21 November 2007

A New Take On "24"...
Nice to know that Jack Bauer can rout the bad guys and save the world in a mere 24 hours. Me? I can't even have a 24 hour virus without it hanging around for at least SEVENTY-TWO hours! I'm on the mend, such as it is...still have a low-grade fever (which is a good thing; it shows the body is STILL in the fight), and any congestion I had is now "looser" than a 3-time DUI perp on a Fort Wayne street...LOL!

So, let's take some shots at those most deserving. Now this will probably cheese off a few people, but with *my* readership so low....I figure what the hell. Those that take the time to READ and UNDERSTAND...will "get it".

I was thinking long & hard about this Heritage H.S. racism note thing. And I've got plenty of thoughts on this. If this racism was directed at good, well-behaved black students with social ethics and a sense of morality, that is just plain WRONG. We can act immediately when a racist note (or symbol) is found, but when other students exhibit prolonged aberrant behavior, we hedge a bit...until something happens (like VT). Is there something wrong with this? This duplicity is one point that a lot of the *PC* brigade fails to acknowledge. And it's costing society....a lot.

Not ALL members of the black race are "worthy" of such a derogatory title as the *N* word. In fact, less than 5% of the ENTIRE black race in this country deserves (read asks) to be called exactly what they are. I am fortunate to say that I have NEVER befriended a person of color who deserved to be called the *N* word. And I guess some would call that "biased". SO be it. I can take the heat. Hell, THEY used that word more than I did, and didn't mind when I used it to someone they thought was one either.

The real PROBLEM stems from the modern connotation of the *N* word, as well as social indoctrination. People (incorrectly) use it as a "blanket" term to describe EVERYONE of the black race. Sorry, that dog just won't hunt. You can't "redefine" a word to fit YOUR agenda, but people do, and a lot of us are fooled into following that. Colin Powell, Condie Rice, Bill Cosby, John McWhorter, Larry Elder, Winton Marsalis, Leontyne Price, and scores of other notable black people (many of whom have made SIGNIFICANT contributions to OUR ENTIRE society throughout history) are being lumped in with this rabble who, by their actions, mannerisms, speech (if you can call ebonic mumblease such a thing), along with utter CONTEMPT for anyone OTHER than their "own kind" (which actually excludes many blacks - the OREO syndrome) beg to be called what they purport to be.

Calling these "people" anything better than what they are does everyone else a disservice. You cannot seriously make me believe that the welfare fraud mom with her thuggie boyfriend, who hasn't worked since he was kicked out of school, driving around in his brand new Durango, thumping that loud-ass $3K stereo and spinning those $2K rims all bought with drug money, and who will rob a person or business at the drop of a hat with his homeys is JUST AS DESERVING to NOT be called the *N* word than George Washington Carver OR Harriet Tubman....NO freaking way!

We can't even say "Afro-Americans" any longer. And negro is definitely taboo. Nubian is too confusing as many don't even know what that word denotes. I wonder how all the harps, mics, wops, krauts, nips, limeys, chinks, and hebs (wow, I'm somewhere in that group too) feel about this?. Hell, they MADE this nation as well.

We're perfectly OK calling a terrorist a TERRORIST, or a child molester a CHILD MOLESTER...because that is WHAT THEY ARE. But trying to do away with a word from our lexicon that denotes a "particular" group in our society (and not an entire race) takes us down the fascist road of the 3rd Reich. We can easily slide down this slippery slope of becoming a fascist state if we refrain from calling things as they are. Now I don't know about YOU, but fascism is NOT anywhere on my "to-do" list in my life any time soon.
We cannot create a better world by denial.
What is needed is temperance, and a return to a time where "sticks and stones may break our bones, but WORDS will never hurt us". I know that flies in the face of words having POWER, but you have to realize that people either GIVE those words power...or take that power away.
And how the rest of us respond to this "power-struggle" sets the tone for the subsequent generations. They will learn from US.
I, unlike so many others will admit to using the *N* word, but only where it is APPLICABLE. Outside of that "less than 5%", all other blacks are "just plain old people" to me. I will assess each person (of any race for that matter) on their own merits, their integrity, their morality, and social nuances. But if they dress like a slob, talk like an illiterate, and shuffle along the street, don't cajole me into thinking THIS guy's an up and coming BANK MANAGER...ain't gonna happen, people.And I think that's about AS FAIR as anyone can be when sizing someone up. It's when they demonstrate that they have NO respect, NO regard, and NO compassion towards anything or anyone (but themselves) that we have a parting of the ways.

It's this *N* mentality and blatant victimology they so often portray that has pervaded too many levels of our society, setting double standards, duplicity of speech, and confusion for the rest of society. The media allows the films, music, and lifestyle to become part of our lives daily, and little gets done to stop this indoctrination.
Our reaction is to knee-jerk ourselves into a overly-cautionary stance, enacting laws, bans, and hate crime legislation that is ill conceived and unfairly enforced. The FBI states that hate crimes are rising...well when you legislate anything and everything INTO a hate crime (except thought...for now anyway), what do you expect?

A TRUE hate crime is not just calling someone the *N* word...it IS dragging some poor black soul behind a truck until he's dismembered. That is reprehensible on too many levels. We're rapidly blurring the lines as to the true definition of hate crimes, and I fear the next step will be a further governing of our speech and eventually...our thoughts.

How Orwellian is THAT?
People need to start being honest with THEMSELVES, and grow a thicker skin, before they can be honest with others.
We can but hope that better minds will prevail.

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