Yobo's Commentary
March 27, 2000
"Melting Pot?"
What do you do with a naked Indian? Who knows, but you had better treat him with respect, within the limits of political correctness. That last decade buzz word that did more to make us all afraid to speak the truth or insult lest we offend than any other ever devised.
America once called a melting pot, is no longer. We are now approximately 340 different stews, simmering, steaming even, no longer part of one soup but sitting on different burners. Ok, enough of the metaphors, the point is that we are in a mess.
Thirty years ago the civil rights movement brought at least the guise of equality to the masses. The original idea was a oneness in unity of all people. But through this came an almost sinister evil cousin. Diversity. The idea of yes, we are all alike and equal, as human beings. But that's where it stops. Now we are no longer just americans, we have sub labeled ourselves "black" or "white" or "oriental" or "native" or "italian" or whatever race in front of our nationality as a "surname" to differentiate us all from each other.
We have grouped and segregated, divided and ultimately drew our lines in the sand. We have our "cultures" and "differences", and in the process it became increasingly impossible to cross from one to the other, in fact it became unpopular to do so. "Stay in your place", they will rant, all while saying, "Pay homage to mine". It has become the rule of the day.
What could be wrong with this you ask? Everything. The founding fathers began the constitution with the words, "We the people of the United States...in order to form a more perfect union". I believe that they never foresaw the separation of peoples that exists today. The would have never dreamed of a system with such diversity at the expense of unity.
They had left a word where caste systems ruled, the aristocratic nations of europe which for centuries had kept people separated by invisible lines of demarkation, such as poverty and wealth, black and white, religion. The United States of America was a new experiment. It had never been done before, people coming from all over the world, the old world, to live in the New World.
What was to be so new about it? Diversity in unity. Different people yes, but sharing a common bond of unity. Not separating into different groups bemoaning that they are not getting enough of the pie. That's what happened in the old world. "French Revolution" anyone? Have we changed much from that day?
Today we have immediate news coverage if a white police officer uses force on a black suspect. The "protectors of the down trodden" come out of the wood work for such an event. It's front page news, the media goes wild and has specials titled, "Racism in Policing", see it at 8pm!
Does racism exist, yes. But not in the way it once did. It has now become more hidden and reversed, no longer as overt. We don't look so much for a new Hitler, or a KKK. The new racism has new names. "Affirmative Action", "Employment Quota's" "Florida One", and so on.
The pull to be different, unlike the rest, and then to want preferential treatment is a comedy, but everyone is afraid to laugh.
What do you think, post your comments here on YoboSayo's Delphi forum.
Past commentaries
March 13, 2000 - Is the political process out of our hands?
March 20, 2000 -CyberWatch
April 7, 2000 - Daylight Savings?