The most successful films nowadays are fantasy and/or horror; they do a pretty good job or go straight for the jugular by activating our mirror neurons (google it). These, in turn, activate our most primal instinct: survival. Which is regulated by our limbic system. It’s very primitive but still very much in command of regulating our fears, anger and sexual behavior. Look it up. The fantasy part is more psychological; related to self-awareness. It’s either a way for us to deal with (or escape from) what we don’t understand or try to make sense of things our limited logic can’t comprehend.
This is what’s happening to this nation and all over the world. Certain unscrupulous entities are preying on the primal fears of the most susceptible of individuals. Mostly everyone, and that includes “intellectuals.” Fear mongering through fantasy (religion) and horror (political) should be as transparent as Sarah Palin to us. But no, our primitive brain and limited reasoning don’t let us put two and two together. These entities are riling up all the groups they fear (and rightly so) are a threat to their existence.These groups aren’t just minorities. The majority of white people who are mostly working class or middle class (we all know this one is dwindling and at godspeed) are also being taken for a ride. I assure you folks, they are not the devil; just misinformed and lashing out in fear just like the rest of us.
All those quotes about fearing and hating the unknown is bullshit, by the way. We know. We just don’t want to change our ways. We need something to lash out at. We need something to hate. We even jump through hoops to justify it. Even when it’s unwarranted.
Anyway, this is nothing new; this fear mongering, this hoodwinking of a nation has been going on for quite a while. It’s cyclical. How so? They (God knows who they are because I don’t but there’s definitely a lot of conspirators involved) are in a rush to have us all in a frenzy: Native Americans (even they want to identify with the oppressors now to get a piece of the imaginary pie), Asians (we all know what happened to the Japanese here), homosexuals (prop 8), Muslims (an entire 1.5 billion people inhabiting the earth are lumped together as terrorists) Latinos and mostly any immigrant of color (Arizona knows how to party forget Cali), and now, once again, the African American community (reclaiming of the civil rights movement from them?! Really?!).
Oh, but this isn’t new and that’s one of the main reasons why the powers that be want to erase history (not that it was written objectively, anyway). Here’s one example of this cyclical phenom echoed by Martin Niemöller back when Hitler was wreaking havoc:
“They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
Here’s a passage by Lorenzo Komboa Ervin to show you how that hoodwinking looks more like a nervous tick. Regardless of who he is or what he said it still happened:
“But when European indentured servants joined with Blacks to rebel against their lot in the late 1600s, the propertied class decided to ‘free’ them by giving them a special status as “whites” and thus a stake in the system of oppression.”
Here’s another example of how insidious this thing is. An excerpt of Christopher Rodriguez’s The Latino Manifesto: A Critique Of The Race Debate in the US Latino Community:
“In past years, many serious scientific studies and projects were researched to prove the natural superiority of white racial groups over people of color. Religious leaders also debated the moral justification for the past subjugation of Africans and Indians under the bondage of slavery. These were not quacks but serious and respectable citizens of their times.”
They have us all in a frenzy bickering with each other, once again, over an imaginary piece of the pie. That pie has been cut into unequal pieces and already eaten. While we were busy fighting with each other – trying to please the powers that be so we can attain some of that illusory and absurd piece – we are left with nothing but the crumbs now. Crumbs that we’ve cut into unequal pieces with those less fortunate. It’s an ad infinitum of fuckedupness. And yes, religion (fantasy) is very much in cahoots with the fear mongers. They mean well. Really. At least some. The rest is just a business.
I would like to make sure that there is no equivocation in what I’m stating so I will repeat it: white folks are not the devil. Some of our people are also involved in this heartless and blatant hoodwinking of the nation and most white folks are just like you and I; struggling to make ends meet and trying to make sense of everything happening. You will not hear one decibel advocating apartheid out of me. I’m not a separatist. You can’t seriously ask for equal rights while excluding white folks out of your movement of fair and equal treatment. There’s no exclusivity in equality. Period.
What I would like for everyone to do is to take a look at this link which speaks about empathy. Empathy is another one of our most powerful instincts. We are, after all, social animals (or beings for the sensitive folks). If we saw each other as family (everyone), then all this bickering would cease to exist.
By the way, we all know who those unscrupulous people are. They’re people just like you and I. They’re no different. They are us. We are all complicit in the suffering, exploitation, and destruction of the world. Just by different degrees. There’s no secret entity. There’s no secret society. There’s no malevolent cabal pulling invisible strings to control us. They are all in plain sight. They are us.
Do something to level the playing field. Even if it slows you down a bit, help someone without expecting anything in return. However, the goodness that you put out in the world will undoubtedly boomerang back to you and push us all forward. Be a catalyst of unity and goodness. We have way too many conduits of ignorance, of hate, and of suffering.
Be a positive current. Even if it means jolting negative ones by unconventional means. I don’t mean just by pretty words. I mean by actions. Treat everyone like a brother/sister; don’t give anyone excusable passes to do wrong either. Be them white, black, brown or fuchsia. We are all human. This is the only way we’re going to survive; by not living in fear and hate of each other. It doesn’t have to be a fantasy. We can become the empathetic civilization once we see each other as an extended family.