The First Decade of the 21st Century

It is still December 31st where I live. It will be midnight in an hour and a half.

One thing I love about the ending of a year, is the excitement we all get, the hopes and renewals of maybe executing a much better year than before.

We all know resolutions are dumb, no one keeps them, but its fun to just talk about the kinds of things we wish to change as the year comes into our lives.

We are reflecting.

This year is sort of special. Its been marred by deaths and gloom, but the truth is its part of an even bigger and sadder picture.

We are closing out the very first decade of the 21st Century. January 1st 2010 will open a new decade. This brings in even more excitement for not only hope of a better year, but a better decade.

I don't need to recap everything that happened in the first decade, there are articles and even book-magazines that talk about it.

All I can say is that I am glad we are ending the first decade.

This New Years seems much more gloomier than the previous years. Everyone is much more depressed and moody. Society is worn out. We are all getting older and finding it more and more pointless to celebrate the birth of a new year because of the let down of previous years.

But thankfully the first decade is over. Lets just move on and forget about the gloominess of the first decade...lets try to make this next decade a better one...

Its sad though that the 21st century is marred early on...hopefully someone will get it right in the 90 years this century has left before the 2100.

2 Ways NOT to protest about your rights

Whether you are gay or a minority (gender or racially or even culturally?), or protesting for animal rights, there are 2 things that really won't help your battle.

1. Violence. There was a reason MLK didn't want to advocate violence. Being violent would get you immediate attention, but for all the wrong reasons. It would actually reinforce the extreme hatred. When you are violent about your cause you are pushing people away and causing them to support the otherside even if they don't agree with the otherside simply on the principals of not wanting to support violence. The nonviolent approach means more pain and having to swallow one's pride, but eventually people will start to realize how tough you are just "taking it", and will hopefully show respect for you and support your cause. They may see you as less of a threat.

2. Insulting other fights all in the name of your own. Gays are extremely guilty of this one. They go around saying that blacks have their rights, women have their rights, and then ask when is it their turn. Well, when you sit there and trivialize the fact that many blacks and many women are STILL fighting their battles decades later, it makes us NOT want to support your cause. Other minority groups are also guilty of this. They sit there and make the case that they deal with the most racism and that blacks do not. When minorities do that, it makes me hope they get their just desserts. If you want support for your cause the last thing you should be doing is minimalizing and trivializing other peoples social dilemmas all for the sake of your own.

So what is the lesson?

Be nonviolent with your message, and stop assuming that other groups aren't still fighting their battles, and don't try to make it sound like yours is worse than theirs.

"Its just how I was raised"

Often racists will try to excuse and justify their racism by blaming it on either their town/neighborhood, or their family and/or friends.

We all know the influences other people can have on you and how much it affects you. But its like with bad eating. Your parents are to blame for you getting fat by feeding you too much. But at some point you become old enough to be able to control your own eating habits.

In other words, the "how I was raised" argument is not excusable for being a racist.

Why?

Because at some point in your life, you have to take responsibility or continuing the belief. You have your own brain, you choose whether or not you will keep thinking the wrong way or not.

Its like blacks and the colorism issue. Many will always go right back to talking about how colorism started during slavery. But another black who is opposed to the colorism battle will come along and say "that may be so, but why do YOU keep it alive?"

Its the same way when you are exposed to racism.

People try to excuse their family's racism by saying "they just grew up in a different era", there is no excuse for racism. It doesn't matter if overt racism was once the norm, you still have the right to choose for yourself the truth or not.

Same with today, saying "I was raised in a racist family" or "my town is very racist, thats how I learned it", does not explain why you haven't taken the time to unlearn those things and educate yourself on the truth.

You choose what you are. No excuses. Own up, Put up and just Shut up.

When whites hate whites, why is it called racism?

Racism= the hating of someone because of their skin color.

That is why a black person from outside of America will endure racism just the same as blacks inside of America.

But I'll tell you what is NOT racism.

When a white person hates another white simply because they come from another country.

Case in point: The Irish. White America is guilty of oppressing everyone....but how they oppress them is quite different.

What the Irish were experiencing was Xenophobia. By definition, one could say that racism and even sexism is a form of xenophobia, as the definition just simply means hating something that is different from one's self.

But in the end, its not racist for an English white to hate an Irish white because racism has to do with one's race, which means their skin color. And BOTH are white.

What makes "white pride" wrong?

Black pride exists because they are not represented well in society. It is a response to white racism. Blacks have to tell themselves they are proud to be black because society keeps telling them its wrong to be simply by how they treat them everyday.

White people try to equate white pride to black pride. But the problem is that white pride is that its unnecessary. We live in a world where white is the standard. Their dignity and self respect is not danger at all.

And worse of all, being proud of being white is essentially saying you are proud of all the bad things white have done in this country. You are saying you are proud of slavery, killing Natives, and so much more. Most whites are okay with the fact that it happened as they are not sorry that it ever did happen and will often defend it religiously.

Being proud of being white is pretty stupid because there really is nothing to be proud of. It only exists out of the sheer anger that blacks are not letting whites win anymore.

Automatically, someone who is proud of being white, obviously holds racist views, otherwise why would they be proud of something that has done so much evil?

Now when whites say they have "Irish pride, or Italian pride, or British pride" that is different. That is pride of one's cultural heritage. Of course its silly to be proud of those things if there hasn't been a first generation Irish or Italian in your family in like a hundred of years. It actually annoys Europeans when whites say they are "Irish" and etc.

Blacks have pride in being black as they are unable to have Jamaican pride, Kenyan pride, or even Caribbean pride.

Its okay for minorities to have pride in one's race because they are fighting against a society telling them its not okay. Its not okay for the majority race to have pride in one's race because it represents how they think they are superior and only confirms their sick racist beliefs.

Race is a social construct?

The truth is, its not. Clearly when you look at someone you see someone with a different skin color than you.

Sure humans did make up the words "black", "white", and everything else.

The only racial thing that is truly a social construct is the need to treat one race as inferior to another. Now that is something human made.

But different races do exist. Anyone that says different, needs to get glasses.

Supporting racial profiling makes you patriotic?

Whites think that minorities should support being racially profiled...the racists actually argued that "any patriotic American would be honored to do so"

What on earth are you smoking????

Racial profiling already happens, if we make it illegal again, no minority (except asians) will have any rights, they will be constantly hounded.

Do americans realize the threat is over in other countries, that majority of minorities are NOT terrorists???

How is someone unpatriotic for simply saying that they don't want to be constantly hounded simply for their race?

I admit, I am NOT patriotic, I have too much dignity to want to be racially profiled to "save" a country only to allow things like that to happen.

What good is a country that takes away a minority's rights? Why would any self respecting minority be willing to have their dignity and rights revoked all in the name of America? That is not being patriotic at all. At that rate, you might as well leave America.

White people on support racial profiling because whites are NEVER profiled.

The problem with racial profiling is that white people think all blacks look the same. All middle easterners look the same, etc etc.

Racial profiling is ineffective for a reason. It results in more people being harassed. More people being jailed for simply not being white.

Why should I sacrifice my rights since I am a minority all for the majority? I mean, minorities who support racial profiling need to realize, that whites only want this because they hate minorities and are unaffected by racial profiling unlike minorities. No white person will care if you support it or not when they are profiling you for not being white. Even a patriotic black person would not support racial profiling, cause there is nothing patriotic about it!

I personally could care less if America gets destroyed, if that is the direction retarded white people want to take it. In the end, when America falls, we all know it will be because of Americans and their paranoia, stupidity, and just plain insanity.

The only peoples whose rights should be revoked is white peoples...they have shown one too many times how irresponsible and irrational they are!

You know what the sucky thing happens as a result of terrorist attacks???

It gives crazy "patriotic" white Americans an excuse to profile and harass innocent minorities. A Nigerian man on a plane 2 days ago was given hell because he had food poisoning and took a while in the bathroom.

Its amazing how America is fine with white Americans and their brand of domestic terrorism but how they don't mind harassing innocent minorities simply for sharing the same nationality or race as a terrorist...

This is why I don't care to defend America from insulting remarks. The world is right, Americans are really stupid! I don't even consider this country a developed country, people from other countries are smarter than Americans!

You know, if terrorists weren't looking for a quick way to destroy America, one could argue all they would have to do is instill constant fear of terrorism by a minority and that would scare America right into an American version of the Holocaust. Lets face it, a good majority of Americans are unstable. I mean, terrorists actually have the power of destroying America using the hands of Americans, just by instilling a fear of minorities....but as I said, terrorists are looking for a quick way.

Some would say I am exaggerating. Thats easy to say if you are white. But Americans are easily duped by propaganda. I would not put it past white Americans to go on a minority hunt killing all blacks and middle easterners...

Its sad when a terrorist attempt happens and the first thing you think is, "omg, I am scared to go out the door because some crazy American is going to think I am a terrorist because I am doing something that isn't suspicious but because they are not thinking rationally it looks suspicious".

I remember one girl who is part Asian said that after Virginia Tech happened, she got dirty looks, as if she were somehow responsible or a part of what happened.

I hate that "minority rule" where if one minority does something bad, all minorities of that specific race must be punished.

Even though this dude is Nigerian, what is stopping crazy unstable "patriotic" white Americans from assuming anyone that is black is a terrorist???

Before this dumb dude came along, whites viewed blacks as incapable of pulling off a terrorist attack or anything large scale, to whites, the only things blacks could do was regular crimes....sure, I guess you could argue, that not much will change since police already harass us and arrest us for doing nothing...but now its going to give white people a reason to just up and attack you, all under the guise of "terrorism". That is the difference...whites will be thinking less clearly now and will assume the slightest thing you do as an act of terrorism. So its like racial profiling going in over time, double the amount than usual.

As I said in a different post from a while back ago, I truly believe this country is headed in the direction of another Holocaust, spearheaded by the Republicans/conservatives. Its going to be a witch hunt galore for the crazies out there.

Although there is another lesson to learn from this attempt...and thats, New York is not the only target, and American Airlines and United Airlines aren't the only planes to target either...

But in the end, I am still more worried about domestic terrorism than I am foreign terrorism. Why? Because domestic terrorism is socially acceptable to Americans, especially when people wrap it up and display it as "patriotism".

Discovering Yourself

One of the great feelings is when you discover parts of yourself. When you have made the choice, or maybe discovered the label that fits you. Or when you realize who you are or what you want. It feels as if a heavy weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

Its a relief to discover something about yourself, to be able to start having an idea about yourself.

It helps to make you feel stronger overall. One can't be strong about their convictions if they are unsure of what they believe or want.

Self discovery takes a long time, we only figure bits and pieces about ourselves a little at a time. But its still a great relief when we do figure out some stuff about ourselves.

One way to think about it....

I've noticed that whenever a story appears where someone was being discriminated against whether its because of race, gender, sexual orientation, or whatever else; the side that is being accused often states that the ones being discriminated against were yelling or cursing, in other words they were angry and got an attitude.

Of course one has to question if the discriminators were embellishing. Or if the news only prefer to report discrimination stories where the victim is yelling so society can hate and blame the victim rather than focus on the real problem and why they may have had the right to be angry.

But it makes you think about how you respond to hate and discrimination.

When you get angry you are letting them win because they can easily turn it around and get you into trouble even if they were the ones who were originally in the wrong.

Although its impossible to control situations where the discriminator embellishes your actions to make it look worse than it was, it is always best to remain calm and do not curse or get angry, at least not until its a last resort.

I know that its really hard for black people to keep their mouth shut and to remain calm in incidents pertaining to racism...the urge to want to go "ghetto" on them is strong....but we have to remember that we are black in an anti-black country, just a mean look on your face is consider getting an "attitude" and is grounds for justification for your mistreatment....

Conspiracy Theorists: Birthers, the moon landing,TWA 800 and 9/11

What is a conspiracy theorist? In a sense its kind of like the boy who cried wolf. A conspiracy theorist is someone who never believes the official story. They are often anti-government in some shape or form and therefore always fault the government.

Birthers, are mostly Republicans who believe Obama is not an American citizen. They have pretty much thrown out all the rules that makes one a citizen of America. The fact that his mom is from Kansas makes him American by default since she herself is an American...yet birthers disregard these details in their pursuit to ramble on about nothing.

Moon landing conspiracy theorists are those who believe the moon landings were hoaxes. They even go as far to say that those who died in Apollo 1 were intentional as a cover up!!! Most of them can't even explain to you why NASA would go to the moon 6 times (would have been 7 if not for Apollo 13)...I mean if it were a hoax, why would we waste millions of tax dollars repeatedly to go back? I mean Kennedy's goal was to only go to the moon before the decade (1960s) was out.

TWA 800 Conspiracy theorists believe that the plan did not explode in midair but was shot down instead.

And the most infamous conspiracy theorists of all are the 9/11 conspiracy theorists. They essentially believe no one was on the planes that crashed and that some buildings were manually blown up and etc.

There are three recurring themes when it comes to conspiracy theorists.

1. Often they do not pay attention to details.
2. More often than not they have no formal education on the topic to really have a grounded opinion as to something being real or not.
3. What really makes most of us normal people laugh at CTs is the fact that they are always and I mean ALWAYS blaming it on the government...

This is why I referred to CTs as something along the lines of the boy who cried wolf. One day they will have a case but none us will believe them. Their lack of faith in the government is clear as day. It doesn't take a moron to know how pathetic and cruel the government is. We all know they lie to save their own butts. But these conspiracy theories are rooted in a deep seated hatred for the government. They lack any logic in these theories.

CTs refuse to be proven wrong...all their theories can and have been explained off by those who were actually there and those who actually have knowledge each case, but CTs simply refuse to listen.

And like I just said, they only have these conspiracy theories in the first place because they have a very strong abnormal hatred for the government or specific officials....that is the only reason they believe those conspiracy theories and make them up and is the driving force as to why they refuse to let themselves be proven wrong.

I personally laugh at CTs, they are all like broken records. Not to mention they are very disrespectful. In the end they usually make a 5 year old look much smarter BEFORE he even enters elementary school.

The internet is making people dumber

No doubt about it.

Its amazing the crap you see people say online. How unintelligent people look.

In fact its kind of funny.

You know its amazing the kind of insults people will throw at you online...how mad someone can get over you saying that people should be happy with something like The Princess and the Frog....

If the internet has proven one thing though, its that whenever people start insulting you or your being....that usually means they are losing the battle. Just like when they fall on racial stereotypes to get at you, it shows how unintelligent they are.

In fact, I am learning that the best approaches are the "calm, cool, and collected" approaches. In a way its like MLK's non-violent approach to civil rights.

It makes you look like the mature person who is above someone else's antics.

You can't help but laugh at those who use insults...sometimes you can't help but laugh at those who cheer on those insults as something intelligent. Ask yourself this question: Would this insult behavior be okay in the place of work? If you answered no, maybe its time to grow up and learn not to insult people.

This goes hand in hand with "speak only of what you know". The reason many people end up insulting you, is because the person doing the insulting was speaking of things they actually did NOT know, and were being proven wrong, and because it so clearly shows in the fact that they can no longer continue the conversation, they start insulting you to get you mad...its like a last resort, a new way of derailing the issue...it is the final nail in the coffin that shows they are very weak.

Its just too easy to insult people...just like its too easy to rely on race to insult someone with...it takes brains to actually win an argument without using insults.

As you can tell...many people on the internet are incapable of conversation...I would hate to see how they are in real life....if they are anything like their life on the internet...may God be with us.

Black music

Black music is music that is made by black people and dominated by blacks. You have jazz, blues, ragtime, Motown (which was soul and r&b), disco and funk...and then you have rap and hip hop, black music's undoing....

Usually especially in the 1950s, whites would love the music, but hate the fact that it was by blacks...so they would respond by finding a white person to sing the music so they can feel okay liking the music.

That is why many blacks do not like Elvis, because he essentially took credit for music that wasn't his...

Modern day versions of this can be found through Eminem.

Sometimes, getting that white person in there can be the undoing of a music genre. Some say argue that rap and hip hop lost its meaning when many whites started buying it, something they didn't do until Eminem came along.

White people wanted music that degraded women, that was about sex, money, and other vile things....this meant that the original meaning hip hop had was no longer sought after...because people wanted big bucks and whites wanted vile rap music.

Black music existed before rock n roll (yes blacks did create rock n roll), in the form of jazz, blues, and ragtime...but even then, in order for it to go mainstream, a white person had to do it.

This still happens today...if the genre had absolutely no white singers, whites would not buy anything within that genre at all.

Michael Jackson sold millions only because his music was in a genre that also had whites in it.

In the end though, most whites can never bring to the black genre of music in the same way a black person can...it almost always lacks soul and depth.

Meanwhile, black music is deteiorating simply because young blacks of today are too busy catering to white peoples wants in mainstream music rather than trying to make actual good music. Lets face it, hip hop and rap along with genres like country and heavy metal (these two genres are white music) are some of the worst genres of music to have ever been made...I wouldn't even really classify any of it as music.

Age and respect

Many older people believe that because they are older, by default they are somehow wiser and therefore they believe that is grounds that younger people should respect them.

There are few faults with that theory:

1. You are assuming that wisdom can only come with age. The reality is that a young person can have almost the same amount of wisdom as someone who is old. How? Its not just about how long you have been living on earth, but its also about the kind of experiences you have on earth.
2. Respect is a two way street. If you are going to be rude and disrespectful to me, why should I have to respect you? Just because you are older than me doesn't mean you deserve respect. Just like a war veteran doesn't deserve respect if he goes off and hurts others.

I go with the philosophy of 2 types of respects.

The first type is the "initial respect". In this case, when you do not know someone you will automatically give them the benefit of the doubt. This is only for when you are first meeting someone though. The idea about this kind of respect isn't so much respect for the person, but more of a "I am not going to treat you wrong, and start problems with you". Pretty much trying to avoid early problems.

The second type of respect is the "earned respect". This kind of respect comes when the person does something to no longer earn that initial respect given. This usually involves people you know and are somehow a part of your life. This kind of respect is also more indepth than initial...its more about one's character and being and their effect on your life.

In my opinion, old people get angry that young people don't respect them, but they have never stopped to think that maybe its because they do not respect younger people. Just because you are older than me or others doesn't give you the right to talk down to me or treat me like a child. I am 20, and by law since I was 18, I have been an adult.

I personally get annoyed by the snotty remarks by old people insulting the young. My generation has a different philosophy about respect than past generations.

I come from the "you respect me, I will respect you" era. We just don't get the logic in respecting someone simply for being born a few decades before us, especially if they are rude or mean to us.

But at the same time,it also annoys me when old people assume that with age comes wisdom. Wisdom isn't only limited to age. The longer you live, the more experiences you have. So really its about the experiences you have. There are people, my age, who have had 50 years worth of experiences in only 20 years of their life. So yeah, wisdom isn't limited to age. Heck some old people lack wisdom...some old people old people are very hateful and ignorant...thats not wisdom if you ask me.

What makes someone mulatto?

Believe it or not, but some blacks will do anything to be seen as mixed. They often use the "slavery-rape" argument to justify that they are mixed.

In the early posts of my blog, I spoke of what makes someone directly mixed and indirectly mixed.

Those who are directly mixed have 2 parents of a different race, those who are indirectly mixed had racial mixing in their bloodline at a different point in time.

Some people will still try to rationalize that a black person is mulatto.

But what makes a person mulatto?

Someone who is white and black. If one of your parent's is not white, and the other black, then you are not mulatto.

Its so simple, that its hard to believe there are people dumb enough to make it harder and complex than it is.

Men blaming women...

So I read an article about rape...and it was disturbing and disgusting in the comment section (as usual).

I was even more angrier than usual because there was a rape on the south campus on my school recently and an attempted rape in a bathroom in a building I was actually in a week earlier, in the very bathroom that girl was attacked in.

We even recently had a hall meeting with the police, who pretty much had nothing...

So it was weird reading this article where all the girls were saying their police were of no help.

I was expecting in the comment section to see sympathy...I just couldn't calculate in my mind how anyone who is considered sane could somehow wrap it around their head and make it somehow the woman's fault....

But in a disturbing way...they managed to.

I never realized how sexist many men must still be. But essentially many think rape is when a girl gets drunk, or is wearing something revealing therefore she must somehow be asking for it.

Many girls had to chime in and set these sick pigs straight, that its not the girl's fault.

One girl put it in such a good and clear way, "why is it when it comes to solutions it always falls on the girl to change any bit of her lifestyle instead of trying to find ways to stop men from menacing and preying on women?"

Another girl told a disgusting pig, "when a women is drunk, no you shouldn't touch her, if she is unconcsious she can't say no, so you shouldn't touch her, if she says no, no means no. men shouldn't be looking for a no, they should be looking for the girl to actually say yes."

Why do we always blame the victim in American society?

Some people will say "I will never wish upon you what you refuse to understand is so evil"...but quite frankly I am a vengeful person, if you are going to say someone deserves to be raped, then you better fucking hope you are a loved one never ever has to be put through that.

It just angers me how sick some people are. I hate it how the victim is always being blamed. No one is asking to be raped...why not for the first time in American history, we actually hold men accountable for their actions?

The sequel to "other races do it too" argument

So a while back ago I did a post on how people will often deploy the "other races do it too" argument to try to derail from discussing issues pertaining to one race (ie, when you talk about whites being the most racist, even statistically, they will deploy the "other races do it too" argument).

There is a sequel to this kind of argument.

The sequel is in the form of talking about an injustice, and someone of another race, trying to derail the fact that one race endures it worse than another by saying "other races are mistreated too".

Its got the same concept as "other races do it too", its essentially trying to minimize the problems one race is going through more than any other race, by making it about everyone else, when its not about everyone else.

As I mentioned in the other post, if I wanted to talk about all races, I would not specify a race then.

An example of this kind of argument is when you talk about how more blacks are wrongly accused and sentenced to jail for something they did not do. Just recently James Bain was released from jail for a crime he did not commit. He was sentenced in 1974.

Whenever someone brought up the disturbing truth about how many blacks are wrongly sentenced to jail for something they did not do, many whites attack them and start going on a spiel about how its not just blacks. But the thing is, that is not what the person was saying, they never said other races don't have this happen to them, they just simply said blacks have it happen to them more.

Of course, whites tried to paint the 1960s and 1970s as a lily white perfect kind of world...and one person mentioned that its pointless to bring up race since the internet world is too stupid to recall the reality of the 1970s and will try to argue that the world has always been just and fair and still is, even when we all know reality says different.

Its impossible to combat this kind of argument online, since its full of trolls and racists and often you will get outnumbered. It is not worth "debating" online with sick strangers.

But when you are facing this situation in person, the best way to respond is by saying "I am talking about what the black community is going through, they go through it more, please stay on subject, if you cannot, then leave as I don't want to waste my time with someone who is too ignorant to stay on the task at hand".

Remember...there is a reason you specified a race rather than just say "people" or "humans". This isn't an equal world where everyone is treated the same where each race is given the same amount of injustice and whatnot...there is a disproportionate number, and people need to realize that instead of trying to minimize the truth...when you try to make it unimportant, the situation never gets solved.

Where are you from?

As innocent as that question may seem, it can be seen as a great insult, depending on how its used.

Many of us have been asked the "where are you from?" question, I get asked all the time..well actually I get the "where do you live?" question.

In fact, an recurring joke about my city is that 2 of the first things people will ask you is 1. Where are you from and 2. What high school did you go to? (When I read it on a list at facebook, I realized that I myself tend to ask those questions also).

But the "where are you from?" question can go from being innocent, when people mistake someone as a foreigner.

Mostly its asians and people from india who get this, alot. The ones who usually get that question are actually american-born.

Now its natural when you hear an accent, or what seems like a different accent, you are going to ask that "where are you from?" question.

When I visited Oregon in the earlier years, I got asked that question alot...they knew I was not from there...because they knew my aunt, and they knew that all her relatives lived out in the Midwest and the South.

The question itself isn't so offensive, its just that its irritating to have to tell every person where you are from...and for some people, they hate the fact people may assume they aren't American.

When you go off to college...one should expect to hear that question alot, simply because people from anywhere and everywhere are there.

But its always best to just use the line "where are you from?" never say, "are you from china?".

My views on Gays

Since I am straight and only like men, I will admit upfront that this post is biased from the point of view of a heterosexual.

Most religious people believe gay people choose that lifestyle...that is why they use the argument "no one said you can't marry, you just have to marry someone of the opposite sex".

I actually believe gayness is a medical condition. Now gays will argue that there is nothing wrong with being gay. But in my opinion, considering majority of people are not gay, I would definitely say gayness is probably some kind of malfunction in the brain.

So can you blame people when they ask if testosterone will cure gayness? Can you blame anyone for asking if gayness can be cured?

I don't believe majority of gays want to be gay. Some choose it, most are born that way.

I do think a cure should be found for it.

Now whether I believe in the whole gay thing as being okay or not, well, my views are ever changing...purely based on my mood.

Numbers mean nothing

You know, mentioning the numbers of people who join groups like the Neo Nazis means nothing to me really.

You don't have to join a racist group to be a racist. In fact, sometimes its those not affiliated with a group you should be most suspicious of, because 9 out of 1o they are a closet racist.

Why do you think its easier not to trust most if not all white people? They are so busy hiding their true colors...if you give them one benefit of the doubt, it could mean the end of your life.

So yeah, I honestly don't care for numbers at all. Numbers don't mean anything when you don't have to be a part of a group to still hold similar sentiments to that hate group.

Why the Midwest Sucks

There is a reason many places in the heart of states like Missouri are referred to as "Little Dixie".

The Midwest is essentially the South only its reputation is not as known as the South. But it mirrors it in so many ways.

The midwest wants to be the south, right down to the racist hickish redneck behavior.

I am a missourian unfortunately. I hope to one day move away from this Hicksville City.

But I despise the midwest why?

• Its a racist mecca...neo nazis, skinheads, kkk everywhere. In fact, around here most whites subscribe to the neo nazis and kkk's beliefs although they don't want to join the groups as they are closet racists.
  
• Ever since Obama has won, whites have went in the direction of anarchy, they have no self control, they will say some of the most racist things out of nowhere.....Jim Crow, here we come again!
• Its a red state-which means its a hate state that is against peoples rights-need i say more?
• Ignorant values. Obviously as a result of being a red state.
• Bible thumping....if i am not being hounded by some lame jehovah's witness, then i am being hounded by some run of the mill christian who won't take no for answer.
• Oh, did i forget to mention i live in the city/county? Yeah, millions of people and this is the kind of behavior you'll see, so if its that bad here, just imagine how bad its going to be in a small town. I remember when i was in a car with someone who wanted to make a stop in sullivan (a town actually being controlled and supported by the KKK) to get a soda because she almost fell asleep at the wheel. There were 2 asian exchange students in the back seat with is, as she went in and we sat in the car, i seriously felt like i was going to be murdered when some redneck hillbilly looking white man came out and gave us one of those "you don't belong here" stares.
  
• another reason I hate missouri is that its always last to do anything. Looking at its records on social changes, it never changes socially until its fucking forced by the Court/federal gov't when an amendment gets passed. Like I said its a southern state wannabe.
• MAP tests suck...of course any state test sucks as we all know the pointlessness in any of them.
• If you are a night person, unless you go to downtown st. louis, not a damn thing is open. For me its not a problem cause I am not social, I like to stay in and have grown up with the lifestyle of everything closing befor 10:00 (with a few minimal places closing at 12 am).
• The places were police are needed most, are not there, they are almost non-existent. People wonder why the crime rate is so bad...well there is your reason, none of the police are taking a proactive stance.

Those are only some of my reasons, to give you a taste of why I am not so crazy for Missouri, and hope to move away after I get my degree or whatever. Believe me the stuff I mentioned that are problems in my city are apparent in almost every Midwest city....

Being idealisitic won't help much realistically

There is a user over at another blog who prefers to be idealistic about some things, too idealistic to the point that they are shirking reality.

The problem: So the user was hating on a mom who gave up her biracial daughter and then when she planned to meet her she warned her children that she is half black. This mom grew up as a teen in the 1950s. In Mormon Country that is Utah. Remember for starters that it was the Mormons who popularized the idea that blacks are cursed and are bad and are God's rejects because of the Curse of Ham (or in some places Canaan). It was only a few decades ago they started to "recant" what was said and done earlier and started letting blacks have higher positions in their churches.

But anyways this user said that if the parent raises their child correctly then they can't possibly be affected by outside influences at all.

But here is what makes her little theory wrong.

1. We each have our own opinions, and in every way possible our influences are effected by those around us, including outside influences. You would have to shelter them from reality and never let them go into, in order to block them from outside influences.
   
2. It is possible to have a racist in an anti-racist home just the same that its possible to have an anti-racist in a racist home. The mother more than likely had a poor choice in her words, something I am all too familiar with. Nothing worse than anal people who mistake the first thing you say because you didn't say it the way they said it. No one never stopped to think that maybe the mom was also looking out for the daughter she gave up, maybe she wanted to keep the negitivty away when she would arrive to meet the family. Or at least avoid the first surprises. I mean her kids that she later on had were white. How are they to know their mom in a time where it was illegal to be with another race had sex with a black man, twice?
3. Ultimately this user forgets that in reality, racism and hate still exist. That the parent can't keep their children from the realities of the world. All the parent can do is do their part to help the navigate the world and hope they make the right moral and social choices instead of the wrong ones. When you assume that outside influences have no power whatsoever on your children, you are setting yourself up for disaster. You will get blindsided. You have to take into account the realities of the world and their temptations they have on people. Never underestimate the power of evil.

In the end, being a dreamer and being idealistic don't matter much when you forget to pay attention to reality. Yes everyone says go for your dreams, but that doesn't work if you don't take the time to look at reality to figure out how to go about your dreams. Likewise, if you think idealistically and never how society is realistically, you will find yourself dealing with exactly what you are idealistically trying to avoid...Reality doesn't stop sadly when we decide to think above it or remove ourselves from it.

So I put it into action

I once made a post about how its stupid to react to some moron's racial insults. Well I had the chance to do it today.

So this white dude is standing a couple of feet away from me, he is talking to his friend who is sitting down and playing with his laptop. I am sitting eating my lunch as I had just finished my final for philosophy.

He loudly tells his friend who is on the lap top to look up "www.whatthefuckblackbitch.com

He then points to me saying, "either she didn't hear me or is ignoring me". So he says it again.

I just shake my head and laugh quietly to myself.

For starters, I had no reason to react, he wasn't saying it directly to me, I only knew he was talking about me because he pointed to me. I mean it did alert me when I heard him say "whatthefuckblackbitch" but I didn't speak up.

I was more curious as to why he wanted to get a rise out of me than I was about the fact that he was being an ignorant dumbass.

Afterwords I started thinking about that blog post I did. I then realized how funny it is that he was in so much need of validation of some sort that he targeted me just based on my race.

I mean race and curse words are like the easy way out of trying to think of an actual insult. I have referred to myself as a bitch before, cause I know I can be bitchy.

It really reinforced how in some situations its best to just ignore someone. Had I responded, I would only confirm the stereotypes he believes in and those nearby probably believe in. He could have easily turned it around on me had I responded, which could have resulted in me getting into trouble.

It is true, sometimes we do need to think before we speak, something that I know is hard for many blacks (especially black girls) to do from my own observations.

Its important for each of us to figure out which battles to take on and which ones not to. I didn't even know this person, and have never seen him before, so why give him the validation he so badly desires to have?

We are a society as a whole that believes if you walk away or ignore someones bad mouthing that makes you a chicken..but as the Back to the Future trilogy showed that sometimes you get yourself into more trouble trying to prove your not, especially to people who really don't matter in the long run. I guess its time we all learn to just walk away. Let people wallow in their own hate.

Do your movie tastes change?

I just now realized today that my movie tastes are changing.

I was crazy about movies like Clerks II, but after researching its following, I realized I don't want to associate with that kind.

I am starting to outgrow teen movies. I don't know why I liked them, I didn't do any of the things they did, it most of its drama did not match my drama in my teen years.

I am finding that I am liking old movies, classics, and family comedies. I am starting to take a great interest in documentaries, and want to watch a bunch of modern marvels episodes.

I am liking movies with a historical purpose/aspect such as Apollo 13, Titanic, Tuck Everlasting, Catch Me If You Can, and so on.

I am growing up.

I love comedies, but majority of comedies today just do not live up at all. Most of it is gunk that is trying to be satirical or parodying of something or just too sarcastic...they are not trying to do in these harsh economic times what movies did in the Great Depression, and thats try to get you away for a few hours from the depressing world that is America.

In fact i think movies of today are just dumbing down society. I mean some of us with class and morals dont want to see every little movie talk about sex, pot, and alcohol.

I am glad my movie tastes are changing...I want to be one of the few who have good tastes for movies. I don't want to be part of Dumb America.

Career steering

A commenter over at Abagond was talking about career steering in a comment towards a racist who was showing their ignorance.

What is career steering?

Career steering is when someone tries to steer another person in a specific direction career wise.

This mostly pertains to race and/or financial situations, but often even happens within the family.

In fact, I have suffered more from the financial and family career steering than I have from the racial career steering.

There is a difference between someone mentioning the warnings and things to think about when choosing a career just to help you make sure you know what you want, and then there is trying to steer them away from something by encouraging other types of jobs, usually lesser than jobs that they feel "suit" your abilities better.

My mom has often career steered me and tried to give me warnings and things to think about. Hers comes from the financial fears. She fears there may not be a job out there for me when I am done with college. Its the loans that makes her scared (the same for me, plus her being ill and poor).

Her fears are legit...but at the same time her fears caused her to go beyond just trying to help me think about what I wanted to turning into career steering.

Needless to say, it worked twice.

I had wanted to be a fashion designer when I was 15 and 16. I took a sewing class, and realized I hated sewing and just liked drawing the clothes, so I gave up on that aspiration. I then started getting interested in being a wedding planner...but alas, my mom discouraged me.

I have the philosophy of "if others suffer, that means I will suffer b/c they are better than me, and if it happened to them, its gonna happen to me".

I am not a risk taker and I gave up that aspiration.

Right now I have settled for being a history teacher, even though I really don't care to teach war. I am into the Space Age, Flying (mostly commercial), and pop culture. I would really like to work in archival or in museums. I would even like to work in a library someday.

Many have asked me why I am getting a teaching degree since its not what my heart obviously wants.

Well there is a saying life...those who can't do, teach.

I want to work my way up, I want to at least get a degree that I could fall back on hopefully if I were to be unable to complete any other degree. I hope after getting my degree I could aim for a library science degree (which means I could work in a library), and then a masters degree in history and hopefully I could get into some kind of museum studies program when I am done.

I was lucky that not to many people have tried to career steer me, although I was career steered by a TA recently, not to go for a lesser job but to go for what I really wanted and that was to work in a museum (she herself found herself going back to school to become a historian).

But some people are not so lucky. I think what helped my case in high school was that I did pretty good (i was ranked 28 out of 341 people in my graduating class).

Blacks often find themselves being career steered, such as when you apply to a clothing store and they suggest you apply to a fast food joint instead. (this is more job steering)

But the worst kind of career steering is when it comes to the career you want to take in life and someone tells you that maybe you should think about something else.

As I said before, its one thing to be trying to help the person look realistically about something or to take certain things into consideration, but at the same time there is that fine line between doing that and then trying to tell them they are not good enough to do anything above a certain field.

I sometimes feel like I cannot be a history teacher because I am black, and whites don't want blacks teaching white history in school. Thats what makes me iffy about wanting to do something in the history field (whether its teaching or museums) because people will expect me to only do things relating to African American history.

I remember someone once told me, if you are successful in breaking the white barrier in the history field, you can be someone a black girl may be able to look up to someday....

Someone has to break the barrier right?

"Other races do it too" argument

The "other races do it too" argument is when you state a claim that pertains to one race and the person on the other side retaliates by saying "other races do it to, its not just [blank]".

This method is a way of derailing an argument about race and problems within a specific race because it takes focus away from the race you are talking about and becomes more about do you go PC even though statistics may say different or do you try to get the person being PC to wake and just answer the question and hope you help them realize being PC doesn't solve the problem at hand?

Examples of the "other races do it too" argument:

1. If you say "why do black men abandon their pregnant girl more than other races?" It gets shot down because you are not being PC about the fact that statistically it really is mostly black men who abandon over other races. We all know in the back of our minds that not everyone is the statistic, but the problem is, because they don't state it like this "Why do people abandon their pregnant girl?" it gets shot down. You can't really ask it the PC way because there are different reasons for each race because each race has a different history in America. You can't even say "why do many black men abandon pregnant girlfriends?" because it still just addresses only blacks. So once again you can't get an answer because you aren't allowed to ask.
   
2. Why are white people the most racist? Also follows the same reasoning as the first. (often whites will use the "you are a racist for calling me a racist" argument along with the "other races do it too" argument.
   

Essentially people are so busy trying to be PC about this, that the problem always ends up going unsolved. Black men keep abandoning pregnant women at high rates. Black women keep getting pregnant at high rates. White people keep being racist at high rates.

Everyone knows each race is guilty of the same things, but the reality is some races are more guilty than others, and for that reason, its important to make awareness of that to fix it. Whites are more likely to be racist than blacks. Blacks are most likely to leave a girl pregnant. Wouldn't it be for the good of society to fix it? To curb it as much? Yes that means another group becomes the most guilty of it, but then you apply the same, at some point, you have alot less of racism and pregnancy rate issues than you did before, its always gonna be there, just not as badly as it/was. But people don't care to look at it that way.

We are so busy trying to say "all races do it" or "not everyone in that race does it"that no one ever answers the question.

The thing is, if I cared about what other races did, I would have not have specified a race. The fact that I specified a race means I only meant that race.

The "other races do it too" argument is used by both sides of the political spectrum and by all races and all genders. It also comes in other forms not just race either (kinda like when you and someone else are doing something you are not supposed to do and you get caught but the other doesn't you say "but they did it too").

Its never considered derailing when its aimed at you and you are giving the "other races doi it too" argument. But when you are asking and people do it to you, then it all of a sudden becomes derailing. Either way it is derailing...no you are not educating someone when you use the argument, you are only trying to derail it.

Yeah we all know that each race has their own set of problems, and how they became problems in that race is different than for other races. So stop derailing and just answer the question...

Sometimes I wonder if people derail because they don't want to have to deal with the problem and they hope ignoring it will make it go away. Cause lets face it, when we have to hear about the problem, and why its such a problem, the next 2 big questions is, why aren't we fixing it and how do you fix it? and the reality is, no one wants to fix the problem...or at least put in the time and energy it takes to fix the problem.

Black men are some of the most sexist men out there these days (im not lying either)

Its weird, when I hear a white guy say girls shouldn't be in the army, I go head over heels for them. Mostly cause I agree.

But when I hear a black guy say it...it just doesn't ring right.

I was at a black news website, and it was about Tiger Wood's fetish for white women. Most of the black guys defended him, as they themselves were admitting they date white women only. Each of them of course, bad mouthed black women. One sexist pig had the gall to say this:

"if they dont like the fact that famous black men get with white women then they should buck up, shut up and quit acting so crazy all the time and learn to take care of their men."

Black men probably more than the average white man want a submissive woman. It irks me, when black men dis black women and get away with it considering how trashy, disrespectful, and horrible many black men tend to be.

If it weren't for a black lady, they would not be able to legally fuck their white wife and then leave her hanging afterwards (like my deadbeat dad).

I could care less if black men want white women, but at least have a vaild non-racist, non-sexist reason for it.

I could understand if you were raised in the white environment how you'd be attracted...but to only like white women and to not like black women because they do not submit and allow themselves to be slaves to you is fucked up. Black men generalize black women so badly because they do not submit and return to slavery, this time under a black man instead of a white man.

I have been attracted to every race of man. But I rarely am attracted to black guys. I admit that I was raised in the white world. Besides most black men behave in rude behaviors. I prefer clean cut guys who don't drop the word "nigga" or anything like that every other sentence.

But I seriously wouldn't be surprised if black men are some of the most sexist out there, when you think about it, they are pretty darn hypocritical. They expect equality racially, but godforbid if they ever have to see a black woman as their equal.

Notice how you never see black men defend black women from police brutality? Its always about black men and black men only. They divide the black race and then expect black women to be there for them when the going gets tough and the white people they appeal to leave them hanging.

I am very extremely critical of black men, especially those that go around either acting in atrocious ghetto/gangsta like ways, or those that are so uppity that they think somehow they are too good for black women.

Yeah I probably shouldn't care since I am hardly attracted to black men anyways.

While most black women are upset about Disney not using a black prince, I am actually glad they didn't, think about it girls, if they had a black prince and white woman in the movie, black men would tell black women to shut up about it.

Tasering a 10 year old

A few weeks back a cop misused his taser when he tasered her for being unruly. The situation is that the mom called in the police because the 10 year old would not take a shower.

As I said in a different post, I like and want a taser. But I do think there should be some kind of control on it, I mean, people have the tendency to read a situation wrong. How many times has someone who grew up in a different place and saw a black man who was very ghetto/gangsta and all of a sudden clutch their belongings or took out the pepper spray?

I won't lie, I get that feeling, and sometimes actually do take out my pepper spray, there has been an attempted rape on north campus and an actual rape not too far from the residential dorms yesterday on south campus. In both cases it was a black person.

But its not right to use it on every black person, even a gangsta black person, who comes up to you because some are just genuinely trying to ask a question or something. Not every black person is a sicko rapist/theif/killer. Of course dressing like one, and talking ebonics does give off the vibe that you are one....and that is why I don't blame some whites for being scared, cause even I am.

Now I don't know the race of the 10 year old and I honestly dont really care to know. But I do think its extreme to taser a kid...in fact I think its extreme that the mom had to call in the police over a matter of a shower.

Maybe its just the broken home syndrome...when there is only one parent in the home, the kid acts out more and blah blah blah.

The officer said the mom said it was okay to taser. I wouldn't be surprised since she had to call in the police. I think its the dad who is upset by this. Maybe the girl should live with her dad for a while...and maybe an investigation should be done on the mother.

It just seems like she was misusing the police's time (even though I doubt the police were probably doing anything useful anyways). I mean a parent needs to rethink their strategy and parenting skills...when you have to call in the police over a matter of a shower, there is something wrong in that situation alone....the question of the taser being used on the kid is 2 questions itself to be asked afterwards:

1. Should police taser 10 year olds? Should the police be resorting to violent measures so soon in a situation?
2. Should they investigate the mom for allowing her child to be tasered?

I support tasers as much as the next person, but I do not like it when people misuse the taser.

But this situation sounds like not only should the police officer be investigated but so should the mom...something just doesn't add up.

What makes a song mainstream or not?

Something that was mainstream 10 years ago isn't mainstream today.

For instance, if you play a Britney Spears song from her Baby One More Time album, people are going to give you stares and some may even say you are living in the past.

Mainstream music is a song that is currently popular in the moment. Its pretty much decided by white people...there is a reason the negative rap music is successful but not the rap that is supposed to have real messages...because white people can't remotely relate to real rap let alone want to hear music about problems their race may have caused to the black race.

I am not a rap fan, nor hip hop fan. I do not like either version, the negative version whites like or the supposedly more positive version for black people to like.

I usually never start liking a popular song in the moment until that singer usually has already dropped another album. When the hype is over and it becomes old news then I am likely to listen and like the song.

I have no favorite genre of music at all. I like almost any decade of music, any genre, as long as the music is catchy. I rarely listen to the lyrics of a song.

I do think its true that movies and music can help tell you how immoral society is getting. How exactly?

Watch one of the beach movies of the mid 1960s. Then watch a teen movie such as American Pie. What becomes acceptable only matches society in movies. The reason schools and such are thinking music isn't important is because of the trash and the singer's trashy image these days....if thats music, then whats the point in it right? Music and movies go hand in hand with a society's lack of morals.

Singledom is much better...

Almost everyone I went to high school with is pregnant or has had kids, some married, some not. Alot of girls I know in college are engaged, all of which dated for well under a year (one "technically" dated on and off for a year but thats not really a year).

I live in a segregated city (unofficially segregated), its highly racist. I am so turned off by how all the men act here, that I actually do not want to date period.

Its not worth the pain and trouble.

Some people hate being single, but its not so bad...not when you take the time to observe your surroundings to reveal the truth.

I am a misanthropic, anti-social, loner. I truly truly truly truly truly truly despise humanity.

I am selfish, I care about myself first, second, third, fourth, and so on. I have only a little bit of heart in me to care for others, and that other is my mom, other than that I despise everyone, even my sister.

I don't like to smile, I am a grouch, I push people away, I don't let anyone in.

I am extremely anti-love. I don't think I even want kids (if I did i'd adopt).

In my eyes, taking care of dogs is much more fun and worthwhile. Thats something I want to love.

For someone like me, being single is the best thing ever.

Asians and Latin racists

If its one type of racist that is much worse than the white racist, its the asians and the latins. They are some of the most racist towards black people.

Why are they worse than whites with their racism?

Well its in a white person's nature to be racist since this is America. White people are born that way, live that way, and have always been that way, we all know this, thats why we aren't surprised that white racism still exists as strongly as it does.

But Asians and Latin people are shameful. There is something called being an "honorary white" (a term I came up with on Y!A a half a year ago). To be an honorary white you pretty much have to sell your soul and mimic white people in their racism in order to be accepted by white people.

There is a reason Asians and Latin people are more lenient about taking racism from whites.

They hate on blacks to be accepted by whites. But the sickening thing that makes their brand of racism worse than whites is the fact that:

• they are willing to "sell" themselves for acceptance
• the fact that they are a minority group hating on a minority group that has helped get them rights through the civil rights movement (if it only benefited black people than things would say "white and black only" or "you cannot discriminate black people" the fact that it doesn't shows other races benefited from the grueling work of blacks in America and none have gotten a thanks for it.

I personally don't feel bad if an Asian deals with racism, why? Because as far as I am concerned thats what they wanted. I don't believe in feeling bad for a racist race.

Anger post

to white people: if you want blacks to stop mentioning racism, then fucking stop being racist!!! its that simple.

The slavery excuse

Often one of the first things when talking in a heated debate about race issues, to come out of the mouth of a black person is slavery. In fact almost all black problems, such as colorism seem to go back to slavery.

In order to understand why blacks have it so bad in America today, one must in fact go back to slavery to find the answer.

White people do not like it one bit when a black person brings in slavery. They will often retort with a line like "i didn't own slaves" or "my family came here after slavery". This is usually to shut down the attempt at trying to understand things.

I have mixed feelings about using the "slave excuse". I understand where both sides come from on the issue. Essentially what white people are saying is, they don't care about the racism that happened before everyone on earth right now was born, they prefer you to stay in more recent times. Heck even Jim Crow is considered too far back for many whites to talk about race issues outside of a historical context, and many people from that era are alive and kicking as we speak!

What black people are trying to say is that slavery has affected the black community so strongly that we are still affected in some ways by it, such as not knowing much of your heritage (unless there has been more recent forms of mixing going on). I'd argue black codes and Jim Crow affected the black community much much much more. Slavery and that form of racism only began that long line of hell.

But the question is, should blacks be using the "slave excuse"?

There really are times when its called for. If you ask why the black community is the way it is, you can't possibly give an accurate answer without addressing history and what led up to everything.

But if you are talking about recent racism, bringing in past racism from before everyone's lifetime actually works against your argument.

The opponents read it as a sign of defeat, because its been used so much by blacks that its like a joke for white people to laugh at. The fact that in your argument you have to start talking about something from 200 years ago, makes it seem as though you have run out of things to argue about.

And if you really think about it, just how many people have been affected by slavery today? I bet you can find more people who have been affected by Jim Crow, even after it officially ended than you can those who have actually been affected in some shape or form by slavery.

The one way you can be affected by slavery is if you let the fact that it happened and that its ending resulting in Jim Crow and other kinds of hells prevent you from living your life. Most blacks live their life, someway somehow.

The thing is, it should and can be used, when used in the correct context and the right situation. For the most part, its not a good idea to use it in any kind of debate or argument pertaining to more recent kinds and forms of racism.

Tasers and guns

I used to be staunchly and i mean very staunchly anti guns. But lately in the last few years I have been rethinking my stance.

I don't care if men like to hunt, the only kind animal rights that I really care about is when it comes to dogs, or downright abuse (torture) of any animal. But if someone liked hunting deer or rabbits then all the power to them, its not the kind of thing I personally do not care to do though.

With things like school shootings, it made me really hate guns...i personally felt all guns should be destroyed. Only problem is some people know how to make homemade guns....and almost anything can be used as a weapon.

I really became anti-guns when I found out that my state was lobbying to make it legal to conceal and carry on campus. Its scary having a bunch of people you don't know carrying around guns. What if someone steals it? What if you get angry or have "issues"?

But I have mentioned a thousand times over, the police are practically not there for you anymore....so should one be a sitting duck if they could fight back?

My opinion on guns is changing, not so much because of the police. But because there have been a string of rapes on my campus. One was attempted, culprit got away, and just recently someone else got raped. They have a suspect in questioning right now.

Both suspects in these cases were black, and it made me start questioning how often any black is blamed, but nontheless I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach. Its monsters like those rapists that give the whole black race a bad name. If black men aren't leaving women while pregnant, they are busy raping innocent women...at least that what it seems like. There are good black men out there and not all should be punished for those actions though.

I have yet to decide about my official views about guns....I am not sure if I am for gun control or fully for guns. Its a distrusting hateful world out there, I'd hate having a gun and go to jail because some other black person did a crime, but at the same time, I'd hate to be a victim of a crime and have no way to defend myself either.

I want a taser, I have always wanted one. Thankfully its legal to have them here, although I don't know the more specific laws about them.

I do have pepperspray, a roommate was kind enough to give me one a few months back.

But I just can't believe in some states its illegal to have tasers. I mean, seriously, how are we supposed to protect ourselves? Yes, its too easy to misuse it and to misinterpret danger (especially when you thrive on stereotypes), but it is also the next best thing to a gun if you don't own one.

I am now more scared about being out at dark than I used to be...I have only realized now that I have been flirting with danger when I would walk from the light rail system to the dorm at 7:00 at night. I now understand my mom's worry and why she preferred me to leave earlier in the day (i now opt to leave monday mornings).

Danger still exists in daylight, but nighttime is scarier nonetheless. I hate that we live in a world that one cannot feel safe in. This is sometimes what makes me hate the city...I certainly don't like where I live and hope to move after graduation someday hopefully.

As much as the liberal/progressive philosophy is, the problem with it is that its way before its time....meaning gun control, or better yet a world with no guns is too ahead as america is too behind. until we can reign in these criminals and curb the crime rates....America has few reasons to put control on guns.

"Uplifting"?

When a person is down, its only natural to want to uplift them in some way.

But sometimes people do it in a pretty ignorant way. One that makes you wonder if its supposed to be a Putdown uplift.

What do I mean?

I mean, some people can be dirty in a mean way when it comes to uplifting. In otherwords, they putdown others to make someone feel good. For example:

Black women are often looked down on the most out of every race of women. Darker skinned black women tend to "tear apart" lighter skinned black women and biracials to make themselves feel better.

When a bitch is mean to you and makes you feel bad, what is the first things to come from your mouth? More than likely an insult of that person.

For some reason we as humans have to insult those that we feel are causing our pain, to make ourselves feel better...but the reality is this just makes us more angrier if not hateful because we often do not get to say this to their face, so we are essentially harboring it. It eats away at you.

The problem is most of us don't know how to uplift ourselves without having to hate on others...some people do, and that is usually where that person who tells you the opposite of what someone else said and means it comes along.

"We are all slaves anyways"

You often hear people trying to liken slavery of the past (from the Bible to the slaves of Africans) to "slavery" of today. Now in some countries, there really is slavery.

The question is, is there slavery in America right now?

Legally, there can't be. But in a different post I mentioned slavery can still exist, if you disguise it as something else, and give enough freedoms or rights to make one think they aren't in slavery.

The definition of slavery is very general and light.

It essentially means, being forced against your will to do something.

By those means, one could argue that at some point every human has probably been treated like a slave, and in a sense, is a slave to someone. (for example being a minor, you are forced to do things you don't want to do because of your age).

Except, the problem is, when we do that, when we say we are slaves as if in the same sense of past slavery, we are insulting those who really were in a true slavery.

We are insulting those forced to have sex currently as we speak in sexual slavery. We are insulting blacks who were forced to be slaves for hundreds of years.

I once told this girl in class as we were talking about water, and I said "America's most dirtiest drinking water is cleaner than many of the third world's primary drinking water". She and the girl next to her agreed.

America does this alot, we try to compare our worst of right now to a worst that is more than twice as bad, so bad that comparing it is a major insult to the true and harrowing experiences that someone has to go through because of it.

Speaking of Prohibition

I am staunchly very extremely anti-smoking.

My mom may possibly have second hand smoke because of her stupid coworkers and their addictions.

I fully support not only taxing cigarettes really high, but also banning it everywhere.

Keep your smoke in your own fucking home.

I don't want to smell it.

I don't feel bad for smokers or drinkers, I feel bad for the innocent bystanders who may be punished because of an addict's substance addiction.

If I had it my way, i'd make it all illegal.

Why the 13th and 14th amendments should never be repealed

Many conservatives believe that the 13th and 14th amendments should be removed.

The 13th amendment makes slavery and involuntary servitude illegal. The 14th amendment defines citizenship. In fact the 14th amendment was useful in the Civil Rights era.

Honestly, it is beyond me how anyone could possibly conceive in their head that these 2 amendments should be repealed.

I mean you have to be racist or just some kind of hater.

Some people argue that we are a different society now, so why do we need something like that.

Well here is why.

When something like the Holocaust was able to happen in Germany during the 2oth century, and then something similar in Africa currently, and then Jim Crow all the way until the end of the 1960s....one must be foolish to have that much faith in humanity to believe its changed.

If anything, Germany proved, and the conservatives of right now keep proving just how quick Americans become hateful and even murderous when in a state of worry.

Look at the Great Depression, when the stock market crashed, everyone went rushing to the banks, and guess what happened? That pushed America further into a deep depression because the banks began to fail.

Look at today, every time a news report says things are looking good, jobless claims are decreasing, within the next week it takes a turn for the worst.

When people are put into a state of worry or fear and the flames are further ignited by hate mongerers (such as Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Ann Coulter), all hell breaks loose.

If those amendments are repealed evil will come upon america alot faster than with those amendments.

Now why did I just say that? What I mean is that even with those amendments, slavery could still come back, ever heard of black codes (pre jim crow)? Essentially all you have to do is take an evil and disguise it.

Besides its bad enough the 18th amendment was repealed (the prohibition of alcohol).

What is a commercialized Christmas?

The Kwanzaa post got me thinking...

Celebrating Kwanzaa is no more wrong than Christians who celebrate the commercialized Christmas (and then claim that since their church put on the usual play about the birth of Jesus and then going to church means they are celebrating its true meaning).

But what is a commercialized Christmas?

Anything that doesn't relate to God or the Bible pretty much. That means presents, Chrismas trees, Christmas dinners, santa, etc etc.

If you do any of that, then you are not celebrating the true meaning of Christmas, you are celebrating the commercialized Christmas.

Often Christians criticize others for the way they celebrate and etc, but a high majority of them are no better.

I haven't met a single Christian yet that didn't celebrate the commercialized holiday.

At least own up to the fact that you celebrate it commercially rather than try to excuse or justify it with church. own up to it and stop acting as if you are holier than thou.

Beyond "happy holidays"

A few weeks back I did a post in which I said I prefer "Merry Christmas" "Happy Hanukkah" and "Happy Kwanzaa" and whatever else there is, over "Happy Holidays".

My rule of thumb is, if you know what holiday they celebrate it, make it personal by saying "merry or happy [insert holiday]) rather than "happy holidays". Kind of like when you find out the Native American tribe of an Indian, refer to them as that rather than "native american".

But going beyond just the issue of Merry Christmas, X-Mas, and Happy Holidays, is the issue of displays.

In schools, you can not just display 1 holiday (such as Christmas), without displaying the others.

Now I don't know if its a public school thing or not because I'd assume in a Hebrew school they aren't going to put up Christmas Trees, just like in a Christian and/or Catholic school, they are not going to be putting up a menorah.

But this issue kinda relates to the religious displays you see year round. Such as, is it alright to have a statue of Jesus in a park? or the 10 Commandments in a courtroom?

I am all for respecting peoples religions, but it angers me when someone makes a case out of something so innocent as hanging a copy of the 10 commandments in a courtroom, or a picture of God in some public facility.

We aren't talking about offensive things such as the confederate flag or the swastika (both in my eyes are the same thing). We are talking about religion.

It seems in the world of religions, people are too caught up having to be right and to assert that they are the only ones right to try to find understanding of other religions and how they work.

I mean how many times have we heard hateful "Christians" talk down about Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam?

I personally try to avoid making harsh judgments about religions that I honestly don't know anything about. Its easy when your in a group of like minded people to insult these religions and its followers and have people tell you what you say is fact. But when you enter more educated circles, you will only show how hateful you are as you make judgments about a religion you actually have no clue about.

Admit it, you just don't know much about other than the crap hate news channels like Fox News tells you.

But what is my opinion on displays? I think one should be very careful about the situation. As I said before, some people, if not most find offense and will make a case out of it when the reality is they aren't all that bothered by it.

I especially believe private buildings can put whatever religious displays they want up. I also think the history of a building, park etc should be taken into account.

Does it have a strong connection to a religion?

America isn't a christian country by no means, as there are different religions that comprise america. The forefathers didn't specify america would be a specific religion because of what happened in England.

Sometimes buildings, schools, etc are better off just avoiding bringing in religion or keeping it privately funded. Or at the least allow others to express their religion the same as you.

You see, its easy as a Christian to be upset, but think about it, what if Christianity wasn't a majority religion in America? Wouldn't you want someone to be considerate?

Does anyone actually celebrate Kwanzaa?

Seriously, I'd like to know....

I think I first heard about it from a Rugrats special when I was little.

I know a few people who are Jewish and celebrate Hanukkah.

But I haven't met a single black person yet who celebrates Kwanzaa.

Now its obvious people do celebrate it otherwise it wouldn't actually been seen as a holiday (I find it ironic that it starts the day AFTER Christmas).

I don't know much about it other than that it started in 1966 during the Civil Rights Movement. Its supposed to replace Juneteenth (I think that has something to do with slavery). Its supposed to be an uplifting holiday for blacks and to celebrate african heritage.

I have my bouts with hating Christmas (at least the consumer part of it), my mom and I haven't bought a big (but fake) tree for the house since i was in elementary school. At the most my mom has a small tree that can be plugged up and lights up. We don't even do gifts.

In fact the stuff we by ourselves out of temptation during Nov. and Dec. is our gifts really...

The most we really do is eat dinner and watch Christmas programming throughout the month (its not like we really had a choice anyways).

But I much prefer to celebrate Christmas over Kwanzaa. In fact that seems to be the major consensus for most blacks for that matter.

I don't know anyone that celebrates it and those that do can probably count on one hand, unless they themselves celebrate it.

The criticisms of Kwanzaa:

1. Majority of black people are Christians...and by that logic they are going to celebrate Christmas (as mentioned, its probably not coincidence that Kwanzaa starts AFTER Christmas). It doesn't matter if its the consumer Christmas or the true meaning of Christmas (the birth of Jesus).

2. Its NOT a holiday celebrated in Africa. So Kwanzaa is celebrating African American culture in African ways (such as the color scheme and wardrobe and even some of the language) but the problem is that in Africa there are several countries, and tribes who probably have their own African celebration, so Kwanzaa looks kinda cheesy when you look at it that way.

3. The premise of the holiday is fitted in the wrong time of the year really. The theme and point of the holiday shouldn't necessarily fall in February, but in December/Janurary just does not fit for this holiday. In fact I think it only fell in that time period for 2 reasons only.

• To start it after Christmas, so this way they can get Christians to join because well, I doubt blacks are going to join something that forces them to compromise their beliefs, remember, most blacks are often devoutly religious (just look at Gospel churches).
• Winter break falls between that time, and the holiday is supposedly from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Coincidence? It falls in a time where people may not be at work or school, why? Because any other time, it won't be observed nationally. There would be no allowance for time off (sorta like with how non-Jewish places do not observe Hanukkah for the most part).

Essentially, white america views this holiday as fake. Now even though I do not care at all for the holiday and find it kinda pointless, if people want to celebrate it, thats their right. For some it is a part of their cultural heritage. I personally prefer Christmas (heck even Hanukkah and I am nowhere close to being Jewish) because of their historical purposes. There isn't much of a history for Kwanzaa...my mom is older than it, and I am not joking.

Some history people like wars...I prefer...

You know, some people are crazy about wars, usually the Civil War or WWII.

While I am absolutely not interested in the Civil War, I am partly interested in WWII...

But honestly, I am not that crazy about war history.

To me, the Great Depression is much more interesting, pop culture (such as the Golden Age of Hollywood) interests me...and then there are two things I really like.

Flight and Space.

When I say flight, I am talking about not only NASA and the space program. I am also talking about airplanes, the 747 interests me...crashes interest me. I like to read pilots and flight attendents tell their stories about their days in the airline industry.

I love movies that relate to these kinds of things.

My favorite movie is Titanic, I enjoy the movies Apollo 13 and Space Camp. I like the movie A League of Their Own.

While wars have had a great impact on America, we shouldnt forget the other aspects of history.

I dream of one day getting to go to the Smithsonian, especially the the National Air and Space Museum.

An interesting reason to believe in God

I remember a few months back one of my facebook friends posted something interested about believing in God:

"I'd rather believe in God and find out after death that he doesn't exist, than to not believe in God and after I die find out he does exist."

The previous post made me think about God...

I truly believe white America will not change, I truly believe it will get worse. and there is nothing that can change it, because America being the leader, other countries will follow suit.

In my philosophy classes, many are anti-religion. They say people only do things for the reward they get in the afterlife.

But is that such a bad thing? Is it really bad that people choose to do good or put up with their horrible situation in life for the anticipation of a reward in the afterlife?

In fact, sometimes its what keeps people going. In fact, hell is probably the only reason I haven't committed suicide.

Just like what my facebook friend had said in his status, I don't want to not believe and then find out he is real when its too late.

But, the only way to survive this hateful, evil, cold world is to believe in something that can give you hope for a better life...or afterlife.

For sanity purposes....

Truth be told, living my every day life is much more important than racial realism.

I am realizing that be racially awakened is actually making me more depressed...

I don't want to be awake to something I can never change.

I can't stop people from not hiring me. From not liking me, etc etc.

My mom often tries to remind me when I blog and tell her about some of my "discoveries" that while I am off blogging, or arguing with some ignorant jerk online, many blacks are out there living their life regardless of the evils happening.

And its true. I am not going to stop this blog, but I am thinking of cutting down the amount I blog and view other blogs.

I have much more important things to take care of, such as studying for my finals coming up next week.

I don't understand why I let myself get so fired up. I actually don't like defending the black race or any race for that matter. I once mentioned that I only "defend" it because I am being punished for those racist stereotypes.

If it didn't affect me, i wouldn't care so much.

I am a selfish person, I care about my well being above all else, i'd say one is a liar if they said different.

Why does everything always come down to race and politics?

So I was looking up NASA's new administrator appointed by Obama. His name is Charles Bolden. Bolden happened to be a Major General (or is it General Major?) in the army, and has been in space (I think he commanded one of them too).

He isn't the first black guy in space, but he is the first black guy to head NASA.

I was looking at different comment sections to see what people had to say. And it was revealing about American people as a whole.

The first place I looked at was NASA Watch. In that comment section an overwhelming 75% liked the choice, and many said they were glad he was chosen and is qualified. They even had bouts of dissing the previous administrators.

But in the Newsivine website, many republicans and racists went on diatribes insulting blacks, saying he isn't qualified, saying Obama is racist for choosing a person of color.

My question is, how is it racist that Obama doesn't choose white? He happened to choose a white woman, Lori Garver as the Deputy Administrator.

I mean, what is wrong with people to think that if its not white then it just ain't right? Why do people assume that just because a black person is chosen they automatically are not qualified? I have heard white people use the "choose a qualified person" argument so much that I almost discount it because the likelihood that person did not do their research on the person to know if they are qualified or not is high.

In fact, one could argue that Bolden is wayy more qualifed than many of the past administrators, for one reason only, and that reason is because he has been in space. In fact, that was why many were exicted over at NASA Watch. I mean how much more can one be qualified by not only being a general but actually having been in space multiple times? You could tell that more people at NASA Watch had a better understanding of NASA and qualifications, and well anything related to NASA.

But the Newsvine article revealed just how screwed up America is. Racists made it about race and politics. Some people are intent on hating absolutely every little thing Obama does. They expect him to be beyond human while expecting in to fail so horribly (gee I wonder why...). It also shows just how retarded some people can be, especially over things you can obviously tell they had no knowledge about in the first place.

Some people brought in Bush, one person mentioned that even Bush years earlier was considering him but because he was busy with the army/pentagon, he was unavaiable. But essentially it turned into arguments of racism and politics.

One comment struck me as ironic. One guy decided to use it as a slam against military men running anything. He argued that they shouldn't run NASA. Thats ironic if you know NASA history because the military and NASA are VERY intertwined with each other.

Only a few hours ago I purchased myself the 6 hour documentary When We Left Earth, something I had seen during July when it was the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. The Space Race and NASA (and flight in general) is the part of history I am interested in.

But anyways, the connection to this post and the title is, why does everything always got to come down to politics and race? I mean, its one thing if that was the topic from the outset or if the blog has that kind of a theme. But in other ordinary circumstances, why do people always find a way to bring it in?

I hate politics so much that I avoid talking about it. I honestly do not care about other peoples views, I have no intention of changing mine (although mine do change based on mood every now and then). We live in a day and age where people of different political affilations can only be friends when they avoid talking about politics.

Politics has practically become synonymous with racism just based on how many (especially conservatives) have been acting lately.

But the most irritating part of the whole political/race hate debating going on at Newsvine was that people on both sides kept insulting each other, neither side listens, and people enter other peoples "conversations". It reminds me so much of why I do not like to debate online. Only the ignorant and hateful have nothing better to do than bait 'n hate.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if racist jokes were outlawed

Its beyond me how upset whites get when they can't say "nigger" or when they can't stereotype or make racist jokes about blacks and other minorities.

Many seriously act like its the end of the world, that their life would seriously change if they couldn't use such words. I mean, seriously what kind of a life are really living that you would even need to say such words/jokes/stereotypes?

Its just as pathetic as those who go straight to the racial insults when they try to insult you. It shows you have no originality, no brain and live an uneducated low kind of life.

Some whites have the audacity to sit there and declare what is and isn't racist to a minority group. Some whites on a comment page at some blog said "Chinaman" wasn't racist...when anyone with common sense can tell you that it is.

But anyone that sits there and complains that they can't use a racist word, needs to stop and think for a few moments and then bring themselves into the 21st century. I mean, you must really have a low vocabulary or just be full of so much hate to be upset that you will be socially ostracized for using a racist word or making a racist joke.

Apologies suck

Quite frankly I hate apologies, these days people use them so much its so hard to know if its real.

I remember watching supernanny and how the child wasn't allowed to leave the naughty spot if they did not apologize.

They didn't discuss what the child did that was wrong, they didn't try to explain to him why its wrong and how it makes you feel. They just said "say sorry to mommy".

You know what that does? It breeds the idea that saying sorry gets you off the hook, it encourages fake apologies for the sake of not being ostracized and punished.

The child isn't learning why the should feel sorry for something they are only learning that an apology can clean the slate when someone is upset.

I also hate famous apologies, this is when politicians and celebrities get caught doing something wrong or saying something wrong and get criticized for it. You should know someone is always going to be anal about what you say, so either don't say it or if you do, stick to it.

I mean when you apologize for something that you are obviously not sorry for it makes you look bad.

This leads to my criticism for those who advocate forced apologies. I hate it when they force the person to apologize only to say later on that it wasn't real. Essentially what they are trying to do is exert their power over you, they don't want your apologies, they just want you to be their puppet, someone they can manipulate to do what they want.

When people say apologies only because they got caught or because they said something or did something unfavorable, its hard to know when you are legit or not.

Those who always stand their ground, you know their sorrys are more often legit than not because they don't over use them.

Sorry sucks. It doesn't change the situation. Sorry no longer has a real meaning. Its been overused and abused

Bad mouthing while trying to sound like a victim

This is something I often notice many whites do. When black people bring up legit cases of racism, many whites will try to make it sound as if they are the victims, not black people. But while they are trying to say blacks are the most racist I often find that whites are usually bad mouthing and saying racist things about blacks while trying to argue that blacks are racist!

Now this "phenomenon" flies over the head of most whites because well, the majority do not really care about racism against minorities. We are a country that looks out for one's own self interests. If we were anything different, America wouldn't have such a racist history and present.

It doesn't help your case about trying to victimize yourself when you at the same time say racist things about the very race you *claim* is the most racist.

The problem is that most white peoples idea of racism is actually more or less, blacks trying to have the same thing as whites.

We still live in a country where blacks are expected to be submissive to the majority race. If they dare become even close to being equal, many whites will pull the race card (ironic how they get mad if blacks dare pull the "race card" but have no objections to using it themselves).

One racist I came across 10 minute ago tried to say blacks were racist because a street was named after MLK. He then said that Obama is racist and said that his being half white saved him. He had the audacity to say that blacks were most racist while doing this! Come on, your argument is sooo invalid because for starters, can you be anymore paranoid? and secondly, saying racist stuff only shows that YOU are the racist, and that the things you percieve as racist is only racist because you are racist.

I once watched a video about how there is a difference between saying someone is racist and saying the action is racist. Saying the action is racist is more effective because it does not attack that person's character, no matter how racist that person is, telling that person they are racist only shuts the argument down and turns into a hate filled fight.

You know, the reality is sometimes with some people you just can't talk about race. Its easy to figure it out early on...if they derail it and make it about themselves and try to victimize rather than hear what you have to say, that means they condone racism, have no reason to change it, an likely subscribe to those racist beliefs and therefore refuse to hear any different.

You can also find other forms of "bad mouthing while trying to be a victim". The most infamous (non-racial) form is when someone does wrong to you and when you try to get sympathy from others you bad mouth the people who do you wrong. Out of anger its common to want to bad mouth the culprit but it makes you look immature and almost deserving of the wrong. In fact, some would argue that when you bad mouth, chances are you were deserving of it, and you are in denial and that is why you are bad mouthing. Sort of like when the teacher fails you because you didn't do the work, you will often bad mouth the teacher for failing you.

You look less like a victim when you bad mouth. When whites bad mouth blacks while trying to look like a victim they often show their racist true colors, which then leads to the next conclusion that they deserved mistreatment they may have gotten from a black person due to those prevalent racist beliefs the white person subscribes to, which (at least if you are a black person) makes you feel less sympathy for that white person.

Essentially the only good way to make yourself look like a victim (for whatever reason) to get sympthy is by doing the following:

• refrain from making judgemental remarks about the culprit. remember bad mouthing the person who did you wrong may give the people you are trying to win sympathy from a reason to side with them and not you. you never know who is friends with who.
  
• focus on the incident at hand. do not talk about what other people you don't even know did to others. this isn't about the actions done by others to other people or even what that person who did you wrong did to others. this should be about what only happened to you.
  
• this leads to the next one, do not speak for other peoples experiences. don't claim that what someone else automatically went through was done for the same reason as what was done to you.
• if you want people to feel your pain, do not try to sound as if you are attacking them. this correlates with the first one, sometimes bad mouthing goes from being just about the individual to an entire group, at that point you will have lost any sympathy from anyone who shares those group characterisitics.
• talk about how it made you feel. do not use "you" words.
  
• do not sit yourself up on a high horse and act as if you are above humanity. For examlple, some people use Christianity to justify or to somehow make what someone else did was wrong. behavior like this is why many are no longer Christians, no wants to believe in something a hypocrite believes in. So do not put yourself on a high horse.
• Admit to any faults you may have had in a situation. People will sometimes hear you out more or will sympathize with you more if you are willing to admit to any wrongs that may have encouraged the opposite's behavior, people can sometimes tell when you are lying and trying to make yourself out to be a victim when you are not.
• Your audience matters, if you are trying to get a hardened person to pity or feel bad for you, none of what was mentioned above will help you. This type doesn't waste pity or sympathy for anyone at all. So the person matters.

This isn't foolproof but its certainly more helpful than the way most people go about it.