Dirty Words

What is 'freedom of speech' when you have to constantly be politically correct?

There are words and phrases in America that aspiring politicians or government workers can never utter. I call these words and phrases DIRTY. In America, we have made some phrases appear to be more like an oxymoron. For example, when India and Iran’s former leaders stated that they wanted 'nuclear weapons of peace', the US government criticized their aspirations. While I am not very knowledgeable about the true reasons as to why other countries would like to obtain a nuclear weapon, I agree with their statements: Nuclear Weapons of peace. Before you go off the rocker, think about it. Iran building a nuclear weapon to attack the US? I doubt it. If they tried, the US has the ability to wipe Persia and their neighbors off the map. Is America afraid of Iran potentially attacking us? I highly doubt it. If so, I don't see it happening in the next 20 years…. At least.

The problem with Iran having nuclear power is not the threat of attack or the lingering fear of imminent doom but rather the threat of them being on equally playing field with the high powers of the world. You cannot just push a country with a nuclear bomb in the corner. If they have these abilities, it means you then have to take that country seriously. You have to listen to what this country has to say and include them in the conversation. When you have more countries calling shots, it lessens the powers of the USA, Europe and Israel. In my opinion, this is the partial reason as to why the US does not want Iran to advance with nuclear power. What really sucks about my beliefs is that many people will hold them against me. While I love my country, that does not mean I have to agree with the popular beliefs.

If you can love your child but disapprove of your child’s actions, why can't the same go for one's country? Does disagreeing make me less patriotic?

America boost about having many freedoms, but I long for the ability to express my opposing beliefs without fearing that it will jeopardize my career or be seen as me being disloyal to my country... Welp... at least I am not in North Korea.

The First Amendment of the Constitution permits the freedom of speech with limitations. Therefore, no good expression goes unpunished. With freedom of speech comes the freedom to criticize – including the freedom to be offended. I remember sitting at lunch with a few of my coworkers and we were discussing nuclear bombs. I brought up the 'nuclear weapons of peace' comment. Call me ignorant, but I publicly expressed the fact that I agreed. All of this and my coworkers told me that I could not say that. Should I not be able to think for myself and draw my own conclusions? Are we at the point where we can't say anything that may oppose mainstream views? If you do, you will be left feeling dirty inside.

So, I have realized that some expressions and words are considered DIRTY. For instance, I cannot openly tell anyone that I was a fan of the deceased Hugo Chavez (former President of Venezuela) mainly because he did so much for the people living in poverty there. But most Americans cringe if you favor any aspects of communism. Don’t you feel dirty just thinking about it? Most Americans associate communism with dictators and oppression. (But for some reason China gets a pass.)While I am fledging regarding this subject, I do believe that communism is not as bad as America would have us believe. Communism and capitalism are on to opposite sides of the spectrum, but I believe communism is a great way to stabilize a country by uplifting the poor.

Moral of the story: fuck, bitch, shit, ass, and damn are not the only dirty words in this country. Communism, Nuclear Weapons of Peace (not a word but a phrase), Autocracy, and more are considered the new age 'Dirty Words'.

To Be Racist

Disclaimer: This is a rant since this entry does not have a clear direction.

What does it mean to be a racist? 

Merriam-Webster defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and those racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Racism is racial prejudice or discrimination.


Racism produces prejudice and discrimination. Merriam-Webster defines prejudice as injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights; especially: detriment to one's legal rights or claims. Merriam-Webster defines discrimination as making a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit.

Now, for my final word of the day. Stereotypes.

My dear friend, Merriam-Webster, defines stereotype as something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially: a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.

I agree with Merriam-Webster, but there is one word that was not mentioned in the definitions recited above. That word was HATE. On the other hand, maybe definitions do not seem to include cause and effect. Nonetheless, racism, prejudice, and discrimination is a result of or eventually will lead to hate.

I have heard the term ‘reverse racism’ and it makes me cringe. Racism is racism. No matter who it comes from.

Are you racist? Do you make jokes or comments at the expense of others? Do you have hate in your heart for a group of people? Can you blame a slave for hating his master? Could you blame the slave for identifying all  masters as white and then building a relationship with suppression and white men? It’s funny that it is almost 150 years since the 13th amendment ‘abolished’ slavery, and tensions still exist. Black and whites have always been on the opposite ends of the spectrum, even on a color grid we are polar opposites. But things have changed… Right? Do we owe to them more than they owe to us? Are we still waiting on permission to be free?

I think it is time we start taking a better look at ourselves. Changing the world starts one person at a time, and the first person should be you. With all the media attention on race it’s hard not to allow tensions to build, but that is counterproductive. Could we use or disposition for good? Turn the stereotypes around into old myths that have no truth or merit. 

The world may always be an ugly place, but we cannot fix it without fixing ourselves. 

Stop the hate. Do not tolerate it. Do not participate. 

Or am I being unrealistic here? Is it impossible to live color blind?

Frequently Asked Questions and Ridicule Protesters Have Received(Regarding the George Zimmermann vs The State of Florida case)

Q: Why is this case getting so much attention?

A: Because one; the news media loves sensationalism. You may be tired of hearing about the case but there are more people that are interested about the case than you may immediately know. The articles regarding this case are apparently getting many views and since news stations are actually businesses that need money to stay afloat they post articles that generate money.

Secondly; many people feel like there is some flaws with the justice system and believe that justice was not served. We believe that Trayvon Martin was racially profiled and if George Zimmerman did not follow him he would be here today. Therefore, Zimmerman should be held accountable for Trayvon’s death.

Q: Why is this case getting so much attention in comparison to another case that I deem as being more important? (And usually they will bring up a different case where there was a black person that killed a white person or some other race, like the unfortunate killing of Antonio West, a 13 month old child, in Georgia.)

A: The difference with those cases and this case is that the murderers were caught immediately and will be prosecuted. The young boys who killed Antonio West were arrested that very day and not one person has come to their defense or believes that they have been wrongful accused outside of their family. It was a unified consensus that what they did was terribly wrong. In the case of Antonio West, we believe that justice will be served. Just because the murders were black does not mean BLACK PEOPLE will automatically would defend them. Wrong is wrong.

Q: Why didn’t you all protest this other case? (And usually they will bring up a different case where there was a black person that killed a white person or some other race, like the unfortunate killing of Antonio West, a 13 month old child, in Georgia.)

A: We cannot protest ever crime. That's unrealistic. So many people are protesting because they could have been Trayvon Martin. They feel empathetic to him and his family. My cousin and brother and nephew could have been Trayvon. And because blacks have such a negative stereotype within the media, it was easy to paint him (or any black man) as a criminal, even if they are not. That is why when George Zimmerman told the police in Sanford that it was self-defense, they automatically believed him without conducting an investigation.

If you feel that other crimes should have received more attention, then you should write to CNN, MSNBC and FOX. You should start a petition on change.org. You should organize a protest in your community, the same way we did for Trayvon. No one is stopping you from being proactive. Spread the word about the injustices involving any case. If you feel like another case deserves as much attention, exercise your right and do something about it. But why get mad at us for feeling strongly about this case and taking action? Why the negative responses? The truth of the matter is that you don’t really care about those other cases. You are just using them as pawns to prove a point. I had a Facebook friend post a story about Antonio West and she asked why no one was talking about that case. Well, Antonio was murdered in March. And when I scrolled down her timeline she has never posted anything thing about that child and his unfortunate murder (although she had 5 months to do so). And in that case, the murderers did not walk away free. It is sad that he died at such a young age. He was only 13 months old; an innocent child. It made me sick to my stomach. Black people can empathize with all races, not just our own. And I am happy the killers are behind bars, where they belong, no matter their race.

But if you really cared about those other cases you would be doing the same thing we are doing. So complaining about us is counterproductive, in my opinion. If you really care about those other cases, take action. No one is stopping you. Hell, we may even join you.

Q: Why do blacks always support other blacks no matter what?

A: Because we are a mindless pea brain race that can’t logically think and comprehensively process situations and we are genetically inclined to support one another no matter what. No… that was me being facetious. Actually, we can. And we don’t take up for every single black. Just like we all didn’t vote for Obama because he was black. Hard to believe… I know. (SN: I believe blacks have more of a loyalty to the Democratic Party than they do with black candidates, when dealing with politics. Meaning, they would vote democratic before they would vote for a black person running for office. Obama just happens to be the best of both worlds.) If someone does something wrong, most of the time we can accept it. We don’t protest in the streets for the black murderers but the murdered. Think of all the protest in history that moved a good portion of the black population. Most, if not all those protest where meaningful and helped the advancement of minorities in America. Education. The right to vote. 

And in this case, there were some protest with more white protesters (and other ethnicities) than blacks. Awkward! Right? (That’s me being facetious again.)

Q: Why do black people always cry out racism? Why do blacks practice reverse racism?

A: In my opinion, the term, ‘reverse racism’ is belittling. Racism is racism. No matter whom it comes from. Yes, blacks can be racist too. 

There may be some blacks that call foul unnecessarily. But this has nothing to do with the redundancies of racism in this nation or the lack-thereof. But in this case, we believe that racial profiling is why Trayvon is no longer with us. This case is bigger than Trayvon. This case is about saving our black men from people who only view them as criminals. This is about reminding them that they are loved. This is about saving them from themselves. This is showing them that if we believe you did nothing wrong; we will not let someone gun you down on the street and walk away with just a bloody nose and a scratch on his head.

Yes, blacks kill blacks every day. And those blacks are arrested. Again, this is about justice. It’s not about protecting black people if they did something wrong.

My question for the people who are so angry about our movement:

What I don't understand is why so many people want to degrade and belittle our hurt and anger. That's what is so scary about this. You may not agree with the protest and that's okay. This is not everyone's fight. But to belittle it shows the hate in your own heart. This is my fight, so if you are not with us, sit down. But you can’t escape this because the revolution is being televised.

If you really feel like other cases are not getting the attention they deserve then do something about it. Remember it is not white vs black. It's what we deem as right vs wrong. No one is stopping you from protesting against other cases that you may deem as unfair. Go for it. Hey, we may even join you.

 But don't pull cases out your ass and say 'hey, why is no one talking about his child who died?' When you know good and well you aren't talking about that child either and you are only using that case as a pawn to make a point. Now if you were fighting tooth and nail for a case to get media attention then you can use the case and ask those types of questions. But if not, I need you to step aside and watch us exercise our right to PROTEST.

ImMEDIAte Distraction

My sister once said to me ‘if you don’t watch the news you are uninformed but if you watch the news you are misinformed’. And to think, all this time I was just trying to be informed when all I was doing was being spoon fed. How many times have you heard someone state why they don’t like a politician or why they are voting for one person over the other. I may be over confident but I can guarantee you that 9 out of 10 times, all of your political views and beliefs were formed based off of something you heard on the news and/or something you heard on the radio. How many times have you done your own research on legislation, proclamations, and presidential executive orders? You haven’t. And that’s why the media is such a beast. It paints pictures. It creates your reality and U.N.E.N.O.

The media and its palter is responsible for a lot of our views, stereotypes and what we deem as important. How sad was it when we discovered that Paula Dean was freely using the ‘N’ word just as easily as she would put an entire stick of butter on a slice of bread. Were you outraged? I mean, how could she? So Paula Dean is now all over twitter and Facebook, consuming a good percentage of our attention, because the media told us it was important. Paula Dean is the least of our troubles. Don’t get caught up in the hype. Yeah, it sucks that someone that most of us admired is using this derogatory language. But I have sad news; IT'S NOT THAT IMPORTANT.

The media dictates what we deem as important. And sometimes it develops what we determine as ‘truth’, and as we watch the most trusted news station we never question their veracity, their sponsors or their agenda.

I remember when I worked at the Kennedy Space Center and I heard the reporter discussing the Constellation program and the Aries rocket. Because I was very familiar with the program (but not a subject matter expert) I was able to determine that some of her statements were incorrect. And this helped me to realize that information traveling is information altered.

Subliminal Messages

I remember watching CNN and they showed several different clips where Glenn Beck mentioned that some people have referred to the president as the devil. It was as if he was trying to convince others that this was what everyone else believed and he wanted to plant that thought into your heads. It was an underhanded attack. And I probably would respect him more if he just said that was how he felt (although I don’t think Glenn Beck really cares, his opinions could all just be controversial in order to keep the checks rolling in).

Media, you sly FOX (News). You almost made me hate myself and my skin complexion. You almost made me hate my body; you almost made me buy that chain. You almost made me think Jay-Z was the most influential man of the year. Almost. But luckily for me, I can tune you out when I need to.

And it’s not just the media. It’s any person or thing relaying information. Even if the information is completely true, the delivery has to be calculated and adjusted for the audience. Done improperly and it can have grave impacts on the listeners. I remember when my teacher taught us about slavery and how the white man enslaved the black man. That is where I learned that we were divided. That’s when I learned that blacks were considered an innately inadequately race, hardly to be distinguished as a part of mankind. Because my teacher didn’t have the sense to explain that the views back then were all wrong, and waited until we got to the years of Martin Luther King Jr to declare that we were all created equal, I grew up believing that whites were entitled, smarter, richer, and all that jazz.

Ask yourself, ‘is this important?’

Watching House of Cards, and seeing how the media will use buzz words to get a story attention and how they distract us with petty controversies. We have to allow ratiocination when taking information in. You have to ask yourself what really matters. You have an issue with your complexion? You despise Paula Dean for using the N-word? We cathect in unimportant trivial matters. You can’t change Paula and this is just exposing a small fragment of who she is behind the fame. No one is perfect. Since we live in a free country, people are free to make racial remarks, and we are free to boycott her products. We are free to forgive (whether or not she was bathetic). No exaggeration need.

Below is one of my favorite clips, where Jon Stewart asked the hosts of CrossFire to stop the bad news reporting: