Opinions and assholes… They are both all over social media
in the wake of Ferguson. Here’s my unpopular opinion on the topic: it’s not a
race issue, it’s a culture issue.
There are equally dangerous cultures of all
skin tones, but in a country that is fueled by the need to cling to the tribal
‘us versus them’ mentality skin color is simply the easiest way to define who
is different. And due to the history of our country starting out as white and
European, non-whites (aka POC, the latest PC term to describe non-white people)
have traditionally been the easiest to identify as ‘other.’ Whether we are
talking slavery and Jim Crow laws or Japanese internment camps in the post
Pearl Harbor days, the body one inhabits is the easiest marker of ‘other’ that
can be used to define the in and out groups.
A history of being viewed as less
than in society can and often does change the culture one experiences. These
cultures often become hostile, aggressive and angry.
Here’s where my opinion
becomes really unpopular: The hip hop culture is one that breeds violence,
misogyny and rampant consumerism.
But, how is this different than upper-class white
people? It’s not!
Campus frat boys are just as dangerous as any thug on the
street in a lot of ways. So, why are we focused on the thugs and barely
whispering about the keg chugging rapists of the Greek system? Why do we care
more about the riots in Ferguson than we do about the last time a sports team’s
defeat had similar results? Because it’s easier to focus on what the ‘other
people’ are doing, than own up to the wrong doings of people that look like our
sons and fathers. It’s a lazy way of thinking about all of these issues.
When
we as a culture stop making it a race issue and start addressing the cultures
of violence that permeate all skin tones, we might have a chance. But until
then, I’m a white person with privileges that others don’t have and I will
always be vilified for it to a certain degree. I can’t understand what it’s
like for a POC to grow up in the world…
But here’s another layer to the
equation that I haven’t heard anyone else express: why are we all so hung up on
our cultural identities?
I am white, cis-gendered and heterosexual. That does
not take away from, nor add to my personal identity as an ally for those who
are non-white or transgendered or homo or bi-sexual. We are more than our
labels! And the sooner we learn to disassociate from the need to belong, the
easier it will be to finally find a community of people with whom you can truly
bond. When you strip away those labels you are on the path to a more genuine
experience. This gives you the opportunity to be exactly who you are without
feeling the need to hide or exaggerate parts of your personality in order to be
a part of the group.
This also means learning to see past the labels of others
in order to allow them that same freedom of expression of self. It means learning to treat others equally and
without judgment based on the body they inhabit.
It also means calling out
those who display attitudes of negativity, exclusionary beliefs and who foster
the culture of violence that has overtaken our society. That means telling
someone making a rape joke or a racist joke that it’s simply not funny. That
means reminding people that their words are fueling rape culture or homophobia,
even if you know they are not a rapist or a homophobe.
We are so immersed in
this culture that things are said as a reflex of sorts, a cultural perspective
that may not even be how we truly feel. We need to recognize and respond to these
things in ourselves and in others if we are to change the culture. Every word
matters. Every life matters. Let’s stop making it a race issue and look at the cultures
across the country for which violence is the primary outlet for expression.
