Tuesday, October 28, 2008

my mind wanders

Going through my text book for my business class I came across a term which had a definition which got me thinking.

Although it seems to be a dead subject, "everybody knows this already" type thing.

I quickly realized that amongst me in class everyday are young, manipulative, naieve, and impressionable kids straight out of the confines of high school just now seeing a slight glimpse of light protruding from the reality of life.

Hence, they are easily swayed by what they are taught.

So this here is what they are taught.

"Affirmative Action: Employment activities designed to "RIGHT PAST WRONGS" by increasing oppurtunities for minorities and women."

So by now you are probably thinking I'm about to go off on "right past wrongs" but I'm not. Hopefully, that would be preaching to the choir.

What has me going now is the exclusion of white males. The ONLY group in our country that does not fall into the category of minorities and women.

As a white male I am strongly opposed to this, and I don't mean the concept of affirmative action. I am upset over the demonization of me, my brother, my father, and friends.

Ok, I'll be honest, I quickly got over such a petty thing...until I read the next term and definition.

"Reverse Discrimiantion: Discrimination against whites or males in hiring or promoting."

ALRIGHT! Here we go, that makes up for the knock on white guys! I dig it.

Then I began to think, a curse of mine.

I thought, "Wait a minute, white males are once again being segregated from the rest of our society. A portrayal of people ignoring their own racism by screaming racist the other way. "Reverse Discrmination"? Is that confined to one class of people? What an attack on the people included, the ONLY people included in this definition, white males! Does reverse discriminaion not apply to Armenians and Turks? Jews and Aryans? Sunnis and Shiites? North Koreans and South Koreans? Africans and South Africns? Russia and the world?
Can reverse discrimination not apply to some people in these countries who might discriminate based on past conflicts?"

I guess my point to all this is, I don't know...REALITY!

These things are taught in a lot of schools, although seeming miniscule, it really adds to a broader reality.

I have no problem listening to political, racial, opiniated comments of my professors, because I know I am smart enough to create my own beliefs.

However I do see "discrimination" and "reverse discrimination" daily, at work and school.

Sadly the acts of "Reverse Discrimiation" far out weigh discrimination.

But the acts of discrimination are not limited to white males.

It is one race against ALL others. There is not a limitation to white males, all minorities are not united with other minorities.

It is racism that is accepted to be OK by our society, just as long as it is not a white male commiting it.

Now I tangentially strayed in this post, but my ultimate message (totally separate from when I started) is...

Racism is born within everyone despite race, but some of us are able to over come this.

Do you? Do you really? Would yoiu treat a person who is a dead on stereotype for their race differently? Or would you chuckle a little because you just saw a stereotype to be true? Is that racist? Are we all racists still? Or has the definition of racism been changed to a definition that is actually socially acceptable?

Kind of like Gay no longer means happy...although most seem to be overly happy.

Final question...

Do YOU always take me literal? If so...when will you find that key to unlock your mind?

2 comments:

Abominable's Main Squeeze said...

Racism, sexism -- all other "isms" -- are interesting things. None of us are free from them. Each one of us is "guilty" of being at least one. That's not the point. The point is whether we ACT on them and I think the majority of us as individuals can put our own "ism" aside quite effortlessly. Society at large? Now that's often quite different. Certain groups seem to have a vested interested in keeping them alive. Sad.

Faceless Ghost said...

I've been told that it's okay to vote for Obama because he's black, but it's not okay to not vote for him because he's black. But if you act on the basis of someone's color, whether for good or for bad, aren't you racist? And wouldn't voting for Obama because he's black essentially be not voting for McCain because he's white?

I'm so confused.