Rest In Peace Rodney King.
Through brutal tragedy you changed the world. Some people never have the pleasure to leave a legacy behind. You have. You changed our society in many ways. There are still great strides to be made, but you assisted in bringing so much to light. Thank you.
notjustmythoughts
“Born Better”
I have a real issue with this ad…
First, I’d like you to know, my mom thinks I’m crazy. She doesn’t understand “where I came from” with all my ideologies about racism and inequality and how I can see the injustices in anything and everything. Here’s one example of where my mother would say, “it’s just an ad.” But for me, it’s far from JUST anything.
I saw this ad a few times prior to today on the subways in NYC. I thought nothing of it at the time. It was a quick glance, a quick read, and an idea that has been ingrained in us since… well since the time people started conquering other people because they were “inferior.” Can you see where I’m headed?
So today, on the subway, reading my latest issue of Time Magazine (I thoroughly enjoy this magazine. I feel that the magazine tries to come across unbiased and give both sides to the story, which I can appreciate. Of course, one source is never the be all and end all of to any story.) I noticed an ad. An ad for Poland Spring Water. The main point of the ad, “Born Better.” This was the headline and the closing “argument” in their blurb about Poland Spring Water being the best. It says, “Every drop of Poland Spring 100% Natural Spring Water comes from carefully selected natural springs. When you start with something better, you get something better.”
Now my problem isn’t with the water. I drink it. I haven’t researched it to know if it really does come from carefully selected natural springs. These are not the things I contest about the ad. It’s the “Born Better.”
Can something really be born better? No. If you start with something better will you necessarily get something better? Again, no. So why, in society are we reinforcing an ideology that something can be better from birth? This makes me think of Rudyard Kipling and the “White Man’s Burden” and birthrights. Two ideologies that have been disputed and disregarded as unethical, bias, and simply unjust.
This should be JUST an ad, but embedded in this ad is injustice in policy at it’s finest. See, what happens in society is, media saturates our mind with things to the point of acceptance and a level of subconscious behavior. To have an idea read over and over again (on the subway, in magazines, on t.v., etc.) is to have something etched in your mind. We all know repetition embeds things in the brain, come on we all remember the flash cards we made before a test so that it “stuck.” Even though cram session memorization don’t necessarily stick forever, you remember them – at some point in your life you will come across something and a “light” will go off and you will draw back to that flash card. This is the same concept with repetitive ads. Poland Spring might JUST want you to buy their water, but the negative ideology doesn’t lie too far between the lies.
No one is born anything except… well accept born.
notjustmythoughts
http://www.thegrio.com/news/marissa-alexander-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison.php
Dang, she got 20 years. I can understand why they say she couldn’t use the Stand Your Ground Law as a defense (since she came back with the gun), but at the same time – she WAS scared for her life. She just escaped another assualt… an assualt that she’s endured numerous times before this one. Maybe while escaping danger, she finally had the gaul to show her husband I AM NOT AFRIAD. I WILL STAND UP TO YOU AND STAND MY GROUND. It was a warning shot, never intended to hurt/kill him. She was telling him, dude one more time and I will use this. It was a threat, to which she admits. BUT YET, she is charged with 20 years. The mandatory sentence is 10-20, she should’ve definitely gotten 10, done 5 and 5 parole/probation. SOMETHING less drastic. This is a bad precedent by the courts showing abused women: you don’t have power, you can’t stand your ground, you can’t stand up to your abuser, you must just suffer and bare.
I am sad for her, sad for all abused women, sad for this country.
Check out The Grio’s article.
notjustmythoughts
I was really impressed with this article. It is a rebuttle to an article published by NY Time Magazine. There is a large focus on something near to my heart: structural racism. People say it doesn’t exist, but I tend to think those are the same people that benefit from it. Check it out…
Notjustmythoughts
http://www.blacknews.com/news/jenga_mwando_ninth_ward_new_orleans_jungleland101.shtml
Controversial law “Stand Your Ground” only works in your defense if you are NOT black. thegrio.com posted an article of the 10 most infamous stand your ground cases. The article (link below) could have been put together better, possibly linking longer more detailed articles about the cases. BUT what they did a good job at was showing pictures. I think this was important so that people reading the article can actually humanize the victims. And in this instance, the victim can also be the one sitting in jail. Take for example Marissa Alexander, she’s a woman and black – who after being attacked and threatened by her husband fired a WARNING SHOT (he was not hit) above his head faces 20 years behind bars. She claimed “Stand Your Ground” as defense and lost… A Spanish man, Greyston Garcia, claimed “Stand Your Ground” and won after stabbing a man to death for stealing his car stereo – he did not call 911 and sold all the stereos possessed by his victim (also Spanish). Garcia SHOULD be in jail. I mean the man is dead, after being stabbed to death. There should be a point when stabbing someone that you stop – before you’ve killed them.
Are the rulings in the Stand Your Ground cases racially driven? I am leading towards yes. Florida has a large Spanish presence, and from what I’ve heard and read, light Spanish people in Miami run things. Garcia is from Miami. From the article it is unclear which part of Florida Alexander is from, but the key thing to remember is that she is black and DID NOT kill anyone. Yet she sits behind bars as Garcia walks free. I am not sure how a radio can equal a life. ALSO, when googling Garcia, he had a previous record. Alexander, as far as I could find, does not have a previous record. Although she was standing her ground, by trying to scare someone rather than kill them (which personally I would think is the better of the two, why does stand your ground mean you had to kill the person or you weren’t really scared enough? Maybe you were scared enough but you know you wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt of taking someone’s life – even if they may have “deserved” it).
Still, I am not 100% convinced it’s completely racially motived. I am leaning towards it, but I would need to research more of the cases before I could concretely say yes. With that said however, what is shocking to me is that there is no precedent set by the courts on what qualifies as Stand Your Ground. I mean, I am not sure how you can kill someone over a radio, but not be allowed to threaten with a warning shot someone who has beat you and threatened your life… It makes no sense. There is definitely some shadiness or bias going on here….
notjustmythoughts
article: http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/10-most-infamous-stand-your-ground-cases.php
“Dining While Black,” a recent article posted on the NY Daily News website, (link to article: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/tableside-racism-a-real-study-shows-waitstaff-give-african-americans-poorer-service-article-1.1067157) discusses “table side racism.” What is “table side racism?” Well, simply it’s being racially stereotyped and restaurant servers acting on those stereotypes by providing poorer service to African-Americans. While the study was done on a small-scale (200 servers interviewed in 18 N.Carolina restaurants) broader insights can be garnered.
Mainly, I believe the broader insight is that RACISM EXISTS (daily)! So many times I have had debates with people and they say to me, racism isn’t prevalent except in the most extreme cases. I continually argue, racism is most prevalent in everyday life and it is only in the most extreme cases that other people notice it too. I am not African-American, but I am a young Hispanic woman. I have noticed (outside of a predominately Hispanic area) I get treated differently, at restaurants, on the street by random people, and in many of the situations the racism is like “table side racism” (being ignored, having to wait longer than everyone else, getting over looked, etc). And this isn’t only in WHITE areas. Which says something too. Perhaps another post as I would digress too far, but a lot has to do with stereotypes. Another insight, which is touched upon by Sarah Rusche Ph.D is that most people aren’t truthful about their racist actions or those of others since racism’s existence is taboo in society. The stats from the study are high enough (over 1/3 of the sample) has acted on racist stereotypes and provided poorer service to black patrons – so I could only imagine if this was done on a larger scale.
I wanted to bring this article to your attention, but mostly to the attention of all the non-believers. Racism has not gone anywhere – just from time to time it wears a little disguise.
notjustmythoughts
In a recent article from Colorlines it appears that many people in Sanford, FL have had mishandled cases by the police department. This comes to light in the aftermath of the Trayvon murder and scandal of an uncharged man. For those of you who may live in a bubble of seclusion, Trayvon was followed by a 240lb man on a dark rainy night. To which, Trayvon defended himself from attack and that man shot him, point-blank, in the chest. Said man claims self-defense. I’ve eliminated the racial identities of both Trayvon and his killer because honestly, as much as this may be racially fueled, this is more a matter of wrong and right. You cannot follow someone, approach them, and then claim self-defense when THEY were defending themselves against you – a stranger who pursued them on a rainy night. Anyway, in light of this tragedy, many others are stepping forward with claims of injustice in their cases. The Justice Department is stepping in to review the police department in Sanford. (article: http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/03/sanford_city_manager_asks_justice_department_to_investigate_entire_police_department.html)
An old adage says, “in every bad comes a good.” Maybe this is the good to come from Trayvon’s untimely and unjustified death. I personally support the national sensation surrounding this tragedy. I believe that some of the good coming out of this is 1. Sanford, Fl is being publicly put on display as on overtly racist town and community 2. racial injustices are being brought to the forefront of discussions and 3. people are FINALLY taking notice to much of what I’ve said all along – racism exists in systematic policy, government, and law. I’ve been hearing a lot of people say things like, “the way this world is going” or “how things have changed” BUT I disagree to those statements. Nothing has changed in our world and it is going the same place it always has been. This country was founded on systematic racism, discrimination, and injustice. The change is the internet and social media. People are finally becoming aware to the MULTITUDE of racial injustices of our country. Social media is allowing for the likely breezed-over story (of Trayvon and so many others) to come to light with force and magnitude.
A revolution needs to happen.
notjustmythoughts
I think crime is wrong no matter the age. I think murder is worse no matter the age. BUT I also believe in second chances and rehabilitation. I am not saying that every juvenile who gets life deserves a second chance. BUT I think that circumstances should be weighed. What was this child’s life like, mentally, physically, etc… was there abuse? Can the child get mental help and cure the demons prompting the violence? Furthermore, this IS a racial thing. If it were up to “whitey” he’d lock every black and brown kid up for his natural life… How is it so easy to give up on the youth? Which reminds me of “The Other Wes Moore”. If you’ve been following my blog you may remember this post. It was a book a read about to gentlemen names Wes Moore. They lived two completely different lives, in adulthood, but in childhood their paths were very similar. The author, Wes Moore, includes an antidote about his friend who was told to stay away from him by a teacher. The friend instead thinks, how is it so easy to give up on a 12 year old. It’s a sad reality, but people do it all the time. And sentencing a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole is no different. Society, likely, failed them twice. First, by not offering opportunity. People believe this country is filled with equal opportunity, but it’s not. Let’s look at education. This is the most fundamental thing that can be offered to anyone…knowledge. Knowledge is the source of power because it opens one’s mind to a world previously unknown. But if you look at schools in poor/bad/ghetto/urban/forgotten neighborhoods, you will find graffiti desks, metal detectors, and children treated as criminals with random searches and assuming stares. How is this an equal opportunity? Your neighborhood injustices cannot be escaped even in the quest for knowledge. On and off the streets you are seen as a worthless criminal. The second failure being, the opportunity for rehabilitation. When you dive deeper into the juvenile lifer population you find that most of them have had psychological trauma that went untreated and lead them down the wrong paths… their paths never being steered in the other direction thru rehabilitation or outreach…
Maybe I am over simplifying, but check out this article and do some research of your own. These are my conclusions and likely, notjustmythoughts.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/03/juvenile_life_in_prison_without_parole.html
“Slavery’s Last Stronghold” by John D Sutter (pictures/video by Edythe McNamee)
Please read this article from CNN. This story was so moving. I believe slavery exists in this world in many forms, but even I did not believe that it still existed to this degree. While the world is screaming outrage for KONY2012 and other online articles make its way virally, let’s spread this reality like wildfire and spawn change.
link: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/03/world/mauritania.slaverys.last.stronghold/index.html?on.cnn=1
you’re welcome,
notjustmythoughts
When you think of the Caste System largely you think of India, but today, think of Mexico.
Mexico has long been considered to be a non diverse country. Meaning, people there consider themselves to be of largely the same background, mostly of mixed race of European and Natives. However, this isn’t exactly truth. Yes, a lot of Mexicans are of mixed race, but there is still a large number of indigenous people. There are also blacks. Mexico was not sheltered and they experienced their own waves of immigration into the country which brought slaves and different European backgrounds. In a docu-series Black in Latin America, there was an episode exposing the truths of blacks in Mexico. While I knew there had to be (simply because I believe every country has their share of black, native, and European mix) I didn’t really know anything about it. While watching this episode on blacks in Mexico, I was surprised at the discrimination. I am not sure why I was even surprised. If you think about the Black community here there is an onslaught of discrimination against them and they American. So American in fact, that they helped build this wonderful country. Though much of it was through slavery under unfortunate circumstances, if it wasn’t for the Black community our country wouldn’t have made the progress it did early on (think about the cotton/textile industry, the tobacco industry, etc.). I am not praising slavery AT ALL. I am simply saying, that African Americans helped shape America and they are discriminated. So why did the discrimination of Black Mexicans surprise me? I am not sure. I guess maybe because I just like to hope things are better than they really are, which I am continually reminded of the fact that no, things are not better…they are just as I believe them to be (discriminatory, harsh, unforgiving, destructive, racist, etc).
I’ve digressed from the point of this post… the point is that there are unofficial caste systems all around the world (even here in America). And I wanted to shed light on one of them – Mexico. Check out the link below. It is from globalpost.com and and talks about some of the injustices in Mexico faced by the black and indigenous community. The article specifically highlights 3 YouTube videos that have gone viral showcasing the upper “white” class of Mexicans berating other Mexicans. It seems that with money, people believe they can treat others without it anyway they want. The sad reality is, this is mostly true. The saying Money, Power, Respect isn’t just a moniker used in rap songs. This is tried and tested in the workings of government and policy. Money buys you the power (over people, power to buy government [hello, this is EXACTLY what lobbyists are]). Money buys you the respect (albeit respect garnered in fear of repercussions). Money is the highest caste system of all.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/mexico/120309/social-gaps-on-youtube
notjustmythoughts
notjustmythoughts 