The Right Color Skin
I believe that employers shouldn't hire people unless their skin is the right color. And I think that movies and tv shows need to stop having so many wrong-colored people in them. And don't even get me started with letting people-like-you be leaders of this country. The whole country has fallen more and more in a place where MY people are getting passed over by people like you. It gets worse every year, and I'm sick and tired of sitting here and hearing people act like it's okay. Like it's okay for people with YOUR color skin to tell people like ME what to do.
You're all violent and dangerous - you slip into violence at the drop of a hat - and you can talk about how this-or-that one of you did this-or-that thing, and that it proves that you're not so bad... but I know the truth - I know that the whole lot of you are bad eggs - you're ALL violent murderers, just waiting for your chance. I know that even if there are a couple here and there that are worth something, that those ones are the exception, and that most of you - and certainly the whole group of you in general - cause nothing but problems in this country.
And you know what? A lot of people agree with me. A lot of people agree that these people - all of them, their whole damn race - need to be knocked down a peg. People like me - who speak out about this stuff - are damn heroes.
.......Except that I don't actually believe any of that. Not a single bit of it. The whole thing was an exercise in intentionally stepping into the viewpoint of people who I strongly disagree with, and speaking their arguments. More specifically - speaking their arguments in a way that intentionally parallels the arguments of another group that I also strongly disagree with. Specifically - speaking the arguments of the extreme social justice side of the divide, framed in the wording of the extreme racist side of the divide.
I don't actually believe that employers shouldn't hire people unless they're black, any more than I believe that employers shouldn't hire people unless they're white. I don't actually believe that movies and tv shows should hire black people because they're black, any more than I believe that movies and tv shows should hire white people because they're white. I don't actually believe that there's a problem with electing black people into leadership positions in this country, any more than I believe that there's a problem with hiring white people into leadership positions.
I don't actually believe that this whole country has fallen more and more into a place where black people are getting passed over by white people - I think that those issues have slowly gotten better with each year since the civil rights movement. They're still a problem - one that deserves to be addressed - and probably will be for a long time - but based on every statistic that I've seen, I believe that it's a problem that's on the slow-decline, not the slow(or fast)-rise.
I don't actually believe that there's anything wrong with white people telling black people what to do, any more than I believe that there's anything wrong with black people telling white people what to do - people in legitimate positions of authority and leadership should be able to exert that authority in the areas where they legitimately have it.
(And then I stepped from black-white, to black-blue): I don't actually believe that all cops are violent and dangerous, or that they slip into violence at the drop of a hat, any more than I believe that black people are all violent and dangerous, or slip into violence at the drop of a hat. Nor do I believe that all cops are violent murderers just waiting for their chance, any more than I believe that all black people are violent murderers just waiting for their chance. I believe that both of those assumptions are completely ridiculous. I don't believe that only a couple of cops here-and-there are actually worth something, any more than I believe that there are only a couple of black people here-and-there that are actually worth something. I believe that most cops, and most black people - that most people - are flawed-but-ultimately-not-any-worse-than-the-rest-of-us. Yes, there are elements of cop culture AND of black culture that lend themselves to some bad behavior, just like there are elements in just about EVERY culture that lend themselves to bad behavior - but ultimately, despite those cultural bug-a-boos, neither group (NO group, aside from certain extreme exceptions like the KKK) is all-bad, or mostly-bad, or even half-bad. It's all just people - flawed, unwise, eye-skewed people - just like everyone else.
One part that I wasn't making up is that I do believe that a lot of people agree with what I was pretending to say here - a lot of people agree with one side of the racist viewpoint that I wrote down at the beginning of this, just like a lot of people agree with the other side of that racist viewpoint. Those people, on BOTH extremes, believe that the entire race on the other side of the divide from them are fair-game, and need to be knocked down a peg. Both extremes believe that their racist viewpoints are the absolute truth, and that their bad behavior is justified. Both extremes believe that they're heroes, fighting for a noble cause.
And you know what, after writing all of that out, I realize that there's one more piece of my initial opposite-of-my-real-viewpoint argument that I actually agree with - I DO believe that racism has gotten worse in this country lately. Because on top of the white-power sort of racists, we've now added in a whole new kind of racist - a whole new movement of people who make everything about race. Their intentions are better than most, and their overarching goals are more noble than most. Hell, unlike most racists, I flat out AGREE with most of their goals. I believe wholeheartedly in fighting against racism. But unlike the extremists on both sides, I believe that fighting against racism means fighting against you - the extremists on BOTH sides of the issue. I was raised to see racism for what it was - not to justify it in certain directions or to pretend that it's not racism if the "right" race is the one doing it. I look at the twisted, distorted justifications that people use to justify their racism - to see it as good and noble and righteous and sometimes not-actually-racist - and my soul screams out that it's wrong. I feel it - in my bones - in my deepest parts, I know that this is wrong.
...
I know the difference between racism and not-racism. I know it in my mind, and I know it in my bones. I won't give that up just because the flow of the river is going in a new direction. I won't decide that racism is okay just because everyone around me decides that it's okay. A thousand, thousand times throughout history, societies have decided that "wrong" is right, in one way or another, and to one level of destructiveness or another; It happens so often that it might as well just be called "human nature" - And every single time, a handful of people have seen through it, and recognized what's really happening. They're the ones who get marginalized and murdered - hung for standing against the "good" that everyone else has embraced. For better and for worse, I'm one of those people. For whatever the hell that's worth. So go ahead and despise me for not seeing you and yours as the perfect-righteous people fighting against the pure-evil racists. Call me a deluded racist for daring to call out YOUR racism right along with the other side's racism. Maybe you're not the bad-guys like the other side is - but you're not the damn good guys either.
You're all violent and dangerous - you slip into violence at the drop of a hat - and you can talk about how this-or-that one of you did this-or-that thing, and that it proves that you're not so bad... but I know the truth - I know that the whole lot of you are bad eggs - you're ALL violent murderers, just waiting for your chance. I know that even if there are a couple here and there that are worth something, that those ones are the exception, and that most of you - and certainly the whole group of you in general - cause nothing but problems in this country.
And you know what? A lot of people agree with me. A lot of people agree that these people - all of them, their whole damn race - need to be knocked down a peg. People like me - who speak out about this stuff - are damn heroes.
.......Except that I don't actually believe any of that. Not a single bit of it. The whole thing was an exercise in intentionally stepping into the viewpoint of people who I strongly disagree with, and speaking their arguments. More specifically - speaking their arguments in a way that intentionally parallels the arguments of another group that I also strongly disagree with. Specifically - speaking the arguments of the extreme social justice side of the divide, framed in the wording of the extreme racist side of the divide.
I don't actually believe that employers shouldn't hire people unless they're black, any more than I believe that employers shouldn't hire people unless they're white. I don't actually believe that movies and tv shows should hire black people because they're black, any more than I believe that movies and tv shows should hire white people because they're white. I don't actually believe that there's a problem with electing black people into leadership positions in this country, any more than I believe that there's a problem with hiring white people into leadership positions.
I don't actually believe that this whole country has fallen more and more into a place where black people are getting passed over by white people - I think that those issues have slowly gotten better with each year since the civil rights movement. They're still a problem - one that deserves to be addressed - and probably will be for a long time - but based on every statistic that I've seen, I believe that it's a problem that's on the slow-decline, not the slow(or fast)-rise.
I don't actually believe that there's anything wrong with white people telling black people what to do, any more than I believe that there's anything wrong with black people telling white people what to do - people in legitimate positions of authority and leadership should be able to exert that authority in the areas where they legitimately have it.
(And then I stepped from black-white, to black-blue): I don't actually believe that all cops are violent and dangerous, or that they slip into violence at the drop of a hat, any more than I believe that black people are all violent and dangerous, or slip into violence at the drop of a hat. Nor do I believe that all cops are violent murderers just waiting for their chance, any more than I believe that all black people are violent murderers just waiting for their chance. I believe that both of those assumptions are completely ridiculous. I don't believe that only a couple of cops here-and-there are actually worth something, any more than I believe that there are only a couple of black people here-and-there that are actually worth something. I believe that most cops, and most black people - that most people - are flawed-but-ultimately-not-any-worse-than-the-rest-of-us. Yes, there are elements of cop culture AND of black culture that lend themselves to some bad behavior, just like there are elements in just about EVERY culture that lend themselves to bad behavior - but ultimately, despite those cultural bug-a-boos, neither group (NO group, aside from certain extreme exceptions like the KKK) is all-bad, or mostly-bad, or even half-bad. It's all just people - flawed, unwise, eye-skewed people - just like everyone else.
One part that I wasn't making up is that I do believe that a lot of people agree with what I was pretending to say here - a lot of people agree with one side of the racist viewpoint that I wrote down at the beginning of this, just like a lot of people agree with the other side of that racist viewpoint. Those people, on BOTH extremes, believe that the entire race on the other side of the divide from them are fair-game, and need to be knocked down a peg. Both extremes believe that their racist viewpoints are the absolute truth, and that their bad behavior is justified. Both extremes believe that they're heroes, fighting for a noble cause.
And you know what, after writing all of that out, I realize that there's one more piece of my initial opposite-of-my-real-viewpoint argument that I actually agree with - I DO believe that racism has gotten worse in this country lately. Because on top of the white-power sort of racists, we've now added in a whole new kind of racist - a whole new movement of people who make everything about race. Their intentions are better than most, and their overarching goals are more noble than most. Hell, unlike most racists, I flat out AGREE with most of their goals. I believe wholeheartedly in fighting against racism. But unlike the extremists on both sides, I believe that fighting against racism means fighting against you - the extremists on BOTH sides of the issue. I was raised to see racism for what it was - not to justify it in certain directions or to pretend that it's not racism if the "right" race is the one doing it. I look at the twisted, distorted justifications that people use to justify their racism - to see it as good and noble and righteous and sometimes not-actually-racist - and my soul screams out that it's wrong. I feel it - in my bones - in my deepest parts, I know that this is wrong.
...
I know the difference between racism and not-racism. I know it in my mind, and I know it in my bones. I won't give that up just because the flow of the river is going in a new direction. I won't decide that racism is okay just because everyone around me decides that it's okay. A thousand, thousand times throughout history, societies have decided that "wrong" is right, in one way or another, and to one level of destructiveness or another; It happens so often that it might as well just be called "human nature" - And every single time, a handful of people have seen through it, and recognized what's really happening. They're the ones who get marginalized and murdered - hung for standing against the "good" that everyone else has embraced. For better and for worse, I'm one of those people. For whatever the hell that's worth. So go ahead and despise me for not seeing you and yours as the perfect-righteous people fighting against the pure-evil racists. Call me a deluded racist for daring to call out YOUR racism right along with the other side's racism. Maybe you're not the bad-guys like the other side is - but you're not the damn good guys either.
