When my nephew was six years old, we would sometimes play video games together. I tried to make sure he only played age appropriate games, like driving games. I hated that the best driving game ever was certainly not "age appropriate", because of the other things you could do in the game. That game, of course, was Grand Theft Auto. I realized that I could circumvent all of the inappropriate actions in the game, and just introduce him to the unmatched driving physics of the game. Physics so realistic, that you can actually perfect your real life sport driving from this game.
After some time of playing it, he asked what the game was called. I didn't want him to let it slip to the adults that I've been allowing him to play Grand Theft Auto, so I quickly replied "My Little Pony", thinking that would be a very acceptable game title for him to be playing, if he were to mention it to any adult. Also, My Little Pony was before his time, and he had never heard of it. For months after that, he would constantly talk about "My Little Pony", as it was the most fun driving game he had ever encountered. Every time my nephew would talk about My Little Pony, I would have a little chuckle.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
The Last Racism
Racism is not accepted by society, at all, unless it is against white people. White people are the most privileged people on the planet, and that is undeniable. If a white person referred to a different ethnicity by their most common offensive racial title, then that white person will possibly get attacked, or face legal consequences, or at least disgust every other person who witnesses this. I am glad that this is the case, and hope it continues to gain such reaction. There is one case of racism that is socially acceptable, however, and is commonly used by the media. It seems that anyone, of any race, is permitted to degrade people with red hair; or as they're commonly referred to, gingers.
People seem to feel that people with red hair are so white, that they cannot be offended. I really feel that they are indeed as offended as much as any other race of humans though. If it is a matter of the claim that only "minorities" can be victimized by racism, then we should definitely look at the world population statistics of how many people have red hair. I am going to say that only 1% of the world have red hair, and I am going to now google this to find out for sure. It was actually 2%, according to this reputable seeming source: http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/17-12-2007/102910-red_haired-0/ - that was totally close enough though.
Now, using this statistic, would it still seem socially acceptable to ridicule this minority? After asking this question, I am going to answer it myself, by saying no. There is no reason we should choose who it is acceptable to be racist against. Racism is unacceptable in all circumstances. Maybe an applicable example would be of a family I met in Langkawi, Malaysia, who were living on a boat. They were a white family, of British decent, who were from South Africa. They were an attractive bunch of people, with very friendly personalities. They were violently discriminated in South Africa by the natives though. The "natives", were very unkind to this family because of the history with South Africa. Because the British people occupied most of the country, the natives felt violated by all white settlers in their land. That is no different than white hillbillies in Alabama hating Mexicans for stealing their jobs. Or, when Italians came to Canada and offered to do labour jobs for less money than the original immigrants, the British.
This subject is so cluttered with examples, that it is very easy to digress into other things. The point I want to make with this post though, is that society should not view racism any differently, just because it is being applied to a race that has not previously had such hard times. We can so easily be blinded to subjects that matter, just because numerous other people make us feel that it's alright. Our media is the worst for that, because people rank it as an authority of the rules. Try not to think of media as that. It is not.
People seem to feel that people with red hair are so white, that they cannot be offended. I really feel that they are indeed as offended as much as any other race of humans though. If it is a matter of the claim that only "minorities" can be victimized by racism, then we should definitely look at the world population statistics of how many people have red hair. I am going to say that only 1% of the world have red hair, and I am going to now google this to find out for sure. It was actually 2%, according to this reputable seeming source: http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/17-12-2007/102910-red_haired-0/ - that was totally close enough though.
Now, using this statistic, would it still seem socially acceptable to ridicule this minority? After asking this question, I am going to answer it myself, by saying no. There is no reason we should choose who it is acceptable to be racist against. Racism is unacceptable in all circumstances. Maybe an applicable example would be of a family I met in Langkawi, Malaysia, who were living on a boat. They were a white family, of British decent, who were from South Africa. They were an attractive bunch of people, with very friendly personalities. They were violently discriminated in South Africa by the natives though. The "natives", were very unkind to this family because of the history with South Africa. Because the British people occupied most of the country, the natives felt violated by all white settlers in their land. That is no different than white hillbillies in Alabama hating Mexicans for stealing their jobs. Or, when Italians came to Canada and offered to do labour jobs for less money than the original immigrants, the British.
This subject is so cluttered with examples, that it is very easy to digress into other things. The point I want to make with this post though, is that society should not view racism any differently, just because it is being applied to a race that has not previously had such hard times. We can so easily be blinded to subjects that matter, just because numerous other people make us feel that it's alright. Our media is the worst for that, because people rank it as an authority of the rules. Try not to think of media as that. It is not.
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