An Open Letter to Ben Stein I apologize in advance for some possible F-bombs. Ben Stein on Wednesday: “The idea of calling this poor, young man unarmed when he was 6’4″, 300 pounds, full of muscles and was apparently, according to what I read in The New York Times, on marijuana — to call him unarmed is like calling Sonny Liston unarmed, or Cassius Clay unarmed. He wasn’t unarmed. He was armed with his incredibly strong, scary self.” When I read and listened to Ben Steins remarks, part of me really wanted to write a suitably witty, articulate rejoinder, one that would show this former presidential speech writer how wrong he is to justify murder by using racially-charged “dog whistles” to label a tall, heavy, Black teen as armed and scary. I wanted so much to find the strength to put this another way, but I cant. F*ck you, Ben Stein. F*ck you for being a stupid, privileged racist who feels comfortable perpetuating the myth of the “scary Negro.” F*ck you for being yet another person for which Ive lost all respect in the past few weeks, based solely on the ease, arrogance and willingness to reinforce a repugnant viewpoint that is not only contrary to the principles that this country was founded upon, but that borders on evil. F*ck you for ruining Ferris Buellers Day Off for me. I will never be able to enjoy this great Chicago movie the same way again. F*ck you for making me, a Christian father of two, a smart guy with a Masters degree and an even smarter wife (she’s working on her second PhD) . . . AND a proud owner of a Camry Hybrid, resort to the type of vulgar expression that I thought I had grown out of in eighth grade. F*ck you for making me lose sleep the night before a long road trip, the sole purpose of which seems to be to pump more dollars into the American economy in the guise of a “family getaway.” F*ck you for making me glad that I dont have sons, because after the past couple of weeks I honestly cant say that I would be able to raise them to be the docile and submissive saps that make “polite society” feel comfortable being around. F*ck you for making me want to arm my non-existent sons with not only the power of intelligence but with actual guns. F*ck you for reminding me, yet again, that no matter what a persons actual situation is, no matter how successful they are at assimilating themselves into mainstream culture, no matter what level of importance theyve placed on education, financial literacy, family values, and ongoing personal and professional development, the first impression for a significant percentage of the population is that they are, first and foremost, a threat that must be stopped, using deadly force if necessary. F*ck you. F*ck you with making me comfortable with run-on sentences. F*ck you for adding to the right-wing noise used by the racists to muddle and obscure the facts in the murder of Michael Brown. Some good Americans are going to look back in a few years and realize that they were on the wrong side of history, in part because your ignorant words gave them even more permission to be afraid of Black people walking down the street. F*ck you on behalf of parents who have had to raise their sons and daughters to strive for the unlimited potential and promise of the American Dream while at the same time cautioning them to not get in the way of the juggernaut that is American Racism. F*ck you, Ben Stein, on behalf of our sons and daughters. F*ck you, Ben Stein. F*ck you. mediaite/online/ben-stein-michael-brown-was-armed-with-his-incredibly-strong-scary-self/
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 12:22:03 +0000
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