It's history, stupid

White people, particularly in the US, have a well documented history of being racist.  It's true many of those things happened a long time ago and most white people aren't like that anymore, but the history is still there.  So when someone of a darker persuasion contemplates whether a random white person is racist, I'm not surprised by it.

I don't have to like it, but I get it.  There's a history of it and history colors everything.

Crime statistics clearly show that, for such a small fragment of the population, blacks commit an extraordinarily high amount of crime in the US.  I'm not talking black on black or black on anybody else crime.  I'm talking crime in general.  It's insane the amount of crime committed by black men alone.  And it's documented.  Not just by the FBI but by anybody who's ever lived or passed through the hood.  So when the police pay extra attention to the black kid with his drawers showing, I don't blame them.  I don't automatically assume they're racist.  Statistically black kids with their drawers showing commit a lot of crimes.

I don't have to like it but I get it.  It's documented history and history colors everything.

There's no getting around it.  Most illegal immigrants in the US are Hispanic.  And most of the Hispanic illegal immigrants are darker in color and don't speak English.  Historically, Mexico and portions south have been third world shit holes run by dictatorships and drug lords.  People have been fleeing these places for decades and there's no denying that the poorest of these countries (the ones most likely to flee) are the descendants of the Indigenous tribes and not the Spaniards who colonized the place.  So the refugees tend to look a certain way.  And we DO have an open border with Mexico.  And we ARE a nation of hope to people in third world shit holes the world over.  And those people WANT to come here.  Statistically those who come here illegally cross that open border with Mexico or sail from Cuba and statistically they are dark skinned Spanish speakers.  So when someone questions a dark skinned Spanish speaker's citizenship status, I don't think they're anti immigrant.  I think we have immigration laws for a reason and enforcing those laws means addressing the group who statistically breaks the laws the most.

I don't have to like it but it is history and history colors everything.

The US is a bully.  We kicked mighty Britain's ass and won our independence and we've been arrogant ever since.  It's our way or the highway.  We tell other countries what to do.  We're the only country that has military bases in other countries.  We are not a tolerant nation when it comes to our foreign policy.  And I'm including all races here.  The US interferes with other government's elections all the time.  We bomb other countries all the time.  Then have the audacity to be offended when someone attacks us back or doesn't do what we tell them to.  Americans are the ultimate hypocrites and our feelings are hurt when other countries don't like us for it.  We have no legitimate reason to be upset people don't like us.

I'm not condoning terrorism.  I'm not saying 9/11 or any other attack since then is all our fault but we have been asking for it.  You're treated how your treat others and historically the US hasn't treated others well.

I don't have to like it but it's history and history colors everything.

Before you criticise, recognize.  Stereotypes exist for a reason.  Opinions are formed based on experiences.  You can't demonize someone for allowing history to shape them.  History shapes us all.

What you can do, what we all need to do, is learn to look to the future BEFORE we look to the past.  We can't change the past but we can build a better future.  We can't live in the past, only the present, because time doesn't move backwards.  It moves forward.

What are you doing to make your present a good one and what are you doing to improve your future?

If you don't like being stereotyped, fix the issues that created the stereotype.  Do something to get black men to commit fewer crimes or fewer Hispanics to come to the US illegally.  Change US foreign policy and admit the majority of white people are not racist.

If YOU'RE not willing to make any positive changes, don't blame history.

Glass Half Empty

People are always telling me I'm too pessimistic.  I need to look on the bright side more.  Care about politics a little less and make more friends. I'd be so much happier if I was more optimistic...

Fuck them.

Pessimism is a defense mechanism used by people who've been burned so many times before that they're rightfully reluctant to take a chance on getting burned again.  Pessimism is what happens when you look honestly at the crappy world around you and understand it shouldn't be sugarcoated.

Sugarcoating bad things is why our kids are pussies.  Giving everyone a trophy instead of admitting not everyone wins is why adults now require therapy dogs when they don't like the outcome of an election.  Hope is lovely but honesty won't get you killed.

Don't get me wrong. Hope is a vital function. It keeps us from killing ourselves off.  But hope is limited. You can hope bad things won't happen but you need to understand they still will.  Don't be so hopeful and optimistic that you're blindsided by reality.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Pessimism isn't depression.  It's not a mental disorder.  It's not antisocial. It's honest.

Only idiots can't appreciate honesty.

My President Was Black

Obama's run is coming to an end and now it's time to reflect on his legacy.  The failure of Obamacare.  The increase in racial divisions spurred by the far left's demonizing of white people.  Other countries liked him though- because he catered to their every whim.  Yeah the economy got better but that's not entirely due to his efforts.  That's more congress and business owners who did that.  Michelle worked hard to dictate what our kids were allowed to eat.  Hollywood loved them.  But the most important aspect of the Obama legacy?

He's black.  That's it.  He was the first black guy.

Don't get me wrong.  That has historical significance, but his entire presidency has been based on his race.  The entire 8 years has been Obama is awesome because he's black and was still able to accomplish things despite those nasty white people.  And when people disagreed with him, it wasn't because they didn't like his policies.  It was because he was black and they were racist.

That's Obama's legacy.  Look at what the black man did.

He was praised for being black.  Could do no wrong because he was black.

And he did very little to improve things for the black community, but he was our first black president so he was the best president ever anyway.

The Atlantic is heaping on the praises with a feature on Obama's awesomeness.  The title: My President Was Black.

What the fuck?  That's really all you have to say about him?  Sure, the article will probably be one long love fest, but the title says it all.  People like Obama because he's black.   He represents the black man.  That's why people like him, why they voted for him, why he'll be missed.

And they'll praise The Atlantic for praising Obama's blackness.  They will read the article because they like Obama's blackness.

And they're racist as fuck.

If Hillary had won, we'd be singing her praises because she's our first woman president.  If Romney had won, we would have sung his praises because he's our first Mormon.  If Cruz had won, he'd be our first Canadian.  But it doesn't even matter what office it is.  Whenever a person of color is elected, they're always praised for their race.  Never their qualifications.  We even elec people for other petty things.  Their gender.  They're religion. They're sexual preference.  Not their qualifications.  Because of that, we put quite a few people in power who shouldn't be.

Trump was an outsider, a business man.  People voted for him for that reason alone.  They're singing his praises for that reason alone.

If you're only voting for someone because of the historical significance of their being elected, you're wasting your vote.  Quality matters when it comes to who you allow to make decisions for you.  I voted for Obama the first time because he felt like a better option than McCain.  I didn't the second time because I'd fugured out he wasn't.  I would have voted for Sanders had Hillary not cheated during the primary because Sanders seemed to be genuinely concerned with improving life for the working class where as Hillary was shady and Trump was crazy.

I would not have voted for Sanders to have our first Jewish president.

Get it?

But Obama's legacy, like his presidency, has been reduced down to his race.  He was the first black guy and that, sadly, is all anyone seems to care about.