I recently wrote about political correctness. I’d actually like to expand on that theme. First off, I’d like to note that everyone is offended by something. Period.
Now, I’m fixin’ to slip into my southern drawl and ‘splain a few other thangs.
Let’s start with the rebel flag. Some people are offended by it. Others see it as a sign of their heritage. I think it’s just a flag, but I’m a white female from the southern Midwest, so what do I know?
I know that symbols are powerful only if people make them so. The swastika (from the Sanskrit meaning “to be good”) was a symbol of good things for over 3000 years before Hitler took it and transformed it in the minds of the general populace. In the case of the Confederate flag, it was a representation of state’s rights and just grievances before the abolitionists took over and turned it into a sign of slavery and oppression. Contrary to popular belief, the Civil War was not about slavery.
I know that words, like symbols, only have power because people give them power. Curse words are only “bad” because society says so. Derogatory words and phrases—as mentioned in my previous column—are only hurtful because society made them so.
I know that being a “minority” isn’t actually being a minority. This is because, sociologically speaking, a minority is any group that feels it is treated separately from the rest. I feel like that. All the damn time.
I know that I’m tired of being treated like a minority without the benefits of actually being labeled a minority. Where’s the scholarship for being white? Oh, right, somebody tried that, and the whole country cried “racism.” Why? Why is that racist but a scholarship for being black or Hispanic isn’t? It’s not like you’re another species or something.
Why can’t we all decide that we are human beings and even though we’re offended by something it doesn’t matter? Why can’t we agree to disagree and get it over with?
O yeah, because people suck.
