equalicism

As life would have it, there are more important things in the world than Miley Cyrus's poorly parented, nasty, latex-wearing, no-ass-having, grossness.  More important things than some Kardashian baby and more important than the rampant scandals involved in NY Mayoral politics. 

There is still, all these years later, a startling lack of equality in this country.  If you are a fat, white dude (or just a white dude), none of this applies to you.  You still, whether you want it or not, have all of the cards stacked in your favor.  The system pulls for you, ignores your slights, gives you breaks and pays you handsomely.  After that - if you don't present as white-ish, or are not male, it's all downhill from there. 

Since the old white dudes have been making the rules - literally - for the last 200+ years, they did a really good job of entrenching misogyny and racism into the system.  They called it all "fair", because it IS fair.  To them.  They point to the minuscule numbers of people who have been able to pierce their imposed ceilings and tell the rest of us that we don't work hard enough. 

Bullshit. 

You know what it's like to go into an employment situation knowing for sure that 8 out of 10 times you will be low-balled on salary, asked to jump through extra hoops and scrutinized more closely than your white, or male peers?  Ask any woman or black person.  We can tell you. 

Today, specifically, 50 years after MLK's march on Washington, is about black Americans an their ongoing struggle to shed the yoke.  In some ways, the yoke has become such a part of black culture, that it is self-perpetuating.  But just the idea that there is, or has to be "black culture" in America, because these people have been so disenfranchised by our country in these supposedly modern times, is despicable.  We are all Americans.  Once you're born here, or take the citizenship test, there is no sliding scale for your right to opportunity and ascent, theoretically anyway. 

In practice, we seem to be the same pack of bigots we always were with the English hating Italians hating the Irish, hating the Germans, hating the Mexicans, hating the Jews, hating the Asians, hating the Blacks, hating the Native Americans - who are actually the rightful owners of this country, thank you.  The cycle of bigotry is deplorable and yet somehow as an American culture we have not only bought in, we actually defend this crap. 

I happen to present as white and indeed that is a significant part of my genetic makeup, if you are looking solely skin deep.  But in actuality, I am a mix, just like most other Americans, so the fact that my skin presents as white, or another's presents as black should have no impact on how we are treated under the law and in business.  Sadly, it does.  In the job market, it's harder for both women and minorities, which is probably why women are still considered minorities, despite being a larger actual population of people than males.  However for skin-color minorities, the justice system is still racist.  The job market is still racist.  Everywhere it counts, in terms of getting ahead, there is still racism.  Not everywhere mind you, and certainly not to the degree it once was, but any amount is too much and it's ridiculous that it is within our powers to change it and still we do not. 

With the recent onset of the Tea Party and the small yet incredibly loud faction of bass-ackward people trumpeting on about god n' guns and wanting to keep their country free (of what, I have to wonder), our political system has been clogged up to the point of stagnation and so every step we do not take forward on the issues plaguing us, is a step backward.  And every step is actually a leap, when it comes to the growing economic stratification, where less than one percent of our population - something like 500 families out of 300 million people - control over 60% of the wealth.  This is indefensible and yet they somehow manage to defend it.  The mind boggles.  I want change....for all of us, which means summa yous is gonna have to be uncomfortable where you weren't before. 

Old (and young) white men who for some stupid reason run the country, but are not at all representative of it's demographic makeup:  You suck.  It's time to change.  For real.