I know a lot of the media and powers that be insist that racism is a thing of the past. In fact Lou Dobbs, the CNN reporter got infuriated at Condeleeza Rice and her response to Barrack Obama's speech on racial issues in America when she said that racism was an issue that needed to be discussed more. Poor Lou got so ramped up that he slipped up and called Condeleeza "cotton picking." I'm sure Lou didn't mean anything by it.
If racism isn't a real issue in America anymore, I thought about what a racist society would look like. What kinds of things would be required in order for the White people in our country to get back all of the power that they seem to believe they have lost as a result of affirmative action, and people espousing equal rights for all. So without further adieu here is my own plan for a racist society.
You need to be sneaky about how you do it. Out and out slavery won't work, and most White folks now days don't have the stomachs for lynchings, so you have to be clever. In any of the below examples you need to make sure that you have one or two examples that stand out as the exception to the rule. That way you can point them out and tell all the nay-sayers that they are over reacting. In no certain order here are some great starting points.
Education- First off you have to make education as inequitable as possible. After all if you want people held down, education or lack there of is a powerful first step. You need to ensure that the vast majority of the population you are trying to oppress can't attain the same academic standards that you have access to. A 75% drop out rate would be optimal, that way you can still have a token group that you can point to as successful. The 25% who do graduate will need to be tracked into middle management jobs, so as to further the White male power structure, but more on that later.
Seventy five percent sounds like an almost unobtainable goal. I mean that is, in reality, educational genocide, no one is gonna put up with that. Again, this is why you have to be sneaky. You really have to be careful about how you present education. In order to get the young people of color to go along with this you need to package education as a waste of time, or better yet as a "White thing." Not being seen as cool if you are White will be OK as long as we keep in mind that the end justifies the means. After all people of color are gonna see this whole thing coming a mile away, but if we keep them down and don't allow then equal access to a forum in which to air their grievances we should be alright.
So, if we can use the mainstream media as a tool to show that education is a White thing, and conversely the only way to be educated is to "act white" then we already have half our work done for us. Reading definitely has to be a White thing. Most of our literature has to be written by White authors aimed at a White audience, so even if we do get a few people of color that decide to better themselves through reading, it won't matter much because most of the info won't be targeted toward them anyway. That should add an extra obstacle in their way. That won't be enough though, their are still going to be some young people of color who insist on trying to play on a level field. That's when we hit em with peer pressure. Using the same media that portrayed education as a White thing now needs to be used to relay the message that it is "cool" to be uneducated if you are a person of color.
We can pay young musicians of color vast sums of money to help spread the image of a person of color as a thug, rebellious, and anti establishment. Have those same artist dress and act out the lifestyle that is defiantly anti white. After all, the real money is going to be made by the White executives who own the record companies so it's OK if a few of those same musicians get at least a little wealthy in the process. We need to make sure that they glamorize violence, misogyny, and a host of other things that aren't stereotypically "White." With all of that in place; the images, the ideologies, and a constant barrage by mainstream media that everything is OK we should be able to hit that magic mark.
Freedom- It's gonna be awfully hard for a group of people to rise above their current situation if we keep a good number of them under lock and key. Now this isn't slavery, this is protecting the public interest, and since we are building a racist society, we want that interest to be the "White" interest. So how do we do this? As stated above, people of color aren't stupid, we are making a big mistake if we believe that. Oh sure, outwardly we can treat them like their not as bright as we are, but behind the scenes we need to know that we are dealing with a crafty group of people who have survived the worst we could throw at them, and still manage to thrive, if not flourish in some cases. Step one is to keep our own interest in mind. Sentencing has to be in favor of White people, even when the crime is the same, we need to make sure that we keep the vast element of our White brothers and sisters out of the prison industrial complex. Oh sure, we need to put a few of the bad apples that are an embarrassment to us in there, but for the most part it really needs to be people of color if this is going to work. One way is to put sentencing laws in place that lean in the favor of White folks. If a certain drug is seen as a drug used more frequently by communities of color then we damn sure need to make sure that we throw the book at them for use of that particular drug. Even if our own brothers and sisters use it at a much higher rate then the people of color that we associate it with we need to put more people of color in jail for it. Convincing the country to disbelieve the statistics (even if they take the time to look for them) can be taken care of by the mainstream media by portraying all of the users of this drug as being people of color. It also can't be only drugs, we need to have wide sweeping profiling of people of color for any number of crimes, except White collar ones, after all we aren't going to let enough people of color rise through the ranks of business to need to worry about their committing White collar crimes in the first place.
Now that we have them in prison we need to keep them there. As long as we have group of people with the White publics best interest in mind we should be able to keep them locked up for the maximum time. We need to push for mandatory minimum sentences for any crimes that we stereotypically attribute to people of color committing more of. That will stop all of those bleeding heart liberal judges from giving them opportunities for change.We also need to make sure that we don't buy into the nonsense about rehabilitation. If we start rehabilitating people then we are gonna have a whole group of people with the skills necessary to get ahead and even the playing field. We can't have that, and we also need to make sure that prison is about punishment and not rehabilitation.
Power access- Now, if we are gonna stay in control we need to maintain control of all the power and access to resources. If we manage to keep most of those people locked up, and deny them a decent education we will be well on our way. The ones we need to worry about are the ones mentioned above who are determined to rise above everything that we have thrown at them. There are gonna be a handful of them who will so here is what we can do. Success can be allowed but we need to be careful where we allow it. We need to follow the time honored belief that black people make better athletes, and entertainers. Let them rise to positions of greatness in those fields, after all we need entertainment don't we? Sure some of them will make a lot of money, but they won't have any real power to make changes. If in school those same people want to try their hand at math, science, literature, and god forbid have an aptitude for it, we need to placate them for a bit and then send them off to the athletics coach. Their success can be trumpeted by all of us in the White community by pointing out that their are a lot of successful people of color. Just look at so and so, who plays for any given professional sports team, or was just in that new action movie. Which brings me to the movies that they may be in. We can't let too many of them get the good guy roles, we need to help fortify the notion of people of color as dangerous. They can have roles of good guys if that good guy carries a gun and kills people. If we let them get in roles of a sensitive, educated, caring individuals then we are doing a grave disservice to our cause.
Maintenance- All of this is going to take a lot of effort on our part. A group of people are not going to sit passively by and just accept servitude and oppression. We need to be constantly on guard and be ready for any situation that may arise. To do this is we need to continue to point out the few people from those communities that rose through the ranks to truly gain access to power. Any grumbling needs to be immediately met with shoving the exception to the rule right in their face. Oprah will be great for this. We can use Oprah as our shining example that people of color, and women are completely off base. After all, Oprah is not only black, but a woman to boot, so why are they complaining. Secondly, if a person of color should ever get elected to a position of real power like say President of the United States, he or she (yeah right) will be our prime example of how ridiculous all of the charges of our society being racist is. We as White people however need to make sure that we keep an eye on that person, and at the first sign of weakness, or slip up, that we pounce. Make sure we remind everyone that this is what happens when you put your faith in one of those people.
Now as to maintaining our own people. There are gonna be some our White brothers and sisters that are going to be sympathetic to the oppression of the communities of color. Those people are dangerous, and we need to remind all White people that they are crazy, liberal, or at even better a race traitor. And while we can't stop all of them, we need to keep the majority in line with our way of thinking or things are gonna get out of hand in a hurry. We also need to make sure we keep in place all of the negative stereotypes. If one person from the communities in question, commits a crime, or does anything that is even remotely out of line that we use that individual as the representation for the whole race.One bad apple spoils the whole damn bunch. right? If one of them should get angry (and they will, after all we are trying to keep them down) we need to use that anger to keep all of our White brothers and sisters scared. We can be sure that if enough White folks are scared that the odds are better in our favor of keeping them from forming any real relationship with those people. We can use the media once again in our favor by filling it with stories of black crimes, or crimes of any other person of color for that matter, and highlight the dangers that those people represent to us White law abiding citizens. We need to keep up the fight against immigration. If too many of those Mexicans get across the border we are gonna have them messing up the status quo. They will become citizens, and then they will start to vote. Eventually, they will figure out that they need to form a coalition with other communities of color in order to gain access to more power and then we are gonna be royally screwed.
In conclusion, we have had it too good for too long to let it go now. I am not talking about us really losing anything major, but the days of us holding all the cards are gonna be over. We will have to start competing on a level playing field. Our forefathers worked too hard to ensure that the playing field was skewed in our favor to let that go now. A level field of play will mean we will have to work harder and compete harder for resources. Competing with our own is one thing, but those other people, come on. Do they seriously expect us to give up on all the privilege that we have. Can you imagine the chaos that will ensue in our communities if the attention begins to swing toward our crimes, drug use, and over all treatment of others. It will be Armageddon.We will be required to be judged on the content of our character and not the color of our skin. We are going to have work harder on our children's education, because being White won't be enough to ensure that you will get preferential treatment. It won't do you any good to be a alumni somewhere, your kids are gonna have to work as hard as everyone else. Through our years of oppression we have created a group of people that our far more apt at survival then we are. They have taken everything that we have thrown at them and are still standing. If they ever get a truly equitable playing field the parties over. We must remain constantly vigilant in order to ensure our own survival.
Authors Note
This article was both painful and easy at the same time to write. Painful, because I see in it all of the ugliness that still exists, despite now President Elect Barrack Obama making history. Easy, because all I had to do was look at some of the irrelevant fears that some of my white brothers and sisters have. It was also easy, because all I had to do was look to modern day examples. For those of you that are offended by this article I say, good! You should be offended, because you ought to recognize in this article things you see every day. For those of you that think that my ideas are a ridiculous exaggeration I offer you these examples from my home state of Oregon. In the state of Oregon the dropout rate for African American is 75%. Oregon being the bastion of liberalism that it is leads the way in equal sentencing and arrest for drug offenses. That being said, as a black male you are still 4.1 times more likely to be arrested and sentenced for the exact same crime here as your white counterpart. Of course, as a black male I would avoid Minnesota where you are 46.1 times more likely to be arrested. Congratulations Minnesota, your number one.
The difficult part was capitalizing "white" and making sure that "black" or any other ethnic group was never capitalized. It was also distasteful to use the phrase "them," or "those people" so often. However, listen to conversations and see how often those same phrases are used to describe anyone who is not part of what is seen as the power majority in this country.
You can take the whole thing tongue in cheek if you wish, but I assure you that's not the point. You can continue to belive that anyone that buys into this is full blown liberal nut, or you can do something about it. You can get off your butt and make an effort to assure the points made in this article don't continue or never come to fruition where you are.
In the end, the fact of the matter is that it's all very simple. You are either part of the problem or you are part of the solution. There is no middle ground. You either get it, or you don't. You either continue to live your life in miserable denial, and continue to buy into all the worn out axioms of those who don't want equitability, or you don't. There is no grey area. Make no mistake, this is a war, and you are either on the side of good and just, or you aren't.There is no room for compromise when it comes to obtaining equitable conditions for everyone in our country. It's well past time for all of us to open our eyes and see the light. It is my hope that a lot of my white brothers and sisters who voted for Barrack and his message of hope and change either get it, or are starting to. We'll see. The fight is a long way from over, and I, like a lot of other Americans, are in it for the long haul. Maybe President Obama's election is a start to the new civil rights movement. I wasn't born during the first part of the movement, but I am seeing positive things, and hold out hope for more. Later.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Now What?
Now What?
Last night was a huge step in American history, no doubt about it. How big of a step remains to be seen. Last night many of my white brothers and sisters took the historic step of supporting to victory the first president of the United States who identifies as African American. The reasons for their decision will be bandied about by pundits in the weeks to come. As I watched the news last night though, I heard within moments of Presidents Obama's victory the words I knew were coming, but was hoping weren't. News people, mostly from the right, and even John McCain himself made the statement, in not these exact words, that the question of racism needed to be put to rest.
The question now is not whether racism in America exist, it does. It's not whether or not the community of color has the exact same opportunity as their White counterparts, they don't. The question isn't whether or not President Obama some how now owes the White community a debt of gratitude, he doesn't. The question is; now what? Are we going to follow the time honored tradition of short term memory that has plagued us for centuries. Are we going to slip back into our denial and personalize everything with the ever famous, "I'm not racist, because...." The newest will be, "I voted for Barrack Obama, so I'm not a racist." On the first opportunity we get, when President Obama slips up (and he will), will we say to ourselves that it's the last time we vote for a candidate of color, because our short term memory will not allow us to remember one of the worst eight years in American history in which we had a President that may be tried with war crimes, and an economy that is the worst it's been in decades. Or are we going to remember all of the reasons that we voted for Obama in the first place. The faith that he represents something better and bigger then all of our own petty concerns.
Last night vindicated my hope in my white brothers and sisters a little. OK, a lot. The overwhelming numbers by which President Obama won were staggering. A message was definitely sent to the Republican party that people are sick to death of them. More then that, for the first time in history White America said that they were willing to elevate a black man to the most powerful position in the land. I would ask my White brothers and sisters as they read this to remember the warning that President Obama gave us in the waning days of his campaign. Don't get cocky. This is big, but the work has just started back up. The work that a lot of us were doing already, I hope will be joined by millions of other White Americans. If we want people of color, poor people, disabled persons, and the lesbian, gay, bi, and transgendered community to be able to look at their children and tell them with a straight face that they can be whatever they want to be we have a long way to go.
Barrack needs to be shining example of what is possible. What Barrack does not need to become is a footnote in history or the example that we pull out (like Oprah) every time we get tired of listening to people of color point out that the oppression in their communities makes succeeding difficult. We need to stop and realize the reason that this moment in history is so huge is that it's because it's a first. We as white people need to realize that while Barracks story is amazing, that he hardly represents the average success story for people of color in this country. No, racism is still alive and well. When a person of color, a woman, a person in the lesbian, gay, bi and transgendered community can be in a position of power without them being a credit to their race, gender, or sexual orientation then we will be on the right track. When all the groups mentioned above finally have access to the resources and power that white people have, without having to be or act like somebody that they are not (i.e white, male, heterosexual, and able bodied), or without all the extra obstacles that white people don't have to overcome then we will be at a place that we can be proud of.
So I encourage all of you reading this to rejoice and celebrate in our historic victory. This was a victory for all of us. White, Black, Asian, Native American, Latino/Latina, people from all different communities, genders, backgrounds, abilities, and sexual orientations can know, that no matter the outcome, that what we did was say that we were willing to change. Now that we have made another huge step in the quest for an equitable society now is not the time sit back and say that we have done all we can. Now is the time to continue on the path toward healing, and to ask ourselves, now what?
Last night was a huge step in American history, no doubt about it. How big of a step remains to be seen. Last night many of my white brothers and sisters took the historic step of supporting to victory the first president of the United States who identifies as African American. The reasons for their decision will be bandied about by pundits in the weeks to come. As I watched the news last night though, I heard within moments of Presidents Obama's victory the words I knew were coming, but was hoping weren't. News people, mostly from the right, and even John McCain himself made the statement, in not these exact words, that the question of racism needed to be put to rest.
The question now is not whether racism in America exist, it does. It's not whether or not the community of color has the exact same opportunity as their White counterparts, they don't. The question isn't whether or not President Obama some how now owes the White community a debt of gratitude, he doesn't. The question is; now what? Are we going to follow the time honored tradition of short term memory that has plagued us for centuries. Are we going to slip back into our denial and personalize everything with the ever famous, "I'm not racist, because...." The newest will be, "I voted for Barrack Obama, so I'm not a racist." On the first opportunity we get, when President Obama slips up (and he will), will we say to ourselves that it's the last time we vote for a candidate of color, because our short term memory will not allow us to remember one of the worst eight years in American history in which we had a President that may be tried with war crimes, and an economy that is the worst it's been in decades. Or are we going to remember all of the reasons that we voted for Obama in the first place. The faith that he represents something better and bigger then all of our own petty concerns.
Last night vindicated my hope in my white brothers and sisters a little. OK, a lot. The overwhelming numbers by which President Obama won were staggering. A message was definitely sent to the Republican party that people are sick to death of them. More then that, for the first time in history White America said that they were willing to elevate a black man to the most powerful position in the land. I would ask my White brothers and sisters as they read this to remember the warning that President Obama gave us in the waning days of his campaign. Don't get cocky. This is big, but the work has just started back up. The work that a lot of us were doing already, I hope will be joined by millions of other White Americans. If we want people of color, poor people, disabled persons, and the lesbian, gay, bi, and transgendered community to be able to look at their children and tell them with a straight face that they can be whatever they want to be we have a long way to go.
Barrack needs to be shining example of what is possible. What Barrack does not need to become is a footnote in history or the example that we pull out (like Oprah) every time we get tired of listening to people of color point out that the oppression in their communities makes succeeding difficult. We need to stop and realize the reason that this moment in history is so huge is that it's because it's a first. We as white people need to realize that while Barracks story is amazing, that he hardly represents the average success story for people of color in this country. No, racism is still alive and well. When a person of color, a woman, a person in the lesbian, gay, bi and transgendered community can be in a position of power without them being a credit to their race, gender, or sexual orientation then we will be on the right track. When all the groups mentioned above finally have access to the resources and power that white people have, without having to be or act like somebody that they are not (i.e white, male, heterosexual, and able bodied), or without all the extra obstacles that white people don't have to overcome then we will be at a place that we can be proud of.
So I encourage all of you reading this to rejoice and celebrate in our historic victory. This was a victory for all of us. White, Black, Asian, Native American, Latino/Latina, people from all different communities, genders, backgrounds, abilities, and sexual orientations can know, that no matter the outcome, that what we did was say that we were willing to change. Now that we have made another huge step in the quest for an equitable society now is not the time sit back and say that we have done all we can. Now is the time to continue on the path toward healing, and to ask ourselves, now what?
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sexism in Horror Movies
Wow, I haven't written anything here in months. So here is an article I published on sexism in horror films
I love horror movies. Always have. From the time I was old enough to watch them (which was a lot younger then I would admit to my parents). As I got older I came to appreciate the classics as well as some of the new ones that came out. However, as a young man I came to the impression that women in these films weren’t good for much more than running, screaming, falling down, and dying. Well, they could take their shirts off in just about every 80’s horror movie out there, but aside from that there were, and still are, a lack of strong female characters.
As a social justice educator I tend to look at horror movies and the women in them in a bit of a different way then I did as a kid. I found something out as an adult, women like horror movies too. And as women, I can only imagine that they have a unique view of the horror genre.
The issue that many people in the social justice fields have, as well as women and men who are devoted to feminism, is the sexualization of violence in horror movies. If you have sex in a horror film, you’re dead. We all know that. It’s the way that the violence immediately proceeds the sexual act or during that has people troubled. It can have psychological consequences for impressionable young people. As I have said, I love horror movies, the gorier the better on some occasions, but I still question the need for the sexualization of it all. The horror movie industry finally caught on to the fact that their R ratings were getting their movies exposed to too small an audience, and so with no TNA and a PG-13 rating the industry opened the door for a whole new fan base. The newer movies have made a positive move away from the sexualization of the violence, which is good.
Anyway, my favorite movies had very little sexualization of violence in them. Dawn of the Dead is an anti consumerism piece. Night of the Living Dead is a statement on human relations and how we treat each other. They still have all the splatter, and the women seem to have more powerful places in the films. The 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead has the heroine cast as a toughened survivor. In the Dawn of the Dead remake the main character is a strong woman. Resident Evil has a woman at the helm.
Which leads me to another subject, that is happily making progress due to not only “girl power”, but feminism too, and that is the role of the woman in the horror film. As I said, growing up I watched countless screaming, running, half naked women get slaughtered by the bad guy. Then one day I sat down with my dad and watched a movie that changed my view of women in horror movies forever. The movie was Alien. (If you haven’t seen Alien, then why are you on a Halloween site to begin with?) If you have, then you know what I am talking about. Sigourney Weaver changed my whole concept of women as leads in horror films. Sigourney Weaver plays Eleanor Ripley. Ripley didn’t scream, Ripley didn’t cower in a corner crying, Ripley didn’t fall down running, Ripley just kicked ass. Ripley didn’t need a male hero to come save her. Even in Aliens, which has a slight romantic interest for Ripley she still put his broken down butt on a ship while she went to save the day. If I want my daughter to watch a horror movie that conveys strength in women I will pop in a copy of any of the Alien titles.
So what to do? Obviously I can’t condone the stopping of watching horror movies. That would be absurd, not to mention boring. What we need to do is educate ourselves on the subject. We can be the responsible watchers of horror movies who understand the consequences of violence against women in our society and demand better female role models in horror films. We need more Ripleys, we need more women in horror films that can kick just as much butt as their male counter parts. If a woman is gonna get snuffed out for being stupid, then the same needs to happen to the men in the story. Why does the man get to go down swinging, while the women has to go down screaming?
With all of the women fans of this genre we need to offer them more. Scream Queens are great, but unless they are giving a war cry while doing battle with the bad guy, is that the message we want to convey? If the guys reading this want their girlfriends/partners to sit down with them and watch more horror flicks with us then maybe we need to demand a horror movie that caters to both of the genders.
In conclusion, I know that there are many people out there who are going to point out examples of horror movies aside from the ones that I mentioned as an example that I am off base. This is what is referred to as “The example illustrates the point.” The fact that you can point out a handful (or if you do enough research perhaps more) of movies that go against the grain just proves that they stand out, or else they wouldn’t be examples. I am certainly not an expert on horror films, or at least not to the standards of many. I do however, have better than a passing knowledge of social justice issues, which is why I wrote this. I still watch Alien Resurrection every time it comes on TV. And my favorite baddie of all time is Freddy. That one can be a bit hypocritical I admit. I actually stood up in the movie theater at the end of Freddy vs Jason and yelled “Oh, bulls***!” With all of that in mind though, I still like to see a woman on the screen who kicks butt. A heroine who breaks through the gender classifications and helps the hero up right before he gets hacked to bits. The Ripleys (Alien movies…duh!), Alices (Resident Evil), and Anas (Dawn of the Dead) are the start of something brilliant. Hopefully we will see more of them in the future. And hopefully one of them will be wielding a sharp instrument with which to decapitate the un-dead. Later.
I love horror movies. Always have. From the time I was old enough to watch them (which was a lot younger then I would admit to my parents). As I got older I came to appreciate the classics as well as some of the new ones that came out. However, as a young man I came to the impression that women in these films weren’t good for much more than running, screaming, falling down, and dying. Well, they could take their shirts off in just about every 80’s horror movie out there, but aside from that there were, and still are, a lack of strong female characters.
As a social justice educator I tend to look at horror movies and the women in them in a bit of a different way then I did as a kid. I found something out as an adult, women like horror movies too. And as women, I can only imagine that they have a unique view of the horror genre.
The issue that many people in the social justice fields have, as well as women and men who are devoted to feminism, is the sexualization of violence in horror movies. If you have sex in a horror film, you’re dead. We all know that. It’s the way that the violence immediately proceeds the sexual act or during that has people troubled. It can have psychological consequences for impressionable young people. As I have said, I love horror movies, the gorier the better on some occasions, but I still question the need for the sexualization of it all. The horror movie industry finally caught on to the fact that their R ratings were getting their movies exposed to too small an audience, and so with no TNA and a PG-13 rating the industry opened the door for a whole new fan base. The newer movies have made a positive move away from the sexualization of the violence, which is good.
Anyway, my favorite movies had very little sexualization of violence in them. Dawn of the Dead is an anti consumerism piece. Night of the Living Dead is a statement on human relations and how we treat each other. They still have all the splatter, and the women seem to have more powerful places in the films. The 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead has the heroine cast as a toughened survivor. In the Dawn of the Dead remake the main character is a strong woman. Resident Evil has a woman at the helm.
Which leads me to another subject, that is happily making progress due to not only “girl power”, but feminism too, and that is the role of the woman in the horror film. As I said, growing up I watched countless screaming, running, half naked women get slaughtered by the bad guy. Then one day I sat down with my dad and watched a movie that changed my view of women in horror movies forever. The movie was Alien. (If you haven’t seen Alien, then why are you on a Halloween site to begin with?) If you have, then you know what I am talking about. Sigourney Weaver changed my whole concept of women as leads in horror films. Sigourney Weaver plays Eleanor Ripley. Ripley didn’t scream, Ripley didn’t cower in a corner crying, Ripley didn’t fall down running, Ripley just kicked ass. Ripley didn’t need a male hero to come save her. Even in Aliens, which has a slight romantic interest for Ripley she still put his broken down butt on a ship while she went to save the day. If I want my daughter to watch a horror movie that conveys strength in women I will pop in a copy of any of the Alien titles.
So what to do? Obviously I can’t condone the stopping of watching horror movies. That would be absurd, not to mention boring. What we need to do is educate ourselves on the subject. We can be the responsible watchers of horror movies who understand the consequences of violence against women in our society and demand better female role models in horror films. We need more Ripleys, we need more women in horror films that can kick just as much butt as their male counter parts. If a woman is gonna get snuffed out for being stupid, then the same needs to happen to the men in the story. Why does the man get to go down swinging, while the women has to go down screaming?
With all of the women fans of this genre we need to offer them more. Scream Queens are great, but unless they are giving a war cry while doing battle with the bad guy, is that the message we want to convey? If the guys reading this want their girlfriends/partners to sit down with them and watch more horror flicks with us then maybe we need to demand a horror movie that caters to both of the genders.
In conclusion, I know that there are many people out there who are going to point out examples of horror movies aside from the ones that I mentioned as an example that I am off base. This is what is referred to as “The example illustrates the point.” The fact that you can point out a handful (or if you do enough research perhaps more) of movies that go against the grain just proves that they stand out, or else they wouldn’t be examples. I am certainly not an expert on horror films, or at least not to the standards of many. I do however, have better than a passing knowledge of social justice issues, which is why I wrote this. I still watch Alien Resurrection every time it comes on TV. And my favorite baddie of all time is Freddy. That one can be a bit hypocritical I admit. I actually stood up in the movie theater at the end of Freddy vs Jason and yelled “Oh, bulls***!” With all of that in mind though, I still like to see a woman on the screen who kicks butt. A heroine who breaks through the gender classifications and helps the hero up right before he gets hacked to bits. The Ripleys (Alien movies…duh!), Alices (Resident Evil), and Anas (Dawn of the Dead) are the start of something brilliant. Hopefully we will see more of them in the future. And hopefully one of them will be wielding a sharp instrument with which to decapitate the un-dead. Later.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
And Bigotry and Injustice for All
My seven year old has to say the "Pledge of Allegiance" at school. Really?! Do we still make kids spout this nonsense at school. They don't even know what they're saying let alone how non-inclusive those words are. We all know that when the founding people of our country got together, and wrote the Declaration of Independence, that the words, "All men are created equal" really meant all White, Male, Landowners are created equal. We all know that was their intention, so why do we still have kids saying the pledge of allegiance. Liberty and Justice for all. Try saying that with a straight face if you have even an inkling of what our society is really like.
How can schools that espouse virtues like diversity and tolerance (still hate that word) and honestly expect our youth to repeat words that don't apply to the majority of them. Liberty for who? The immigrant worker here trying to earn enough money to feed his family? The Middle Eastern family who is here within all aspects of the law? Not hardly. No those people don't get liberty at least not to the same degree as the Big Four do (Big Four for those who don't know are White, Heterosexual, Temporarily Able Bodied, Males).
How can we as a society with the history of racism that we have still speak those words. When people of color represent an inordinate amount of the prison industrial complex population. When women still make 79 cents on the dollar to men even for the exact same job. When education is supposed to be equal in a public school, but yet my own son by virtue of living in an apartment complex located in an upper middle class neighborhood gets to go to a school that still has music, art, and P.E.. If I drive ten minutes away from my house I will find myself in a neighborhood where the schools are more worried with getting their kids adequate nutrition than whether or not they can even afford decent textbooks let alone computers.
In a country run by what has to be one of the most incompetent people in history, where do we get off pledging allegiance to him or this country. We shouldn't have to say those words at all until the meaning is true. Until everyone gets real equal justice, racial profiling ceases to be used, and something as simple as the idea of a level playing field comes around then I say we don't say those words. I'm all for pledging allegiance to a country whose pledge isn't absolute bullshit. Until then I'll pass. If you want to swallow that tripe and believe what those words say then don't be surprised when you choke on them.
How can schools that espouse virtues like diversity and tolerance (still hate that word) and honestly expect our youth to repeat words that don't apply to the majority of them. Liberty for who? The immigrant worker here trying to earn enough money to feed his family? The Middle Eastern family who is here within all aspects of the law? Not hardly. No those people don't get liberty at least not to the same degree as the Big Four do (Big Four for those who don't know are White, Heterosexual, Temporarily Able Bodied, Males).
How can we as a society with the history of racism that we have still speak those words. When people of color represent an inordinate amount of the prison industrial complex population. When women still make 79 cents on the dollar to men even for the exact same job. When education is supposed to be equal in a public school, but yet my own son by virtue of living in an apartment complex located in an upper middle class neighborhood gets to go to a school that still has music, art, and P.E.. If I drive ten minutes away from my house I will find myself in a neighborhood where the schools are more worried with getting their kids adequate nutrition than whether or not they can even afford decent textbooks let alone computers.
In a country run by what has to be one of the most incompetent people in history, where do we get off pledging allegiance to him or this country. We shouldn't have to say those words at all until the meaning is true. Until everyone gets real equal justice, racial profiling ceases to be used, and something as simple as the idea of a level playing field comes around then I say we don't say those words. I'm all for pledging allegiance to a country whose pledge isn't absolute bullshit. Until then I'll pass. If you want to swallow that tripe and believe what those words say then don't be surprised when you choke on them.
Don't call me European American
When I heard the term European American something sounded wrong. I could just see some white person who was feeling left out somehow saying "Oh yeah well you may be African American, but I'm European American, so there." As if they could somehow get in on the oppression Olympics as a target if they said that. It's absurd the whole idea that we as white people who haven't been concerned with our ethnic identity as a whole in a long time if ever suddenly need our own label.
Well I was right about my hunch. This whole European American thing has been picked up by Americas poster boy for tolerance, David Duke. He even has a web site espousing "White Civil Rights." It would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic. Seriously, when have we as white people in this country ever had our civil rights trampled on? It's this kind of nonsense that people are swallowing right along with reverse racism that makes me afraid. We are so frightened that we are bound to lose something in the process of people of color achieving things that we make up stuff like reverse racism and white civil rights as a way to justify our ignorant beliefs.
So I am begging you as enlightened people reading this blog who also happen to be white, don't allow yourselves to be labeled as European American. Have some pride, don't allow these ignorant people to drag you into a fight that doesn't exist. And for sure don't call me European American, I have no wish to be grouped in with the completely ignorant, incompetent, rejects that go by that label. I have more pride than that.
Well I was right about my hunch. This whole European American thing has been picked up by Americas poster boy for tolerance, David Duke. He even has a web site espousing "White Civil Rights." It would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic. Seriously, when have we as white people in this country ever had our civil rights trampled on? It's this kind of nonsense that people are swallowing right along with reverse racism that makes me afraid. We are so frightened that we are bound to lose something in the process of people of color achieving things that we make up stuff like reverse racism and white civil rights as a way to justify our ignorant beliefs.
So I am begging you as enlightened people reading this blog who also happen to be white, don't allow yourselves to be labeled as European American. Have some pride, don't allow these ignorant people to drag you into a fight that doesn't exist. And for sure don't call me European American, I have no wish to be grouped in with the completely ignorant, incompetent, rejects that go by that label. I have more pride than that.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Categorization
Oh lord, we White people love to do this. We like to find out where everyone who not like us (i.e. non white, different accent, etc..) is from or what their cultural background is. Why do we need to know? Some say curiosity, but I ask you, how many non white people do you see doing this. Honest to god, what are we... census takers?
Now don't get me wrong, I am every bit as guilty of this as the next person. I am really trying hard on this. Part of why I used to do it, was from my own white guilt. I wanted to make sure everyone knew I wasn't a racist and so wanted a diverse group of friends. Naturally some of my new acquaintances wouldn't have a dramatically different look from me, so if they were Jewish, or from some country that was oppressed, all the better. Now how twisted is that? Well fortunately I came to see this side of myself and am trying hard to put a stop to it. Not that I haven't stopped being curious, I still have to stop myself from asking someone with an accent where they are from.
Some people do this catagorization thing because as White people in this country we are obssesed with making sure we know where we stand. Even subconsciously we have issues with assuming that if some one isn't White that they must somehow be beneath us, or at the very least in need of our help. Take the one drop rule that said if you had 1/16th of African American in your blood that you were Black. Please be assured this was so we knew who are subordinates were. We couldn't have people "passing" as White, that would be dishonest.
So next time you are about to utter the phrase "Where are you from?" just stop to think why you are asking. Even if it's curiosity it's not a legitimate reason. If they are someone that you can get along with, then it doesn't matter. I need to close in saying that for some people such as myself this can be a hard habit to break. At work I have a coworker who is Asian, I don't know from where, but that part of my mind that just has to put people in order is going nuts. It's almost sad to the point of being funny. We were talking the other day and she mentioned that her folks where from England. So right here my little catagorization alarm is going crazy "Just ask her if she was adopted or something," my mind is screaming, "You have to know, why doesn't she have an accent, what is the whole story?" That's when I have to stop and ask myself why it is any of my bussiness and why do I need to know. If my friend wanted to share that she would. She has never once asked me about my cultural background, maybe because it never occured to her to. Whatever the reason she doesn't.
So I continue to work with her and we have great talks, she likes Family Guy, and numerous other things that help us have things in common. So where is she from and what's her deal? I don't know, I may never know, and if I want to be a better person and really work on my issues as a White person I may never know. And that will just have to be OK.
Now don't get me wrong, I am every bit as guilty of this as the next person. I am really trying hard on this. Part of why I used to do it, was from my own white guilt. I wanted to make sure everyone knew I wasn't a racist and so wanted a diverse group of friends. Naturally some of my new acquaintances wouldn't have a dramatically different look from me, so if they were Jewish, or from some country that was oppressed, all the better. Now how twisted is that? Well fortunately I came to see this side of myself and am trying hard to put a stop to it. Not that I haven't stopped being curious, I still have to stop myself from asking someone with an accent where they are from.
Some people do this catagorization thing because as White people in this country we are obssesed with making sure we know where we stand. Even subconsciously we have issues with assuming that if some one isn't White that they must somehow be beneath us, or at the very least in need of our help. Take the one drop rule that said if you had 1/16th of African American in your blood that you were Black. Please be assured this was so we knew who are subordinates were. We couldn't have people "passing" as White, that would be dishonest.
So next time you are about to utter the phrase "Where are you from?" just stop to think why you are asking. Even if it's curiosity it's not a legitimate reason. If they are someone that you can get along with, then it doesn't matter. I need to close in saying that for some people such as myself this can be a hard habit to break. At work I have a coworker who is Asian, I don't know from where, but that part of my mind that just has to put people in order is going nuts. It's almost sad to the point of being funny. We were talking the other day and she mentioned that her folks where from England. So right here my little catagorization alarm is going crazy "Just ask her if she was adopted or something," my mind is screaming, "You have to know, why doesn't she have an accent, what is the whole story?" That's when I have to stop and ask myself why it is any of my bussiness and why do I need to know. If my friend wanted to share that she would. She has never once asked me about my cultural background, maybe because it never occured to her to. Whatever the reason she doesn't.
So I continue to work with her and we have great talks, she likes Family Guy, and numerous other things that help us have things in common. So where is she from and what's her deal? I don't know, I may never know, and if I want to be a better person and really work on my issues as a White person I may never know. And that will just have to be OK.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
And the Library keeps growing
Their are so many great books out there that I just keep getting more and more.
Here are some recently added additions to my book collection.
The End of Racism by Dinesh D' Souza- OK this one is my one regret. This book is an absolute pile of nonsense. Don't waste your time, his theories are utterly racist in themselves, and he is so far off base that I doubt that he sees the problem.
Negro Thought in America 1880-1915 by August Meier- The so called "Progressive Era" was really only progressive for Whites. This book talks about what lie was like for Black people in America, and what their positions were.
Everyday Racism by Annie S Barnes- Some of the acts in this book will make you wonder aloud, while others will actually make you cry. Filled with stories that remind all of us that racism, or as the author calls it "The White Virus" is still alive and well.
40 Ways to Raise a Nonracist Child by Barbara Mathias & Mary Ann French- This book gives 40 common sense ideas on how to help raise your child with a nonracist way of dealing with the world. It helps White people understand how they can get their children involved in diversity as well as helping them see the way things are for people of color in this country.
Everyday Acts Against Racism edited by Maureen T. Reddy- Another one that will make you tear up. Different stories from a host of people from different cultural backgrounds. A pretty easy read with some great stories that will make you feel there is some hope.
I have a couple others, but I haven't started reading them yet. I haven't read all the way through the ones above, but enough to tell everybody about them.
Here are some recently added additions to my book collection.
The End of Racism by Dinesh D' Souza- OK this one is my one regret. This book is an absolute pile of nonsense. Don't waste your time, his theories are utterly racist in themselves, and he is so far off base that I doubt that he sees the problem.
Negro Thought in America 1880-1915 by August Meier- The so called "Progressive Era" was really only progressive for Whites. This book talks about what lie was like for Black people in America, and what their positions were.
Everyday Racism by Annie S Barnes- Some of the acts in this book will make you wonder aloud, while others will actually make you cry. Filled with stories that remind all of us that racism, or as the author calls it "The White Virus" is still alive and well.
40 Ways to Raise a Nonracist Child by Barbara Mathias & Mary Ann French- This book gives 40 common sense ideas on how to help raise your child with a nonracist way of dealing with the world. It helps White people understand how they can get their children involved in diversity as well as helping them see the way things are for people of color in this country.
Everyday Acts Against Racism edited by Maureen T. Reddy- Another one that will make you tear up. Different stories from a host of people from different cultural backgrounds. A pretty easy read with some great stories that will make you feel there is some hope.
I have a couple others, but I haven't started reading them yet. I haven't read all the way through the ones above, but enough to tell everybody about them.
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