I want you to imagine America as a car- probably a pick-up. And we’re driving this pick-up down a long highway. There are other cars on this highway: Fiats and Hondas and Volkswagens and Hyundais and Volvos and Jaguars, but we’re focusing on the American truck right now. And it’s riding down this seemingly endless line of road. Straight and steady, all the way. But after driving straight-as-an-arrow for so long, the highway begins to ever-so-slightly veer to the left. It’s so slight, it’s barely even perceptible, and so we continue on straight without any adjustment to the wheel.
Sure enough, though, after a while, our front right tire slowly encroaches on that yellow line. Now, we’ve been on this path for so long, maybe we don’t even realize it, maybe we became complacent behind the wheel, and so we continue to hold straight and steady. In fact, even when we’ve completely crossed that yellow line, we’re so set in our way, we still don’t think to turn. Even when we rumble over the tread strip and are jerked back to, we still can’t believe or won’t accept that we need to change course. We check the rearview mirror and then look ahead, and it just doesn’t feel like turning is called for. Not until we finally bounce off the guardrail, scraping metal to metal, sparks flying and damage is undisputed do we finally realize we need to turn, but by then it’s too late for rational thought to dictate action. And while a slight adjustment would take us to the middle of the road, the natural reaction is instead to grab that wheel with both hands and pull a hard turn away from the rail, and now... we have four female Ghostbusters.
For so long a time, and more than too long by all of it, we thought nothing of keeping a woman in her place. It was the general rule that men took care of business and women took care of the home. Now, it’s only acceptable to allow that Beyonce and women run the world.
Up until recently, we called anything we didn’t like “gay” and thought nothing of it. Homosexuality was seen as wrong and a perversion, and that was taken as gospel. Now, we are more understanding and respectful of homosexuality, but calling God’s flock backwards, mouth-breathing, incestual cretins is completely kosher. In fact, ironically, the only instance where “gay” is still used as a way to kind of insult someone today is when pinning that rainbow flag on conversion therapy pastors.
There was an over-extended period of time in this country when black people were kept down. They couldn’t sit where white people sit, eat where white people eat, learn where white people learn, and this was an improvement over the previous period. Now, we have Affirmative Action and streets and highways are shut down to show #BlackLivesMatter, but apologies need be extended for proposing the possibility that all lives matter.
Now, let’s be honest, it’s still probably more beneficial to be a straight, white man in this country than it is to be a gay, black woman. And one can say that without incurring wrath. But if it were to be put in a slightly different way, as: “Straight, white men are better than gay, black women,” then there would be letters. On the other side of that, if one were to say “Gay, black women are better than straight, white men,” there would still be letters, but they’d be made up of individual letters cut out of magazines. A fringe response which shouldn’t be ignored, but not one that neither represents nor influences American society, and therefore far less substantial. And that substance of the matter is what’s being overlooked here. We’re getting to a point where there can be no substantive reason to critique a minority.
The Libertarian Senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul has come out against the current nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, for what he sees as stances she has taken that infringe on Americans’ rights. He’s given clear and specific examples. And in response, the Congressional Black Caucus has said he’s just trying to keep a black person from reaching a high position. This, while Sen. Paul is working with Senator Cory Booker, a black Representative from New Jersey, to reform our criminal justice system so that more young black men can still have the opportunity to rise in this country. That’s substantial, but if you have an issue with a black person, then you’re a racist. Simple as that. If you have an issue with a woman, then you’re a misogynist. With a gay person, you’re a homophobe. And with a straight, white man… well, then you probably have a point.
“Well, it’s only right after all those years of damage done to women, gays and black people.”
But is it right? Is it right that all men are punished for the insecurity of the boys? All of the people of God for the sins of the zealots? And all the white people for the white supremacists? We’ve been working so hard to put an end to the unfair prejudices that women, black people and gays face just for falling into a category; is it right to just shift that prejudice to different groups? Are we ending inequality, or just transferring it? Is hatred like energy? Can we not destroy it, just change it from one form to another?
“Well, all women, gays and blacks were collectively tucked under the blanket of discrimination.”
Yes, but shouldn’t they then be against that behavior all the more so? Senator John McCain is not shy about war. He may even be more hawk than man at this point. And he has not been soft on the radical Islamic terrorists threatening civil life as we know it. Yet, few were more vocal in their support of the humane treatment of these mentally-stunted neanderthals than Senator McCain, likely because of his own experience as a POW victim of torture.
And with all that said… I breathe a deep sigh and say: Maybe it is right. Maybe it doesn’t matter if it’s fair. Whether or not everyone participated in it, the culmination of circumstances and discriminatory practices has led to a White Boys Club that has made it more difficult for others to rise. Not impossible, but harder, and it’s hurting our society. Something has to be done; but what? We’re stuck between a guard rail and a divider here. We either continue holding the wheel as we are and crash into the other side, or course correct now and move on with just the damage already done and do all we can to ensure we incur no more. The sad truth is, there is no great option here. No matter what we do now, we’re damaged. But the question I keep coming back to is: Do we really want to crash into the other side, just to even it out, when in the end it’s just more damage that we’ll all have to pay for?
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