As we are bombarded everyday by the media of the varying social injustices throughout the world, it becomes reasonably easy for everyone to decide who’s side they are on. I have found that a great number of people have it misconstrued on the “us” vs “them” mentality. The real battle we have is not black people against cops, cops against black people, black people vs white people, LGBT community vs everyone else, etc. The real “us” are those that are against oppression, and “them” are those that are for oppression.
Those whom are for oppression will believe that their means are justified, and their means are based off of lies half of the time. The other half of the time is from a subjective sociological perspective. For instance, if I am a white person that has never come into contact with a black person in real life because of my geographical location, and all I know about their race is what I see on mainstream television and their mainstream music, that is how I perceive them. To me they are violent, immoral, loud people that take great pride in these characteristics. Their culture is one of anti-intellectualism, misogyny, and greed. Even they think nothing of themselves because they embrace each other and themselves as individuals in derogatory and insulting terms. They are then dehumanized and lowbrow. It is a perfect storm when you pair this with someone whom is quite influential in my life. A person that doesn’t care for the other races. Obviously, this is an ignorant way of thinking, but people only know what they are exposed to. This is why people of color should fight the systematic dehumanization of their race in addition to the active injustices. Unfortunately, we are in place to where those with a platform are commonly bought to support this agenda. They look at it as a mere gateway to comfortable living.
The government’s and states’ fight against education is another part of the war against our freedom and liberties. The consistently lowered and defunded budgets for education across the country is alarming. The contrast of the quality of education based on class and income level is appalling. Formal education is leaning towards being a luxury instead of a right. The powers that be know that knowledge is power. That is where our true power lies. Without it, we are vulnerable to manipulation and oppression. Not only is it being snatched away from us, but by the numbers we are being convinced that it is no big deal. All of our attention is instead focused on surviving day to day and paycheck to paycheck. In our everyday life (music, internet, and television), we are fed the notion that we should be more fixated on menial useless things such as our looks and physical abilities. This message is especially towards our youth; the youth that are our future. “Anti-intellectualism is cool. Be afraid. Be angry.” These subliminal messages in addition to the desensitization of the loss of human life by having it in your face constantly (i.e. video games, music, culture, television, etc.,) are a possible shot for anarchy. Anarchy that is planned. Anarchy that is hoped for.
In the midst of all these things, mankind should have hope. However, in the midst of all these things we must ask ourselves what the media’s agenda is; what the various forms of entertainment’s agenda is. Be conscious of your reaction and your emotion to the stories that are beat to death and over analyzed. Ask yourself why do they want me to feel this way? Remember that there is always a purpose for every action taken, and every word spoken. All discord is not authentic. All dissensions are not real. Hopefully, enough will not only wake up, but stay awake. There are those that are content being asleep and don’t want to be bothered. That’s their form of self-preservation, because waking up is too overwhelming and uncomfortable for them. Unfortunately, it’s not meant for everyone.
In conclusion, we must be diligent in our fight for real education, peace, and control over our emotions. We must redirect our emotions to logical actions with real results. We must understand that these results will not always be immediate. They’ll take time. Be patient and content in the fact that you are taking the steps to justice, and a positive future that involves mankind not repeating the same mistakes that they have made in the past.
References:
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/06/24/report-federal-education-funding-cut-by-5-times-more-than-all-spending
http://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/most-states-have-cut-school-funding-and-some-continue-cutting
http://cef.org/category/charts-and-factsheets/