“Happy” New Year, I guess.
I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach this, but I knew I couldn’t do this yesterday because I had a hard time arranging my thoughts. I still find myself in a bit of a whirlwind from yesterday’s show of privilege at the capitol, but I’m not surprised. Is anyone really? The last four years of the country were headed by a person who only cares about himself and his toys. He’s a self child that never understood the harsh realities many of us face. Now he’s throwing a history making temper tantrum and the world is watching.
As a black man in America I feel like my life and actions are a constant catch 22, If I react with anger to the atmosphere of the country I’m just another angry black. If I don’t react I’m content with what is happening. Well I’m neither, I’m not angry at what happened and as sure as hell am not content. I’m fearful,worried, lost, and disappointed because this was another show of power by white america, the comparisons have been made already, if this was a BLM protest things would not have escalated to that point the crowd would have been beaten and killed. Trump basically told his supporters “play nice okay? But remember daddy loves you all.” which sends a clear message to everyone watching. We know facial recognition software exists, why are we not seeing it utilized for the people that broke into the capitol building? Every person that passed through the cops/security into that building should be treated/and tried as a domestic terrorist, there was a clear and present danger to those working in that building and those “defending” it. One thing I don’t hear being answered is why was the defense so lax for an event so important? What if one of those protestors didn’t care about Trump or Biden, they just wanted to do as much damage as possible (like some people did during the blm protest)? What if one of those people had major explosives? They could have wiped that crowd, the police, and much of the building out! THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET THAT FAR!! Politics are messy at best, as well as divisive, corrupt, and unbalanced but we could have lost our Senate, the general staff, and the people in the vicinity and if it hit a gas main even more destruction.
I understand wanting to stand up for your leader, but if Obama did half the shit Trump had done prior to this, he’d be gone. So this shows even at the highest seat of the land there is racial inequality, and that’s the problem. Black Lives Matter, doesn’t mean fuck everyone else, it means hey we have a voice, we are human, we deserve equal rights. What blows my mind is how blind so many people are to how unequal this country is. It’s not just black folks, minorities in general are treated badly (unless they have money, then they are treated a little better), women are treated badly (even when they have money), the LGBTQ+ population was only given marriage rights in 2015 nationwide, but still have been marginalized like the previous groups.
This is America, so to those politicians saying “ This isn’t what america is about,” yeah it is. The problems, issues, discrepancies and what have you run deep. Changing laws and giving rights are nice, but people shouldn’t have to earn equality. The Idea of MAGA is wrong, America was never great, America was built by slaves & immigrants on land taken by Europeans from the indigenous people. That isn’t great, it’s tragic. It’s strange hearing a white guy that has no identity yell “Go back to your country!” in a land his ancestors stole. {Side note, What’s funny is that while I usually Identify as black (its easier that way), I’m technically multi-racial. I have Irish, Cherokee, African/African american, Creole (french creole I believe, I’d have to check) and I don’t even know what else. So really I am both a native to these lands and a stranger, but I have always felt like more of a stranger.}. With Biden being elected president and the senate now becoming majority democrat, people have told me “see change is coming, things will get better,” but it’s not that easy and anyone that thinks that is naive. This may be a road to recovery, but the changes we as a country need to make would outlast any president’s time in office.
America can change though, its not a top-down or bottom-up change, it’s inside to outside. The people as a whole need to change, then the systems need to change, the laws need to be adjusted. Martin Luther King wanted children of all nationalities to be able to play together, and that’s where it starts, stop teaching children to keep the cycle of marginalization going. The internet is so vast and contains so much knowledge, there is no reason for people to remain ignorant. Learn about each other, Learn from each other, and that includes the individual communities too. All the groups need to remember, share and teach the younger generation what life was like here for them, and their ancestors. Not to hold on to the past but to learn from it. We also need to show more respect to those within our cultures, and I’ll use myself as an example. Like I said, most folks assume i’m black, but within my own community I get called “fake” “oreo” “coconut” “not really black” “stuck up” or I’m told how I “talk white” “dress white” “hate my own people/culture” etc. Now there is no such thing as talking white to, there are various accents around the world, but I don’t talk white. I don’t use tons of slang (or I use dated slang) but I am mostly black. You can’t really tell over the phone but i’d like to think if anything I just sound smart. I went to good schools, my parents went to good schools, and I surround myself with people from all walks of life, but that negative connotation of “talking white” or whatever is poisoning youth.
I feel like I should wrap this up because I’m getting carried away. The USA is in desperate need of change, not a facelift, but a full body overhaul. We the people can make this a more perfect union, but the hatred, inequality, corruption, injustice, sexism, etc needs to be addressed & reformed so that the country can be the land of the free and the home of the brave that we sing about in the national anthem.
Later days
-Owl
Still here? Do me a favor yeah? If you have available time of money consider donating either to a charitable cause. Trevor project, The Human rights campaign, black lives matter, girls who code, are few I can think of but check your local area for good causes. I’m not endorsed, sported, or affiliated with any of those groups, but we need to spread love and positivity as much as we can. I may not live to see things go the way they should, but I can and will do my part. We share this world, let’s take care of each other and keep the world going, not tear each other down. Stop injustice world wide, stop the destruction of our planet, invest in the future.
The World Through My Eyes 