I did some searching.  I came to the conclusion that "white privilege" or wp, does exist, and it's a thriving, growing, out of control monster.

But wait, there's more...  I have chosen to revisit an above mentioned person, the relabeler.  I'm adopting that for a moment, so those of you that have found their jaws resting firmly on the floor, please read on.  WP is no longer the socio-economic Progressive drivel it once was.  The definition in dealing with Whitey having an advantage in all facets of life over all minorities has lived its life and can now go retire in the Center for BS.  I have come to understand, and redefine, as my assumed power of relabler allows me to do, as "the privilege of automatically, and unequivocally, being identified as a racist because one has white skin, regardless of experience, views, or any rational thought process."  So basically, I'm white, so I'm always incompassionate, hate filled, bigoted, uneducated, and wrong.  I can honestly say, and mean, that it sucks that Brown died, any loss of life is a tragedy, I am praying for his family, and the city.  Sadly, a small amount of respect for a law enforcement officer could have helped to lead us down a different road in history.  I could, and do, truly believe both of those statements, but thanks to WP, all one has to do is see that I'm a white guy, and suddenly my words are magically transformed into "I hate black people."  Which is truly unfortunate, because firstly, I don't, plain and simple.  And lastly, I would love to be a supporter and ally of an equal society, but I'm not allowed  'cus WP said so, and the narrative matters more than the truth.  We tend  to find ourselves standing on the threshold of impacting society and history way to often, and thusly it seems we never gain ground, or actually find ourselves losing it.  It comes back to that emotion thing again.  Emotion and passion are great and powerful things, as long as we can support them with the concrete of logic and fact.  However, it's dangerous to dismiss the logic, and then replace it with opportunistic wolves in sheeps clothing.  All I'm asking is that one look one of these huge moments uncomfortably in the eyes and in the darkness of yourself, ask why, and ask it 5 times.  Dig to the root cause, even if it hurts, and be willing to accept that someone is wrong, regardless of affiliation.  Know that we, collectively, can never change society when we singularly can't, and won't, change our individual self.