The Stage we live in: White-washed and �true� A black rap artist at the Much Music Video Awards last night screams, �The hood is here! The hood is here!� only to have the microphone quickly taken away from him by a young, pretty, large breasted, short-skirted, cleavage showing, white female co-host muttering, �Yeah, whatever.� Minutes before were the nominees for the �Rap Video of the Year� Award. The cartoon came on portraying a large, black gorilla waving his arm back and forth for a mere thirty seconds. A large, intimidating, black gorilla with gold chains, and necklaces, and rings, just standing, an animal, waving his hand back and forth. Just another racial, dehumanizing stereotype that we let by, without knowing it, because it seems �okay� to us, as if that�s how it really is, or should be. Some can turn their heads or just assume that everyday racism, still existing in media stereotypes, government acts, and community vandalism, is out of their potential to stop, and should be ignored like a small mosquito infected with a deadly disease. The problem is, this mosquito is brushed off and forgotten about so much, that eventually it can affect many people, and end up jeopardizing the whole world. It would be nice to think that racism is just starting to happen, or that it isn�t that large at all anymore, after such horrible events as World War 2, and that we as people have had our lessons learned. However, this is, unfortunately, not true. As we have noticed, and should keep in mind, history is constantly repeating itself. Whether the subject is financial, environmental, or internal, times of confusion, hatred, and despair have challenged the civilizations of the human race, and continue to do so in the present. In North America, a developed and very wealthy nation, little amounts of its citizens and large organizations pay much attention to the problems facing the rest of the world. This happens in many wealthy nations. Instead of paying attention to the innocent people in less fortunate countries, and even their own struggling citizens, these governments are constantly building up their economies and sacrificing their citizens creating a capitalist based society and putting more cash in the pockets of the hierarchy. In addition, these countries, for example the United States of America, are then faced with economical problems due to the consequences of their selfish actions. These problems are brought forth to them by their citizens, usually middle to high class, who are unsatisfied with their financial situations and want changes, such as lowering oil and gas prices. Ironically, in the situation of the United States, sometimes the country�s own leader has massive links to oil and gas industries, for example president George W. Bush, who actually came from a family that owns a large North American oil company. So, for the wellbeing of the citizens, and �not� the government leaders� personal benefits, the United States of America once again created an enormous dilemma about Weapons of Mass Destruction and the danger of the average American person. This, of course, was based on the troubles with Sadam Hussein in Iraq and the Alqaida forces in Afghanistan, which had mostly been kept quiet from American citizens since the Gulf War ten years earlier. Therefore, the present �War on Terrorism� and the Middle-East is a result of the United States� and North America�s need for oil resources, and a pointed finger at a troubled country ruled by the Alqaida forces that had been previously supplied for by money from the American government. And not just a few thousand, but millions and millions of dollars that could have easily gone to the American people to help out with poverty rates or centers for helping abused women and children, instead of creating more racist barriers based on the attack on the Middle-East, and the impression on many people all over the world that racial stereotyping is okay, especially when their countries are participating in a �war for liberation� that is really yet another war for money. More and more racial profiling appears in our society everyday. Just recently there have been acts of vandalism and anti-Semitism towards Jewish communities in Ontario and all across Canada, without anyone thinking of the impressions given to our youth by powerful Hollywood movie stars such as Mel Gibson who, this year, released the controversial �The Passion of the Christ�. In addition, earlier this year, in Canada�s capital city, Ottawa, there was an incident at a local restaurant in which a call was made to the authorities that there was a criminal at the location, and police came and arrested only the black people and left the single white person free. None of the men arrested were guilty. And finally, Bill C-36, passed by the Canadian government after the 9/11 attacks on the United States World Trade Center, fully allows government authorities to hold a person in custody because of assumptions that they are apart of a terrorist organization, without any evidence and possible use of racial profiling, for up to 48 hours. Keeping them away from their family and friends, without the consideration to how that may affect their present financial or economical situation. This proves that a lot of the time we use choose to blame the wrong people, and allow racism to exist in our communities, countries, world. Although, some statistics could show that yes there are a few Middle-Eastern people in the United States that do have links to terrorist groups, or there are some communist countries that have had horrible histories filled with bad dictators, or that in some cases in North America there are more crimes committed by black people than white people, we should not resort to racism or bigotry and assume that these people are to blame. Because, if there is anyone to blame for situations and actions that influence people to commit crimes or break the law, it is those that have higher amounts of power and political influencing than they do. And a large problem that leads to racism and thoughts that certain races and cultures are �enemies� is that we as people are constantly being fed these thoughts and opinions by our present media. The true enemy that also has the largest amount of political power and influencing, at least in North America today, and has had the largest amounts of political power and influencing in the past, only to create problems for the rest of the world is the white-capitalist-Christian-male. There have been many, many problems caused directly and indirectly by the white-capitalist-Christian-male. More than can be named off on a twenty-page list in microscopic font, partially because these problems and issues are still continuing due to this machine. Racism, fascism, sexism, poverty, cheating, stealing, blackmail, deception, murder, and all sorts of unjust acts that would defy any present laws or constitution, this non-convicted criminal army has been responsible for. Even the holy and almighty �Ten Commandments� that this machine has so clearly fought and killed for to heighten their supremacy and give them a stronger faith and relationship with God �himself�, have been completely ignored throughout history making them the utter most hypocritical of all systems. The white-capitalist-Christian-male is not a singular person, or a group of people. Instead, it is the world�s enemy that though some of us accidentally fall into these categories, those who choose to fall into these categories are part of the criminal army that oppresses and constantly battles with the good people of the world and the earth itself. We are always being white-washed everywhere we go, even in the �security� of our own homes and our minds. We cannot keep ignoring our own minds, and the point of views of others. With learning, and sharing information and ideas with everyone, regardless of race, culture, sex, and sexual orientation about how to make this world better for all, and to solve the past and present problems caused by the white-capitalist-Christian-male, we can save ourselves from the fait of death that has been carved out for us in the future. Simply by looking at something differently, we can create discovery and decrease ignorance. Written by: Simon Beach - June 2004 (Copyright)
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