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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." 
These immortal words of the Reverend Dread Pirate Roberts are words to live by. Why am I saying this at 6:55 AM? It's because I'm black... Let me 'splain. I am a Christian Vampire, by choice. (No blood sucking or anything like that I don't sleep so good AND I LIKE IT. I could use Isagenix Sleep Support & Renewal to combat this, but like I said, I like it. I can get things done for hours on end without aquiring more things to get done.) All that to say, my wife doesn't like waking up in the middle of the night to find her heater missing. So I have taken to instead of leaving her to freeze I keep my digital arsenal under pillow. So this morning around 5:15 I wake up, go the bathroom and realize I am not going back to sleep anytime soon. I start to check email and catch up on a little e-business in bed. I catch up on my ailing, floundering Lakers and then I stumble upon this.Students taught its unfair to be white.

And now it's on! I spent about 30 minutes pecking on an ipod under the covers. I will try to recreate what I said. Because at a little before 6:30 the screen goes blank and I lost what I was attempting to state while sharing this article on Facebook. Of course, the ipod did this because I'm black. But I digress. Here's roughly what I said. 

Horrible things have been done to "people of color" in this country. NOBODY (sane or honest) DEBATES THIS. The same can be said for Jewish people, Chinese people, Irish people and other ethnic groups. But these other ethnicities do not teach their children to be victims. They teach their children that they don't need to whine they need to work. They are taught to PROVE that they are at least as good if not better than anyone else by working their tails off. 

So, for the love of all that is holy, please do not insult me by telling me I can't make it "on my own" because I am black. Do not tell my wife or daughters they can't achieve on their own because they are women. Do not tell my mulatto son that he needs special help because of his handicap of having a black father and a white mother and the his skin is slightly darker than what is acceptable. We want to achieve. We want to work hard. We want to prove ourselves as capable, inteligent and able to pull our weight. And again, no one is saying there isn't predjudice and racism. But we would all be better served to make a point to not be predjudiced ourselves and WORK OUR TAILS OFF! I mean, sometimes, in our lives we ALL have pain. We ALL have sorrow... wait. But seriously, our President who just started his SECOND TERM, is a MULATTO. I think it is safe and honest to say that we have, at least in many ways and to a certain discernable degree, overcome. 

So "people of color", stop glorifying bad grammar, stop baby daddy-ism, stop glorifying and modeling thug life, stop saying people are "trying to be white" when they try to get an education and stop all the other self-defeating and TRULY self loathing things we do. Say this to yourself constantly (and omit the first part if you can). "There is racism. BUT I WILL NOT ALLOW MYSELF TO BE A VICTIM OF IT." Because sure, there ARE people who will follow you around in a store. Or won't hire you. Or whatever.  Your best "revenge" is to succeed in spite of them. And the best thing you can do is to prove to them. We are not all "LIKE THAT". It's ok to be yourself but choose to be the best version of yourself not the worst. 

Origin website for this tirade: Being white is unfair.

"Our Perspective

Our community is proud, resilient, strong and filled with disparities. Duluth School District data for 2010 shows that 80% of white students graduate in four years compared to 34% of Native American students and 25% of African American students. 2010 census data for Duluth shows that 18% of whites live in poverty compared to 67% of Blacks and 56% of Native Americans. Recent data from St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services shows that a person living in one specific area of Duluth can expect to live 11 years longer than a person living in another specific area of Duluth. These statistics should be of concern to every one of us. How is our community going to prosper and grow if such disparities exist? How can we accept such inequality?
Definitions:

What is prejudice? The prejudging of a person or situation without sufficient knowledge or facts. Personal and individual beliefs about race that are influenced by the dominant group’s values, practices and beliefs. Anyone can be prejudiced.

What is racism? Racism is more than individual prejudice based on race. Racism is the power of a dominant group, through its systems and institutions, to enforce the dominant culture’s history, values, practices and beliefs. It advantages those in the dominant group and disadvantages those who are not. It results in disparities."

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." This is true but it is not the only true thing. Regardless of your belief system I think these principles found in the bible would serve us well if we followed them.

Deal with what is painful. 
(Romans 12:15 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.)

Embrace and dwell on the positive.
(Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things) 

Work hard. 
(I Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.) 

Be part of the solution not part of the problem. 
(Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.)


I would challenge some of the conclusions at the website above directly. And I won't even get started on the other racism reports and articles that have come out since I started writing this because I have to go work my tail off....