The Same Age
Do yall remember 4 or 5 years ago when I was writing commentaries for Blacknews.com? Well -- long story short; I had saved all those joints on a USB that I missplaced. Last week I found it by chance as I was looking through my boxes for this VHS tape of Jimi at Woodstock.
I plan blogging about the whole blacknews.com expirience because I think it was an important and formative time and process for me. But that'll come later. I'll post some of the old joints too.
But before I do that, I wanna hit yall with one of my favorites during that time, "The Same Age". I always thought that was a hot term and tried real hard to give it some legs back when I dropped it, but that mission failed. I still think its accurate, though. One of the things that always irritates me are those in our generation that are under the false impression that America is SOOO different when it comes to race-relations. They take the obvious progress that this country has made and then take it 10 levels up and act like things are almost ideal. It's stupid to me. They seem blind to blatant facts that this country is still really, really EFFED up when it comes to the underbelly of racial tension and race disparities. Then things like Katrina or these recent NYTimes articles startle them to consciousness and they're like, "Wow, things are still messed up."
Recently, there was an incident in Pasco County, the county directly south of my Hernando County and directly north of Tampa/St.Pete. Some neo-nazis that lived in a trailer with swatstikas and confederate flags waving in the wind, stabbed a white women in the face -- nearly killing her -- because she dated a black man (The Good Life is so complex). Then we have this situation at Duke where some white lacrosse playeers allegedly raped a black stripper. If found guilty, the rape seems to have much to do with a superiority-complex, similar to how the masters used to do the slave girls, spawning the house niggas. They lacrosse dudes were allegedly throwing out a bunch of "niggers" and such. These cases are aberrations, I know that. But I think the conditioning that took place over hundreds of years -- on both sides -- is still very prevalent. And what scares me is that more and more Americans are trying to act like thats not the case. By doing so, nothing proactive will be done. Look people that grew up in the Jim Crow south are 50. Some of them felt really strong about the way ethnic roles were back then. You really think their kids didnt get some of that? All that hate and distrust is gone?
Yo, I'm gonna stop rambling, though. I wrote this "Same Age" piece after that incident in 2002 when the students at Auburn dressed up in black-face for Halloween and stage lynching scenes and what not. Ignorant and hateful stuff. I'm just gonna post the piece. I basically feel the same way years later.
I plan blogging about the whole blacknews.com expirience because I think it was an important and formative time and process for me. But that'll come later. I'll post some of the old joints too.
But before I do that, I wanna hit yall with one of my favorites during that time, "The Same Age". I always thought that was a hot term and tried real hard to give it some legs back when I dropped it, but that mission failed. I still think its accurate, though. One of the things that always irritates me are those in our generation that are under the false impression that America is SOOO different when it comes to race-relations. They take the obvious progress that this country has made and then take it 10 levels up and act like things are almost ideal. It's stupid to me. They seem blind to blatant facts that this country is still really, really EFFED up when it comes to the underbelly of racial tension and race disparities. Then things like Katrina or these recent NYTimes articles startle them to consciousness and they're like, "Wow, things are still messed up."
Recently, there was an incident in Pasco County, the county directly south of my Hernando County and directly north of Tampa/St.Pete. Some neo-nazis that lived in a trailer with swatstikas and confederate flags waving in the wind, stabbed a white women in the face -- nearly killing her -- because she dated a black man (The Good Life is so complex). Then we have this situation at Duke where some white lacrosse playeers allegedly raped a black stripper. If found guilty, the rape seems to have much to do with a superiority-complex, similar to how the masters used to do the slave girls, spawning the house niggas. They lacrosse dudes were allegedly throwing out a bunch of "niggers" and such. These cases are aberrations, I know that. But I think the conditioning that took place over hundreds of years -- on both sides -- is still very prevalent. And what scares me is that more and more Americans are trying to act like thats not the case. By doing so, nothing proactive will be done. Look people that grew up in the Jim Crow south are 50. Some of them felt really strong about the way ethnic roles were back then. You really think their kids didnt get some of that? All that hate and distrust is gone?
Yo, I'm gonna stop rambling, though. I wrote this "Same Age" piece after that incident in 2002 when the students at Auburn dressed up in black-face for Halloween and stage lynching scenes and what not. Ignorant and hateful stuff. I'm just gonna post the piece. I basically feel the same way years later.
2001 - The Same Age
This year marked the ushering in of the “real” millennium. I can remember what I used to think it would be like in the 21st Century – I thought it would be like the Jetsons. I thought that cars would fly, dinner would be delivered up a space-age shoot in the form of small cubes, and housecleaning would be the responsibility of robotic maids. Yet, for all the astonishing advancement made by humankind in my lifetime alone, it is apparent that my predictions for the new millennium were dead wrong. In reality, ain’t nuttin’ changed. This is far from the Space Age – more like the Same Age. Automobiles still operate on ground level, food looks the same to me, and I can only fantasize about a robotic maid that would keep my apartment looking immaculate. And sadly, now almost 40 years removed from the Civil Rights Movement, a full year into the real millennium, and in the wake of Sept. 11 – a national crisis that was supposed to spawn lasting solidarity – racism and bigotry are still being perpetrated full-throttle. It’s happening in the boardroom, the newsroom, the classroom – it frequents all circles. However, this sustained racism is not a product of the reigns of technology prohibiting advancement, it is a bleak testament to mankind’s own personal on-going struggle with race relations.
Perhaps the most telling manifestation of the still prevalent nature of racism, bigotry, and hate was displayed by the students of Auburn University at two Halloween parties thrown by the Delta Sigma Phi and Beta Theta Pi fraternities. Seen at these parties were Klu Klux Klan costumes, young white men in blackface – some with nooses around their necks – fake Afros, mockery of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity (one of the oldest and largest black Greek fraternities), reenactment of a lynching, and other extremely disturbing and pejorative images. This was not an instance of unknowing college kids having ignorant and innocent fun; this was an all out attack on black America. Along with the Neo-Nazi swastika, no other symbols can rehash hurt or conjure up oppression the way Klu Klux Klan hoods and blackface can. Yet, these Auburn students so blatantly scoffed at these social taboos to the point were it defies logic. At one point I was rubbing my eyes to make sure I was actually seeing a group of white college students depicting a lynching. This cannot be chalked up as youthful ignorance – these were grown criminals. Nor can alcohol be used as the scapegoat – this was a planned event. Why do you think the black fraternity they chose to mock was the Omega Psi Phi fraternity? Could it be because the Omegas have the negative and ignorant reputation of being big black brutes – meatheads? Everything about the parties leads one to believe that they were conspired schemes. I can hear them now, “Dude, this year the coloreds, next year the retards.”
The two most troubling aspects of these infamous events is the fact that; one) things of this nature and to this degree still go on; and two) the lack of publicity keeps the most of America – especially white America – uniformed about such atrocities.
Ignorance is bliss and naïveté loves her rose colored glasses, maybe that is why so many people were shocked by what they saw. Such images had to be startling to those that felt that things like this just don’t happen any longer. What made it even more unlikely was where it occurred – on a college campus. Campuses have always been the residences of liberal thinking and social movements. It is there, in academia, where one would think that racist thought and bigot-like behavior would be most reviled. Sure, there may be some primal nutcase in the backwoods of Mississippi, or some twisted hermit in the recluse hills of Pennsylvania who might muster up the backwards audacity to step into a town Halloween party with a KKK hood over his mug. But college campuses are supposed to be different, it is on these campuses where racial sensitivity is supposed to be most apparent. However, when examined, it becomes evident that this is not the first instance of blatant racist displays by the students of Auburn University. Rather, African American students and faculty maintain that the recent atrocities are merely an instance of this ugly monster finally rearing its gruesome head to the public. It is only now, in reaction to the actions at the Halloween parties, that Auburn has made a concerted effort to add ethnic studies and diversity courses to its standing curriculum. The question that we must now ask ourselves is how many similar events have taken place at other universities across America? The probable answer is downright scary. It is vital to remember that just because you don’t hear about such occurrences, in no way means that they don’t occur.
Lack of publicity. That is the other depressing aspect of these events. Now true, most cases like this will never see the light of day because most have the sense not to go posting pictures on the Internet like the quintessential idiots at Auburn University. But, the quintessential idiots at Auburn did post the pictures on the Internet, and although it has caused a considerable stir within the black community; the majority of the public continues to be totally oblivious to fact that this has gone on. While ignorance is bliss and naïveté loves her rose colored glasses – knowledge is power. And though America cannot cliché their way to racial unity and bigot abolition, it can at least serve as a shock device that may jolt certain individuals to action. Yet, the nefarious deeds of the Auburn students have somehow managed to fall below the national media’s radar. No news stories on “Dateline”, no two-minute quip on MTV News, no columnists censoring the students involved – nothing. The news coverage has been minimal and national dialogue has been rather vapid. Though the nation is still in the midst of a crisis, with Operation Enduring Freedom (don’t laugh) garnering the headlines, that is no excuse for the disturbingly microcosmic matters at Auburn to receive such jejune news coverage.
The problem is that blacks don’t have the power nor the influence to determine what is and isn’t newsworthy. There aren’t enough blacks in the executive offices at NBC, CBS, or ABC. Do you think the editor of the Washington Post, New York Times, Time Magazine, or Newsweek Magazine is African American? No. And as America deals with terrorism and questions regarding its foreign policy, this is something they do not want to let out. After all, it might effect the newfound solidarity of the American populous.
See, civil rights and race relations are far from pork barrel projects, they’re more like grimy stains on Lady Liberty’s pristine robe, big fat zits on Uncle Sam’s slender nose, and ruffled feathers on the wings of the regal American Eagle. So, America seeks to sweep instances such as these far under the national rug, to make absolutely sure that these negative stories never see the light of day. What this does is lull the American public to sleep as they dream about racism finally fading away. Well, cases like this function as an ice-cold bucket of water to the crotch or a rousing backhand slap to the chops. It alerts everyone that racism and bigotry and hate are alive and well – thriving even. It lets the grammar schools, middle schools, and high schools know that they aren’t doing enough to deter hateful thinking. And most of all it highlights the abject failure of America’s parents.
Pressured by the NAACP, the Auburn Black Caucus, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Auburn students and faculty, and the local and national black community; Auburn University president, William F. Walker, indefinitely suspended 15 students who wore the racist costumes at the Halloween parties. (I’d go so far as to ask why the rosey-cheeked giddy white girls who posed, with ear to ear grins, for pictures weren’t disciplined as well. Wasn’t their jovial acceptance of such costumes and behavior just as reprehensible?) The Delta Sigma Phi and Beta Theta Pi fraternities have also taken action by closing the Auburn chapters. There was even an event led by the staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center that acted as a Town Hall Meeting of sorts; with students and faculty coming together to discuss “turning hate around through education and tolerance”. So things are being done to show that intolerance will not be tolerated, and also to try to create an atmosphere more accommodating of tolerance and racial unity. I guess every little bit helps right?
Still, the same song acts as the gloomy soundtrack for race relations in America. For every Civil Rights Movement, protest, Black History Month, and celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday to help engender racial unity; there are Jim Crow Laws, hate crimes, and Auburn students in black face and KKK hoods depicting a lynching to remind us that ain’t nuttin’ changed. It’s like race relations in America is jogging on a treadmill, working up a good sweat, but going absolutely nowhere.
As we approach 2002, nearly 40 years removed from Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement, and many centuries removed from slavery, the same things are going down. Welcome to the Same Age.
This year marked the ushering in of the “real” millennium. I can remember what I used to think it would be like in the 21st Century – I thought it would be like the Jetsons. I thought that cars would fly, dinner would be delivered up a space-age shoot in the form of small cubes, and housecleaning would be the responsibility of robotic maids. Yet, for all the astonishing advancement made by humankind in my lifetime alone, it is apparent that my predictions for the new millennium were dead wrong. In reality, ain’t nuttin’ changed. This is far from the Space Age – more like the Same Age. Automobiles still operate on ground level, food looks the same to me, and I can only fantasize about a robotic maid that would keep my apartment looking immaculate. And sadly, now almost 40 years removed from the Civil Rights Movement, a full year into the real millennium, and in the wake of Sept. 11 – a national crisis that was supposed to spawn lasting solidarity – racism and bigotry are still being perpetrated full-throttle. It’s happening in the boardroom, the newsroom, the classroom – it frequents all circles. However, this sustained racism is not a product of the reigns of technology prohibiting advancement, it is a bleak testament to mankind’s own personal on-going struggle with race relations.
Perhaps the most telling manifestation of the still prevalent nature of racism, bigotry, and hate was displayed by the students of Auburn University at two Halloween parties thrown by the Delta Sigma Phi and Beta Theta Pi fraternities. Seen at these parties were Klu Klux Klan costumes, young white men in blackface – some with nooses around their necks – fake Afros, mockery of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity (one of the oldest and largest black Greek fraternities), reenactment of a lynching, and other extremely disturbing and pejorative images. This was not an instance of unknowing college kids having ignorant and innocent fun; this was an all out attack on black America. Along with the Neo-Nazi swastika, no other symbols can rehash hurt or conjure up oppression the way Klu Klux Klan hoods and blackface can. Yet, these Auburn students so blatantly scoffed at these social taboos to the point were it defies logic. At one point I was rubbing my eyes to make sure I was actually seeing a group of white college students depicting a lynching. This cannot be chalked up as youthful ignorance – these were grown criminals. Nor can alcohol be used as the scapegoat – this was a planned event. Why do you think the black fraternity they chose to mock was the Omega Psi Phi fraternity? Could it be because the Omegas have the negative and ignorant reputation of being big black brutes – meatheads? Everything about the parties leads one to believe that they were conspired schemes. I can hear them now, “Dude, this year the coloreds, next year the retards.”
The two most troubling aspects of these infamous events is the fact that; one) things of this nature and to this degree still go on; and two) the lack of publicity keeps the most of America – especially white America – uniformed about such atrocities.
Ignorance is bliss and naïveté loves her rose colored glasses, maybe that is why so many people were shocked by what they saw. Such images had to be startling to those that felt that things like this just don’t happen any longer. What made it even more unlikely was where it occurred – on a college campus. Campuses have always been the residences of liberal thinking and social movements. It is there, in academia, where one would think that racist thought and bigot-like behavior would be most reviled. Sure, there may be some primal nutcase in the backwoods of Mississippi, or some twisted hermit in the recluse hills of Pennsylvania who might muster up the backwards audacity to step into a town Halloween party with a KKK hood over his mug. But college campuses are supposed to be different, it is on these campuses where racial sensitivity is supposed to be most apparent. However, when examined, it becomes evident that this is not the first instance of blatant racist displays by the students of Auburn University. Rather, African American students and faculty maintain that the recent atrocities are merely an instance of this ugly monster finally rearing its gruesome head to the public. It is only now, in reaction to the actions at the Halloween parties, that Auburn has made a concerted effort to add ethnic studies and diversity courses to its standing curriculum. The question that we must now ask ourselves is how many similar events have taken place at other universities across America? The probable answer is downright scary. It is vital to remember that just because you don’t hear about such occurrences, in no way means that they don’t occur.
Lack of publicity. That is the other depressing aspect of these events. Now true, most cases like this will never see the light of day because most have the sense not to go posting pictures on the Internet like the quintessential idiots at Auburn University. But, the quintessential idiots at Auburn did post the pictures on the Internet, and although it has caused a considerable stir within the black community; the majority of the public continues to be totally oblivious to fact that this has gone on. While ignorance is bliss and naïveté loves her rose colored glasses – knowledge is power. And though America cannot cliché their way to racial unity and bigot abolition, it can at least serve as a shock device that may jolt certain individuals to action. Yet, the nefarious deeds of the Auburn students have somehow managed to fall below the national media’s radar. No news stories on “Dateline”, no two-minute quip on MTV News, no columnists censoring the students involved – nothing. The news coverage has been minimal and national dialogue has been rather vapid. Though the nation is still in the midst of a crisis, with Operation Enduring Freedom (don’t laugh) garnering the headlines, that is no excuse for the disturbingly microcosmic matters at Auburn to receive such jejune news coverage.
The problem is that blacks don’t have the power nor the influence to determine what is and isn’t newsworthy. There aren’t enough blacks in the executive offices at NBC, CBS, or ABC. Do you think the editor of the Washington Post, New York Times, Time Magazine, or Newsweek Magazine is African American? No. And as America deals with terrorism and questions regarding its foreign policy, this is something they do not want to let out. After all, it might effect the newfound solidarity of the American populous.
See, civil rights and race relations are far from pork barrel projects, they’re more like grimy stains on Lady Liberty’s pristine robe, big fat zits on Uncle Sam’s slender nose, and ruffled feathers on the wings of the regal American Eagle. So, America seeks to sweep instances such as these far under the national rug, to make absolutely sure that these negative stories never see the light of day. What this does is lull the American public to sleep as they dream about racism finally fading away. Well, cases like this function as an ice-cold bucket of water to the crotch or a rousing backhand slap to the chops. It alerts everyone that racism and bigotry and hate are alive and well – thriving even. It lets the grammar schools, middle schools, and high schools know that they aren’t doing enough to deter hateful thinking. And most of all it highlights the abject failure of America’s parents.
Pressured by the NAACP, the Auburn Black Caucus, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Auburn students and faculty, and the local and national black community; Auburn University president, William F. Walker, indefinitely suspended 15 students who wore the racist costumes at the Halloween parties. (I’d go so far as to ask why the rosey-cheeked giddy white girls who posed, with ear to ear grins, for pictures weren’t disciplined as well. Wasn’t their jovial acceptance of such costumes and behavior just as reprehensible?) The Delta Sigma Phi and Beta Theta Pi fraternities have also taken action by closing the Auburn chapters. There was even an event led by the staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center that acted as a Town Hall Meeting of sorts; with students and faculty coming together to discuss “turning hate around through education and tolerance”. So things are being done to show that intolerance will not be tolerated, and also to try to create an atmosphere more accommodating of tolerance and racial unity. I guess every little bit helps right?
Still, the same song acts as the gloomy soundtrack for race relations in America. For every Civil Rights Movement, protest, Black History Month, and celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday to help engender racial unity; there are Jim Crow Laws, hate crimes, and Auburn students in black face and KKK hoods depicting a lynching to remind us that ain’t nuttin’ changed. It’s like race relations in America is jogging on a treadmill, working up a good sweat, but going absolutely nowhere.
As we approach 2002, nearly 40 years removed from Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement, and many centuries removed from slavery, the same things are going down. Welcome to the Same Age.
posted by Twistinado @ 1:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home