Is Change Ever Coming?

            In society there are a lot of complaints and strife’s that you hear from day to day.  Why does racism still exist?  Why is there still a dominate class and a subordinate class?  Why are people so fixated on our differences rather than our equalities?  If these types of questions are floating around in our heads, why don’t people do anything about them?  These types of issues will always exist if society keeps allowing them to exist.  Without realizing these ongoing issues will not change without the action of every citizen, than the United States of Inequality will always remain.

 The reason I bring this issue to light, was because I witnessed a rather eye opening discussion in my social justice class.  We had a guess speaker who grew up in a real small town from Texas named Mart.  She told us stories of how interracial dating was forbidden, and that sons and daughters would be excommunicated by their families if they did so.  She explained how racism was the norm, and she felt that there could be no change in a town like Mart.  Just in the past couple years people have been trying to change the way people think around Mart by town projects (organized by individuals who are associated with the town, but never have lived there) and openly speaking about the issues surrounding the town.  I always knew there were towns all over America that were like this in the past and still exist today, but what really surprised me the most was what a fellow student said in class.  “Why does it take a white lady that never grew up there, to come and try to make a difference?”  “Why hasn’t anybody who has grown up there and seen the racism first hand try to make a difference?”  This blew me away, because I never thought of it like that.

            What she said is exactly true, why does it take outsiders to try to change ongoing issues?  When I say, “these types of issues will always exist if society keeps allowing them to exist”, I mean exactly that.  Citizens who grew up in Mart knew of these issues well before any of the outsiders did.  Who knows, if someone from Mart would have done something to try to change these racial issues, things might have been better for the town today.  We as a nation need to use our abilities to see the wrong in society, and stand up to the issues head on.  We need the passive voices to become aggressive, we need the insecure to become secure, and we need the unable to do everything they can to try to become able.    One voice might seem insignificant, but without one how will others follow?  An engine does not run without gas, a business doesn’t profit without customers, and a country doesn’t exist without a population.   It only takes one voice to implement change in an unequal environment; it only takes one voice to change today for a better tomorrow, and it only takes one voice to give sight to a society that has been blind and ignorant for way too long.  HERE’S TO AMERICA’S ONE UNIFIED VOICE AND THE CHANGE THAT NEEDS TO COME!!!

United States of Inequality! Racism is Still Alive!

During class this week my professor shared some history of New Orleans to me and the class that was extremely disturbing. One thing she said was, “before Katrina there was Katrina”. I didn’t fully comprehend what she meant till she showed us a timeline of the the big flood in 1927. After intense rain the Mississippi River found weaknesses in the levee system and broke through killing thousands of people and leaving many stranded. The flood itself is not what really disturbs me; it was the inhumane treatment of the African Americans during the rescue.

            The flood triggered the Great Migration, which was 6 million African Americans from the southern United States migrated up to the Northeast, Midwest, and West United States.  The state of New Orleans feared losing their work force, and trapped many African Americans from leaving the state.  Many Americans were stranded on the levees, and during rescue attempts only the whites were saved.  The government forced the African Americans at gun point to start rebuilding the levees rather than saving them.  Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover was in charge of the flood relief, and was going to be running for President in the next election.  Herbert Hoover made promises to the leader of the Colored Advisory Commission, Robert Russa Moton, stating that further reforms for the blacks will come when elected president if they kept quiet about the miss treatment of the black community.  Of course those promises weren’t kept, and Moton influenced his people to vote Democratic the next election after Hoover, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected.

            How are these inhumane treatments any different from what happened during Hurricane Katrina.  People were left stranded for weeks on their roof tops waiting for aid, and all they got in return was to be called looters when looking for food.  How can we say that racism is dead, if a huge black community in need of rescue was just left there to save themselves?  I guarantee if this was a rich white community, by God!! there would have been food and water immediately, and the rescue of these people would come first over any other issues in this country.  Racism will never stop if America just acts like these types of injustices never happen.  If we don’t make a stand now, then when will America ever take a stand?  We as a country need to hit racism and unfair treatment head on.  We need to unite as a country of equality for every man and woman, and if a person is in need we need to help them in whatever way we can no matter what color their skin is.  We also need to show the world that we are the strongest country out there not a divided one.  Now is the time to stand up and not take the back seat, now is the time for justice not injustice, and now is the time to become the United States of America not the United States of Inequality!!! 

Here is a little video of the flood in 1927 to give you a little insight of what occured during this tradegy.
http://youtu.be/MGs2iLoDUYE

The Right to Defend Yourself

My last social justice class we had a guess speaker come in and she shared a story with us about something that happened in her family. I believe it was her brother in law and his wife were at home in Washington DC, and someone broke in with a gun trying to rob their house with a gun in hand. To make a long story short, the brother in law felt that him and his wife’s lives were threatened, so he shot the man dead in their home. Her brother in law was prosecuted for murder, and was sent to jail.

            This is the problem I have with the judicial system today. I don’t like the fact that in different states self-defense is treated differently. This incident happened in Washington DC, when in the state of Texas you can shoot anyone who breaks into your home, regardless if they have a gun or not. The law in DC states that the person must shoot at you first to be able to defend yourself. This is ludicrous, so if a man comes into my home threatening to shoot me and my wife, I have to wait till he fires his weapon. It only takes one shot to kill me or my wife, and I don’t want to take that risk whatsoever. What’s the point of the second amendment if the only thing a person can do is use his weapon as a decoration, and not in defense?

            I believe in state law vs. national law 9 out of 10 times, but I believe that some issues must be equal throughout the nation. When a citizen goes to jail for defending his family from an armed intruder, than something is tremendously wrong. If an individual breaks into someone’s house with a gun, I believe the owner of the house has every right to shoot him on the spot. A citizen of this fine country shouldn’t have to wait to be shot at, because if the intruder is an excellent marksman, than the owner of the house will be dead before he or she was able to defend themselves. This is just a small problem on a larger scale, and there are many other issues this country has to face before becoming the nation that it needs to be. I do not want to be a part of a country that won’t allow me to defend myself against armed intruders intending to hurt me or my family. Without equality in the justice system, without safety in our homes, and without the right to defend you or your family, than this country will always remain a broken nation.

           

Evil Claiming to be Heroes

During my social justice class my eyes are being opened more and more every week. America teaches history as a time full of adventure and heroes, when that's not the truth at all. I will give two examples that prove this statement. After reading a few chapters from a book by Howard Zenn in my class, I was astonished and appalled to realize how our beloved Christopher Columbus was an imperialist in the most extreme way. He came to the America's, and forced his countries views down their throats with no regard for common decency or respect. He wasn't there to discover new land and cultures; he was there to claim the land for himself. If anything got in his way he would murder the natives, or do whatever was necessary to get what he desired.  After reading the true story, I am repulsed to say that I actually respected the man and celebrated his holiday.

Another example of this kind of tyranny was the story of the Texas Rangers, and the conflicts on the Mexican American borders.  While taking my Mexican American history class a few semesters ago, my eyes were opened once again.  We think of the Texas Rangers as protectors of America and the crusaders of the west, but in reality they were rapists, murderers, and racist cowards just as Columbus was.  They weren’t out looking for real problems on the border; they were out looking for their idea of fun.  During this time period, regardless if the Hispanic man or woman was American or not, would be in danger of being subjected to murder, wives or women being raped, their children kidnapped or killed, or being sent back to Mexico even if they were citizens of the United States.  I looked up to the Texas Rangers growing up.  I thought of them as the cowboy protectors of America, and it made me honored to be a citizen of a country that had heroes like this.  I mean for God sake we have a baseball team named after them, a holiday after Christopher Columbus, and my question is how society has been oblivious to all these horrifying evidences from the past. 

Has America really come a long way from these social injustices of the past or have we just sugar coated them?  Even though officers aren’t out raping, murdering, and enslaving the public (so we think), are societies social injustices any better today?  What exactly is the definition of social justice?  The dictionaries definition of social justice is, “Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating an egalitarian society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being.”  A guest speaker from my class named Dr. Agular asked us will each individual ever be fully equal to one another?   His answer was no, because biologically we can never be equal.  For example a man could never be equal to a woman, because the simple fact that man can’t give birth to a baby.  That is the most simplistic answer to the question, but I believe there will never be equality in America.  The United States is too worried about differences, and who are the dominates and who are the subordinates in society.  Yes I believe America has come a long way since the Columbus days or the Texas Rangers, but after watching the movie “Crash”, we still have a long way to go before I am content with society in America.  Until America can look past one another’s differences, until we can look past the color of our skin, until we can spread wealth equally throughout society, and until society can look at individuals as equal human beings and not dollar signs, we will never be a country of social justice and equality. 

Here is a scene from the movie “crash”, showing just how far we have come as a society of social justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAmUPCbhkwo&feature=related