Since America today is in the business of making sweeping generalizations I’d like to go ahead and join in the fun: all jews are kykes, all muslims are terrorists, all Hispanics are here illegally and they’re criminals, all blacks are thugs, all gay people are going to hell, and all white people are, have been, or at some point will be, affiliated with the Klan. And for us biracial people (for all of you concerned), we aren’t taking sides because we know that whoever wins we’re going to end up in concentration camps gassed to death because miscegenation is a disgusting crime (dontcha know?).
Excuse my mini rant. It’s just that I’m a little perturbed. There’s something happening in America. And I haven’t been sure what, though I’ve been noticing it for a while, sitting back, biting my nails, waiting to see what will happen. And then the answer came. Ignorance. Fear. Hatred. Ignorance has become America’s new best friend, followed closely by the Tea party. And I’m dodging like I’m in a freaking war zone, hoping not to get caught in the cross fires and accidently struck by a Bible. Ignorance and fear and hatred, standing alone seem easily conquerable. But they have risen up, an inseparable and impenetrable force, and they’ve surfaced so strongly that I’m unsure if we’ve any tools left to fend them off or push them back.
If you haven’t been reading or watching the news (frankly, if you’ve been living under a rock or in hibernation), you probably don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. But you’ve probably seen it and just weren’t really aware. You’ve probably felt it too and just dismissed it as anxiety or nausea. But it isn’t. It’s the screaming evangelist in the FSU courtyard telling you you’re going to hell for reasons that he doesn’t even know. It’s Dr. Schlessinger spewing the word “nigger” on the air 11 (or was it 13?) times, and then tucking tail and running because she “wants her first amendment freedoms back,” (did I miss something? Where did they go?). It’s this preacher of the Christian faith, (which is supposed to be, I thought, about love and forgiveness), in Gainesville burning copies of the Koran because “we must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam” (excuse me, but aren’t you now a radical Christian? Maybe radicalism is just bad, eh?). It’s those people in Utah who compiled a list of “illegal” immigrants, a list that contained the names of people who were, in fact, in this country legally. But even worse than all of that, even more disturbing and disheartening is YOU. Your inaction. Your refusal to think, to critically reflect on what’s happening and ask yourself why? Or, is this right? Your acceptance as unequivocal fact any information that people you have “faith” in tell you, instead of doing research and investigating and forming your own informed position.
And how do I know that you’ve done this? Because when I question you, when I engage you in debate, you either A.) can’t defend your position B.) Repeat whatever you heard Rush Limbaugh say on the radio yesterday morning or C.) resort to calling me un-American or a stupid liberal. (Hint: If you have to resort to ad hominem attacks you should perhaps re-evaluate the validity of your position.)
You see, more disheartening than the news headlines of late is the quiet, the undisturbed silence, of the American people. We’ve been mind-fucked into gelatin molds of humans who complacently sit and accept as fact whatever whoever in charge is telling us. It’s been happening so long we’re numb, and what’s more, we even think we enjoy it!
I know what you’re thinking. Who the hell is she to judge us? To condemn us? What makes her right? And you’re absolutely right. Me? I’m no one, really. Just that little voice in your head begging you to listen, that pesky voice you keep trying to shoo away like a fly. But I won’t go away. I’m not going anywhere. I will always be that annoyance, that irritation. I’m the person involved in hostage negotiations in a war over your mind. And I’m not giving up now, I won’t lose you. I don’t think that I’m right, or that you’re wrong. I just want you to really think. Think about this world, this America. Think about what you’re bringing your kids into, what kind of world they’re going to inherit. And ask yourself if this is the best that we could give them?
You never get to grow old in the America you grew up in. Hopefully, you grow up in a better America. But when I look around me, as I see it all fall to shit, I can’t help but wonder, why be here at all? We can be better than we are. So let’s give it a shot. And let’s begin by asking ourselves, “What the hell are we so afraid of?”
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