An Ode to Racism

Alright, I've had enough. It's time to go on the internet and complain. This particular rant is about racism.

Those who know me, know that I hate politics. As comedian Jeff Dunham so aptly put it "Politics comes from the latin word poly - meaning many, and ticks, which are blood sucking parasites." Never has that statement been more correct than when discussing the topic of race.

Take our current President. President Obama is (spoiler alert) not caucasian. I believe he refers to himself as 'black', while most of the right wing shouts 'he's only half black' as if this somehow matters. The left, on the other hand, will accuse you of rasicm for challenging even his most ridiculous policies. (No, that's not an attack on the man, democrats or anything else, all politicians draft policies that are ridiculous to the other party.) I don't mean to rant about politics, I'll save that for another blog. My point is this: isn't it time we moved past reffering to him as a 'black President'? As a matter of fact, isn't it time we moved past reffering to anyone as 'black', 'hispanic', 'white', etc.? Can we not simply be 'people'?

Now, that's not to say that one cannot be proud of one's heritage, far from it. Celebrate your differences as you please. I'm quite proud of my mostly Scottish and Irish ancestry (not scotts-irish, by the way, that means you're from northern Ireland.) And the physical aspects of race can be very important, say in a police investigation, and these are understandable uses for what I will hitherto label 'racism'.

I am sick, however, of turning on the news to hear 'Those in the black community were shocked by....". STOP IT! Can you not see that that is racism right there? Or perhaps you're familiar with this little doozy: "Recent polls show that the majority of hispanic citizens of...." ENOUGH! If you want to stop true racists from yelling insults at you, or commiting horrific acts of violence, based upon the ridiculous notion that the color of your skin makes you somehow inferior to them, then stop classifying people by it! ALL OF YOU!

I don't know if  this is a problem in all parts of the country, but here in Texas we have a specific lawyer that makes terrible commercials, but this is not my problem with him. My problem stems from one statement in his terrible commercials (names have been changed to avoid being sued.). "Ricardo Shillyshally Inc. is the number one law firm in the metroplex, owned by a hispanic man!" (Or something to that effect.)
A: Quit using race to define your business... it's unbecoming, unprofessional, and UNRELATED!!! In no way  is the color of your skin relevant to your law business!
B: Stop taking polls like this! What could possibly justify taking a poll based on race?! Who makes these things, and how can I get you to stop?

Do people simply not understand that defining people based on the level of melanin in their flesh is completely moronic? Whether you're doing to it to make someone feel inferior, or to make someone seem better, it makes no difference! If you look at someone and think 'black guy' and not simply 'guy' you are guilty of racism, no matter your intentions. There, I said it. I understand that we live in a ludicrously PC culture, but you if you try too hard to be nice to the 'black man' simply because he's black, that's racism! How about trying to be nice to him because he's a fellow human being? And, yes, this goes for you too. The sooner you look at someone and think 'woman' and not 'white woman', the sooner we can move beyond the issue of race and start dealing with each other as PEOPLE.

Do you people realize that classifying people by the color of their skin has led to some of the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen? By grouping people into white, black, brown, etc. and even by going so far as to say 'of _____ descent', the english were able to justify subjugating the africans, the indians, and the irish and scottish. It also let the Nazis (note: not the germans. The Nazis) kill six million jews. And the egyptians enslave the jews as well. We have to stop!

So please, stop taking polls based on race, excepting of course where it is physically significant such as sickle-cell anemia in africans. These kinds of polls are not only acceptable, but necessary. But stop saying things like "black children in this community are under-privileged", because I guarantee you, the white kids in that neighborhood are not doing any better. Stop using race in humor, even if you belong to that race. Stop using words that would offend you if you heard them issue from the lips of a man with a different skin tone.

Seriously, everyone, if you want to stop racism, stop acknowledging its existence.

Rant complete.