Calling You On Your "Intolerance"!

I am completely and altogether feeling empowered by the knowledge that I have gathered throughout this last month. He... She... They... All of them... will be called to answer for their behavior by the laws that govern this land. Throughout this month of discussion and research and more discussion and more research, I have come to a deep realization of the significance of the civil rights movement. The individuals that endured the Jim Crow era did so out of necessity rather than choice and I can only be grateful for their strength.

Early in life, I was very much inspired by Black leaders. I remember the first time I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X and saw the movie. I was blown away by how similar I felt in my inability to break free from the lopsided system of racial equality in America. Though I admired Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership in the call for equality through non-violence, people like Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey resonated more with me.

Since as long as I can remember, I have had a problem with the colonization of Hawai'i. Of course I didn't call it that as a little girl but I see it for what it is today. In my young adult years, I crafted my own ideas of a more suitable system of living for me. To the surprise of many of my peers, I preferred segregation over integration. Given the same access to resources, it is safe to assume that many of us would prefer to live, love, learn, and die with our own kind or with people who share the same values. So why am I sharing all of this? Well... I sat on the fence for a long time on the Civil Rights movement. Call me a crazy person but I could not reconcile how I feel about integration and whether or not it was good for us. But I get it now. I realize that we needed equal access that our Caucasian counterparts enjoyed. However after the first or second generation of the Civil Rights movement, has anything really changed in terms of services? Things that make you go hmmmm....

Today -- the importance of the Civil Rights movement for me is that it called the United States government on its acceptance of the massive inequalities between the Caucasians in America and everyone else, especially African-Americans. The government had to restructure its culture of racism to one of tolerance. I don't necessarily agree with the idea of "tolerance" because no one wants to be tolerated. Rather, most people prefer to be accepted in its entirety and not just tolerated. In any case, the result of the Civil Rights movement was that it became the government's job to take corrective action when a person's civil rights has been violated. It is still the government's job to correct prejudices based on race, sex, age, gender, etc. These organizations and representatives of these organizations must be called on their racist, ageist patterns of doing business!

FB Thread: Congresswoman Shooting

HUSBANDS FACEBOOK STATUS UPDATE:

condolences to the congresswoman that was shot, but the reality is that people are getting fed up with the government and the unseen erosions of our freedoms and dignity as Americans by this very government. Deep down, I believe we all can see the honesty in that.

1st RESPONSE

some may be able to see honesty in that, (husband's name removed), but at no time should someone pick up a gun and shoot an elected official over it. that's not democracy; that's bullying.

2nd RESPONSE

Very upset right now...

3rd RESPONSE

People of all views have the right to be upset over so many things, but no one has the right to handle things by shooting others over political issues. If a majority felt like this guy, she would have lost the election. I haven't liked a ...lot of politics since 9/11, but I never wanted to shoot anyone. I did want to challenge a former representative to compare our military records when he said people who didn't support invading Iraq were unpatriotic and hated America, but I think he must not have gotten my email because no one responded.

MY RESPONSE

americans have been lulled into an apathetic coma OR a frenzied fear. both instances are very dangerous. democracy is not exactly my cup o' tea because it's very "lynch party'ish" -- majority rules and that is not necessarily the best thing, in my opinion.

ideally, a citizen should NEVER feel helpless in the face of increasing legislation and laws. the last i checked none of these new laws, including the patriot act, has reduced crime. go figure -- with the privatization of the jail systems, government and corporations NEED criminals/product for their industry to survive. anyway -- i'm afraid that these types of instances will increase until the government realllllly hears the people. the american revolution was NOT violence-free.

REVOLUTION!! BRING ON THE WILD, WILD WEST!! citizens should be as armed as the criminals are.