As the white father of a biracial kid, MLK Day has entirely more meaning for me now than it did before. I want my boy to be able to grow up with the only barriers presented to him being those barriers Wifey and I gave him or he created on his own. I don’t want cultural and societal barriers to give him a ceiling that cannot rise beyond. I do not want him to doubt his abilities because there is an inherent cultural bias against the genealogical make-up of the blood in his veins. I want him to doubt in his abilities because I never let him win a game of skill until he is 17. I have fervent hopes that he be disregarded for an opportunity because of his inordinate fear of spiders and not the color of his skin. When he crashes out of law school, I don’t want it to be because of racist professors who see him as “less than.” He should crash out because of his over developed startle reflex. Basically, I want his own sense of crippling self doubt to be his downfall, not the inferiority imposed upon him by bigots. As a father or a biracial child, is that so much to ask?
Luckily there is a bit of a turn in societal issues and cultural morays such that economic status now holds significant weight in the amount of ridicule and antagonism heaped upon children. I can’t say that it trumps race as an “ism,” but classism is definitely on the rise in the US. Sure this helps my little bi-racial middle class boy out, but it really fucks the poor black kids. I am sure they are poor and black for a reason though, so I guess all is how it should be. I have the self satisfaction of being able to look down on the mewling poor thinking (sometimes to myself, sometimes not) “At least Little Man isn’t one of those poor bastards.” Can you believe that I think that without even knowing the marital status of those kids’ parents? It really is a big assumption on my part, but I go with it, because that is the kind of guy that I am.
Anyway… the US Government has not recognized a martyr for the rights of the poor yet (but I do believe they have some targets, ummm… targeted {get it? “Martyrs?” “Targets?” I am incredibly punny), so I am going to refocus this post back to the issue at hand: How the southern states could only pass this day as a holiday by including Robert E Lee into the day’s celebrations. Yep, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississsisisiisisisisiisiisppii, could only pass the legislation to make today a holiday by having the Civil War Confederate general as a reason to celebrate. So in The South, this is an ambivalent holiday at best. While they celebrate fighting the established racist laws and society they also celebrate the fight against the tyranny of the federal stance on human ownership. The irony is kind of deliciously ironic in a moronic sort of way. One would think that the bigot legislatures could have just Jim Crowed up some lazy stereotypes and made it into a satirical holiday celebrating how the brown man needs extra time off whilst Whitey doesn’t. Something so nuanced as social satire is typically lost on bigots though. Unbridled irrational hate tends to blur the lines of sarcasm, and really that is where the sadness truly lies.
To recap:
Painted the new addition this weekend
Cabinets are being delivered this week
Appliances the following week
Now all we need is countertops
20 Questions Tuesday is tomorrow
More motivational topics
Too much sarcasm and satire?
Just enough?
Not enough?
Let me know
Luckily there is a bit of a turn in societal issues and cultural morays such that economic status now holds significant weight in the amount of ridicule and antagonism heaped upon children. I can’t say that it trumps race as an “ism,” but classism is definitely on the rise in the US. Sure this helps my little bi-racial middle class boy out, but it really fucks the poor black kids. I am sure they are poor and black for a reason though, so I guess all is how it should be. I have the self satisfaction of being able to look down on the mewling poor thinking (sometimes to myself, sometimes not) “At least Little Man isn’t one of those poor bastards.” Can you believe that I think that without even knowing the marital status of those kids’ parents? It really is a big assumption on my part, but I go with it, because that is the kind of guy that I am.
Anyway… the US Government has not recognized a martyr for the rights of the poor yet (but I do believe they have some targets, ummm… targeted {get it? “Martyrs?” “Targets?” I am incredibly punny), so I am going to refocus this post back to the issue at hand: How the southern states could only pass this day as a holiday by including Robert E Lee into the day’s celebrations. Yep, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississsisisiisisisisiisiisppii, could only pass the legislation to make today a holiday by having the Civil War Confederate general as a reason to celebrate. So in The South, this is an ambivalent holiday at best. While they celebrate fighting the established racist laws and society they also celebrate the fight against the tyranny of the federal stance on human ownership. The irony is kind of deliciously ironic in a moronic sort of way. One would think that the bigot legislatures could have just Jim Crowed up some lazy stereotypes and made it into a satirical holiday celebrating how the brown man needs extra time off whilst Whitey doesn’t. Something so nuanced as social satire is typically lost on bigots though. Unbridled irrational hate tends to blur the lines of sarcasm, and really that is where the sadness truly lies.
To recap:
Painted the new addition this weekend
Cabinets are being delivered this week
Appliances the following week
Now all we need is countertops
20 Questions Tuesday is tomorrow
More motivational topics
Too much sarcasm and satire?
Just enough?
Not enough?
Let me know