No Point In Asking

When I first began articulating this post in my head, it was framed around the question, “When will it all end?”

But after just a few seconds of contemplation around it I quickly realized that question is quite ridiculous.

Obviously, we are no where near a point in which we can even begin speculating about the end to all this madness.

And after last night’s shootings, I am quite sure we are actually at a new beginning.

A tragic new beginning with an ancient foundation of seemingly immovable hate.

Not just for the other’s race, or the other’s politics, or the other’s finances, but a hate from where all other hate stems.

A hate for ourselves.

We Americans are like the spoiled, bully rich kid who, because he’s always had everything given to him, it is impossible for him to see that everything is all there is.

He wants more and if he can’t have it he is going to whine and kick and piss in his pants and make it a living hell for anyone and everyone around him.

We Americans have it all.

But it’s not enough.

Guns in our society are a problem. But they are not the problem.

We are the problem.

And we know it.

And we hate ourselves for it.

#lookwithin
#stopthehate
#startthelove
#blacklivesmatter

8 thoughts on “No Point In Asking”

  1. Excerpt from Michael Eric Dyson’s opinion piece in today’s NY Times, re Americans hating themselves. The complete article is much longer, but deserves a read.

    “At birth, you are given a pair of binoculars that see black life from a distance, never with the texture of intimacy. Those binoculars are privilege; they are status, regardless of your class. In fact the greatest privilege that exists is for white folk to get stopped by a cop and not end up dead when the encounter is over.

    Those binoculars are also stories, bad stories, biased stories, harmful stories, about how black people are lazy, or dumb, or slick, or immoral, people who can’t be helped by the best schools or even God himself. These beliefs don’t make it into contemporary books, or into most classrooms. But they are passed down, informally, from one white mind to the next.

    The problem is you do not want to know anything different from what you think you know. Your knowledge of black life, of the hardships we face, yes, those we sometimes create, those we most often endure, don’t concern you much. You think we have been handed everything because we have fought your selfish insistence that the world, all of it — all its resources, all its riches, all its bounty, all its grace — should be yours first, and foremost, and if there’s anything left, why then we can have some, but only if we ask politely and behave gratefully.

    So you demand the Supreme Court give you back what was taken from you: more space in college classrooms that you dominate; better access to jobs in fire departments and police forces that you control. All the while your resentment builds, and your slow hate gathers steam. Your whiteness has become a burden too heavy for you to carry, so you outsource it to a vile political figure who amplifies your most detestable private thoughts.

    Whiteness is blindness. It is the wish not to see what it will not know.”

    Reply
  2. As a Canadian, I’m not sure I have much add or contribute to the discussion but as a human the shootings over the past week have made me very sad and exasperated. Your post really made me think.

    Reply
  3. well said and provocative. I would add that beneath the hate is fear. Much like anger and rage, hate stems from fear and violence is only the tip of the iceberg. These are sad times indeed and I agree we are at a tragic new beginning.

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  4. I disagree with Alli, the quote is also biased. Biased based on perception and conditioning fueled by hatred and excuses. White people are not the problem, black people are not the problem as a race. Yes, there are stories out there that paint blacks as lazy, immoral and violent and many of these are based on personal experience, but it’s also based on black conditioning. Many blacks assume this is their lot in life and when change is offered, find it hard to get it the battle and are defeated before they begin which is evident by the fact that there is more money and programs out there to help blacks than there are programs to help poor whites or Latino’s and yet many don’t even strive for them. (Trust me, I know. I didn’t come from a rich family, but I couldn’t get grants for tuition unless I played the race card which I wouldn’t do).
    Also, a sad truth is that statistically most black killings are blacks killing blacks not whites killing blacks. There is also the sad truth about cops being jaded toward blacks based on those facts. They have a very difficult job and it’s unfortunate that it is how it is and much of their bias is based on personal experience, I have no answers on how to remedy the situation.
    When I worked Katrina, we got a great many evacuees in our community who were given opportunities and many were mostly white people…(in the south). They opened their doors to blacks since the majority were black, they offered them jobs, set up kitchens with hot meals, gave them clothing. This was happening everywhere in this community. I had just moved to Alabama from California, so it was quite and eye opener. Not what I expected. One family was given a home and asked to stay on. So you can’t say no one cares or try to help. People wanted to help and give them a chance, but as a dear black friend once told me, she has to pray to God everyday to care for whites because of how she was brought up. When this one guy learned that this woman’s Cajun cooking was top notch and that she’d always wanted to start a restaurant, he offered to help. This chip on the shoulder is perpetuated by whites and blacks alike through social media and media biases.
    Everyone wants to blame white, “privileged” folk for poor blacks being underprivileged, assuming that all whites are privileged, and therein lies the problem. What I saw was such an outpouring of love, you couldn’t have imagined it. Unfortunately for most, when Welfare stepped in later, many went right back on it; like an addict. Conditioning. The thing is blacks could be inspired, look at all the success stories, like Oprah and other successful blacks.
    People need to quit pointing fingers and determine to make changes in themselves and perhaps change will be possible. People, white, black, rainbow or chartreuse, need to take some responsibility for their own actions, for what comes out of their mouthes and quit blaming others! And, yes, GUNS are NOT the problem!!!
    We all have our own set of sunglasses, but we need to accept that. It is what it is. If we think we’re smart, stupid, fat, ugly or whatever then that is the persona we will convey. We all need to stop imputing wrong motives and making assumptions based on our own preconceived notions or beliefs whether black, white, or rainbow.
    Said it like I meant it.

    Reply
  5. I definitely agree and disagree. I think we put too much stock in the human race and our intelligence. We are absurd and imperfect beings with very little separating us from the primal instincts of a “non-intelligent” animal. As much as I wish the world could be a better place, it doesn’t surprise me much that we’ve created such a chaotic world.

    Reply

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