It bothers me that were so quick to judge other races, religions, and cultures without taking the crucial time to step outside of ourselves. It seems we build walls before we even know who were keeping out. It should be expected that a minority demographic with such a unique and often perilous experience develop their own subculture within our society. After systematic alienation and centuries of reasons why you cant, it would only make sense for one to develop self-identity and align an organic determination as part of this social congruence. No, this is not a play of the race card nor is it condoning the desensitizing funk of victimization that unfortunately exists. Its just simple common sense. (This is also an unofficial answer as to why ethnic-specific networks and organizations exist, although their recent efforts seem to be the type that captivate rather than liberate, polarize rather than unify). We are a family in this Nation, are we not? As dysfunctional as it has been at times throughout our nations history, we cannot expect everyones experience to be streamlined. The Irishmans journey from the Isle differs heavily from that of the first Germans or Italians through Ellis Island - the Chinese railworkers not at all the story of the First Nations peoples or that of African slaves. We are all the progeny of huddled masses. Youll find that American literature borne from the pens of Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, and Maya Angelou ring with a slightly different flavor than that of Emerson, Frost, Dickinson, and Twain. Nevertheless, its all American. Their voices spoke for a diverse spectrum of the American experience, one that had been suppressed, one that had been told to go to the kitchen and eat, an experience that served more or less as the balancing of our national conscience. Consider the times in which these authors lived. Attempt to imagine the circumstances. Each word, no matter how angry, regardless of how biting, was a stroke on a canvas that displayed their reality. Langston Hughes would be quick to remind those that are seemingly offended by the chorus sung by darker voices that I, too, sing America. Dont be so quick to discount someones story as racist. We often interpret the world around us with a personal relativity that is as unique as each passing cloud. Step outside of YOUR own American Experience and into someone elses. Falling victim to Understanding is the worst that could happen. - CD
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 10:28:20 +0000
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