It has been a long time since I have attempted to write anything politically speaking. I have stayed silent, for the most part, as the circus, we laughingly call “government” has shown us little more than smoke and mirrors, and have ignored the very things that they were elected to do, while trying to convince us that the bears on the unicycles and the flying monkeys ARE the things that are important.
So I have decided that I am going to go back to offering my own opinion on the things I see happening based entirely on my own experience and view point. Please don't take me wrong: I don't like either party or the way they are running things or say they are going to if they get into power. I trust the media even less.
So here we are buckle up and lets ride with the bears and fly with the monkeys.
I wasn't going to start with the concept of racism in this country but this last weekend changed some of that for me. I am not going to get into detail about the shootings either in Ohio or Texas because you can read all about it elsewhere but I will say that the one in Texas I found disturbing on a personal level.
I am half Cuban. My father was one of many Cubans who came here to the United States to escape from Castro. At that time all Cubans were admitted because it was clear that they would be killed if they returned. Having said that, by the standards of today, he would be considered an illegal or the more “PC” term of undocumented. In all candor I know little of the Cuban culture partially because of where I grew up and partially because when I was young it was not something I ever gave much thought to.
The Texas lunatic wrote many things in his manifesto ( I have not read it nor do I plan to ) but one thing he made undeniably clear, he hates Hispanics and in particular illegals. He drove 600 miles just to kill them. That kind of thing scares me.
I was at Walmart yesterday shopping with my wife, and we were by the produce section near the front doors when it really occurred to me that this is something that could have happened here, though I don't look Hispanic, not completely anyway, there were clearly others who were, entire families in fact, and I know that there are some in this state who are white supremacist, so it could have easily been here.
Before I go on I have to say that I don't believe that racism is a systemic problem in the US and is in every institution as many on the left would suggest but at the same time I would say to the right don't try and disregard the fears of those who have experienced it.
I have had several encounters with members of the KKK in the south and even here in the “liberal” north east and I have experienced the fear that has gone with it. I have also been targeted by “lending institutions” who were caught charging higher interest rates to black and Hispanic people for no other reason than they are black or Hispanic. Racism exists and though I don't believe that it exists on the level that the media would suggest, it has affected me enough to be very cautious in what I say and do.
I have never been fond of telling people my name. Most folks don't mind it much, but others have become openly hostile once they heard it. I have even gone so far as to use my middle name as my first name when being introduced so that I didn't give even a hint of my ancestry. But not everyone is a racist a lesson I have had re- learn. Case in point; I went to a gathering in memory of a dear friends mother. As my wife and I drove up to where it was being held, a double wide out on a dirt road, I noticed that there were a bunch of guys standing out front that gave all appearances of being bikers, generally speaking, my kind of people. I don't ride for several physical reason not to mention rather squirrely eyesight, but still people I would gladly hangout with. I didn't recognize any of them. As we approached I asked if we were at the right place ( we were ) but then the dreaded question came up “whats your name?” Now I am not one to lie and I assumed that somewhere in the house was my friends so I told them and waited for the commentary to fly. It didn't happen, or it did, just not the way I was expecting, in fact quite the opposite happened, first the guy who asked the question said “really? that's flipping ( not the word he used) awesome!” I was then introduced to everyone ( one of the guys outside was my friends nephew) and of course my friends were inside. It all went well.
Two things I learned that day; first I made a judgment call on race, they were white bikers who were going to eat me for lunch, I was wrong, and the second thing I realized was just how much I had been sucked in to this notion that everyone is a racist. It snuck up on me and had sucked me in and I hadn't even realized it.
This is the overall fallacy of the media and the politicians trying to divide us even in the wake of a mass murder, most people are just people, they are not racist, they are not killers of those who are different then them. The media is lying to us all and the politicians are banking on our beliefs and fears, dividing us into our factions so we focus on each other and our alleged differences rather then on what they are doing or their lack thereof.
So the bottom line is this; Until we can look past the flying monkeys and bears on unicycles and realize that the media and the politicians, ON BOTH SIDES , are stoking this racial divide, and fear, nothing will change. It's not about the guns or the manifestos, it's not about the victims of the mass killings, it's about control and fear as well as division. That's what they thrive on, that's what they will continue to push.
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