" I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. " ~ James A. Baldwin
This quote, spoken by a Head Football Coach at Wake Forest, depicts exactly what I feel about this country. It's not that I don't like America, I just find a ton of flaws in this country. And now, accordingly to the quote, I will exercise my right to criticize.
First off, I'll begin with the phrases "Land of the Free" and "Right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". If I remember correctly, we (and I use this term loosely) had a eight-year revolution based upon these phrases. Now to analyze... After the Revolutionary War, the "Land of the Free" only applied to whites. I doubt the thousands of African slaves that toiled in plantations viewed it the same way. The slaves had life, it was just dictated by their owners. But they didn't have liberty or happiness, since they were being forced to work against their will. Now to jump 100 years into the future; to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, where the Chinese were prejudiced against by wealthy whites who were trying to find a cheap way to build their railways quickly. Now that I think about it, I guess that our founding fathers weren't being hypocritical when they first said/created those phrases... They just meant freedom and liberty for whites. But then this brings of the problem of racism...
" All men are created equal, it is only men themselves who place themselves above equality. " ~ David Allan CoeI guess all the examples I gave for the previous quote could also be used for this one... But oh well. The following was influenced/inspired by a certain book I read recently that left a strong mark on my mind... Everyone knows what racism is. And everyone is racist. You may not know it. You may not admit it. But each and everyone of us are racist in some way. Hell, I'd admit it myself: I'm racist because I always cross to another street whenever I see a a group of African Americans ahead of me. Following that perspective... Wouldn't the entire world be racist? Even if we deny it... We're still being racist by categorizing people as Asians, African Americans, and Whites. We're all human. The minute we're born, we all have the same number of organs; the same number of arms, legs, eyes, etc. It would be disastrous if we tried to categorize the human race further, since we all may be human, but different in small ways. So what if someone worships a different God? So what if their eyes are smaller than your own? Now comes the offensive things... If you're easily aggravated or offended, stop reading this post and look out the window. Or go outside and play with your friends. I find it hilarious that nearly all racism originates from whites. History has shown that whites are probably one of the most racist people on this planet. Whether it be agianst blacks or asians, or even native americans, there's a common point. Granted I make it sound as if whites are the cause of racism, but I'm not. I'm merely stating my opinion. What is racism anyway? Is it hate against another person? Is it contempt towards a group of people who are different? Or is it dislike towards something that isn't like you?
Now I'm going compeltely off topic... And I'm outta time... And I'm way past my word limit... So I'll continue this next week.
Since you like long books, I have a couple for you. I'll bring them in and you can take a look...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/
http://www.amazon.com/Different-Mirror-History-Multicultural-America/dp/0316022365/
Thanks. The "A People's History of the United States" one looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteOur forefathers are fathers for a reason. A father tries to give his children everything they need to surpass his own accomplishments. If George Washington had slaves, he was perhaps indulging, but perhaps he hoped for future Americans to further his ideals of equality. Perhaps, as many many people of his time, he was not ready to give up all the traditions he had grown up with (which is perhaps hypocritical.)
ReplyDeleteI forget who said it and when (my mind is this way,) but someone once said on the topic of things like prejudice, that even if progress is made, it will take a full generation or more for the progress to come into fruition. Something along those lines.
"I find it hilarious that nearly all racism originates from whites. History has shown that whites are probably one of the most racist people on this planet."
"Whites," as a whole group, have done nothing so collectively besides have ancestry in Europe. I think you should be more specific. Also, don't use history as a judgement for the now-sure there are still racist white people out there, but there are racists of all races. A person is not defined by the actions of those who looked like him and did terrible things in the past. So all "whites" associate themselves with slavedrivers? It's true that Europeans have done terrible things, but they were certainly not the first to have slaves, nor have they had the most slaves out of any "racial group." It's hard to define, really, the worst group, but the history of is irrelevant until it's been changed for the better IMO.
I've ranted again... But I thought I'd leave a comment because I think about these things often.
http://yom3.blogspot.com/2010/02/20-unrivaled-ego.html
ReplyDelete