Opinions On Eveything

So i've been watching CNN over the last couple days and it seems Michael Richards has made another apology. This time it was on Jesse Jackson's nationally syndicated radio show. What made this second apology newsworthy in my opinion was the fallout. It seems that black activists and even comedians (Paul Mooney to be exact) are now decrying the use of the N word as a colloquilism. Unfortunately I think this falls into the category of "a day late and dollar short".

I don't know when it exactly happened but the use of the word nigger has become a fashionable way of greeting fellow African Americans. The word has spread into general use in mainstream rap/hip hop to the point that it has lost its original meaning. This is a disgrace on so many levels that it's hard for me to comprehend. There's no other word in the english language that cuts to the bone the way that the N word has. It's the most amoral, humiliating word that conveyed the "supremacy" of whites over their black slaves yet today it's used in the same context as "brother".

The only other word that even remotely comes close to nigger in terms of subjecting power over the insulted is "bitch". What's even more maddening is that word has almost gained a quasi-acceptable status among young people today. I can't believe there are actually young women and girls who strive to be their man's bitch.

These are not the only words that have lost meaning and acquired quasi-positive values among young people but they're the two that immediately come to mind. Maybe i'm too sheltered in some ways but there is a serious lack of respect and understanding to our fellow man. Now a lot of this bizarro use of words, expressions and attitudes can be blamed on a lot of things such as TV, movies and music but that's just a hoary old argument. In my opinion a lot of the blame has to go to parents.

In the last 25 years we've seen the nuclear family crumble to pieces. It's hard to find truly stable families in the lower middle class/poor sections of North America. Now I know that's not all that new of a phenomenon but it seemed to me that in the past even in a one parent household the children would still be instilled with a sense of decency and pride. They were given all the tools the parent could give in order to be successful. The children strove to rise above the muck and be upstanding citizens.

Today those kind of values are almost nonexistent. The mothers have become alarmingly younger and younger which only perpetuates the "blind leading the blind" syndrome. A child can't mother a baby and from that moment on there's little to no authority in the household. Thankfully i've heard that teen pregnancies have dropped in recent years so that is a good thing.

We as a society in North America have ghetto-ized ourselves by falling into the morass of mediocrity, negative stereotypes and losing touch with history. This is why I applaud the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Paul Mooney and others to spread the message that the N word has no place in society. The word is just too powerful an epithet to be used in any context. As for the socio-economic problems that face us. There is no easy answer. In many ways the politicians and authority figures have abandoned the very people who need them the most. It's up to us as decent folk to make our situation better.

Sometimes I wish we lived in a better world where Israelis and Palestinians can see that they're more or less the same. I want to see a world where people of different races can help each other out without them thinking "oh they're only helping because they have some kind of agenda". I want to see a world of tolerance. In many ways living on earth is a form of hell but we have the power to change our condition.

You know, I apologize if this was a rambling, incoherant post. It's just that this eats me up inside. I physically get sick thinking about this because I know that we can do better then the current conditions of life today.

In closing I want to quote Dr. King

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

We, the human race have't fully realized the Dream. I hope that one day before I leave this mortal coil that Dr. King's Dream will be Reality.