Ghetto Proms
This week Michael Baisden spoke about kids dressing up like pimps, thugs and hoochie-mamas in celebration of their prom. Many parents find this hobby despicable, but I’m not certain whether I approve or disapprove.
On one hand, the prom is a traditional and timeless school event that deserves to be treated with class, dignity and respect. Added to that, children shouldn’t be allowed to dress in any which/way they desire. And Lord knows that if I ever catch my future daughter dressed like a street mistress, I’ll lock her ass in a got-dang dog kennel and throw away the key!
Yet these young adolescents are verging on adulthood. So shouldn’t they be afforded the right to celebrate THEIR prom as they wish, even if it entails dressing up like a fool? In a way I almost appreciate their willingness to be creative, stand out from the crowd and just laugh at themselves. Plus uniformity bores me and, truthfully, some traditions are meant to die.
Anyway. This issue is a tough one, which is why I’m just glad that I’m not a parent yet! And since black people are currently exempt from being targeted (this is your LAST WEEK off), I’ve opted to show a picture of a white-trash prom instead.
True Equality
After Lebanese-American Rima Fakih was crowned Miss USA earlier this week, a CNN user commented: “I always find it interesting how everyone wants equality and a color-blind society, yet they make a big deal whenever someone is the first whatever-American to do something. The classic was Obama as the first African-American president. If you truly believe in equality and want to abolish racism, then Barack is simply the 44th president.”
I don’t want a color-blind society. To demand that we as people consign the color of our skin and our ancestral background to oblivion is akin to forcing us to cut off a vital organ. The United States is a magnificent country, but I, for instance, am an Indian (not a Hindu) with a rich heritage that includes relatives who took part in securing India’s independence from British colonial rule. If you expect me to just indifferently brush away my heritage, then you, Sir, are in for a rude awakening!
What I would prefer is a society wherein anyone—regardless of creed, race, or sexuality—can achieve anything he or she desires. Although we’ve come far in securing such a utopia, we still have many more milestones to overcome. Until race discrimination, gender discrimination, homosexual discrimination, mental illness discrimination, economic-status discrimination, marital-status discrimination, obesity discrimination and even left-handedness discrimination completely disappear, genuine equality will not exist.
Also keep in mind that less than 50 years ago, our great country was still segregated by the Jim Crow laws of 1876. There are in fact still countless elderly men and women alive who lived through these horrific times. Asking them to forget their past, as if it never occurred, would not only be backwards, but it would be just plain wrong. Truly, can you imagine the ecstasy a 70-year-old black woman who once had to sit in the back of the bus must have felt when Barack Obama was elected into office?
Let me try to put this into perspective. (This is where I try to be funny.) They say that black women have big butts and black men have big penises. Let’s suppose a white couple gave birth to a hermaphrodite that grew up to have the biggest ass and biggest penis ever seen on Earth. One day CNN decides to write about him/her and titles their article, “White Hermaphrodite Has World’s Largest Penis and Biggest Butt.” Then some black hermaphrodite comments, “I’ve always had a big horse penis and an ass like a big onion in need of peeling. So why is this chump getting credit just because he’s white!?” How would that make you feel as a white person?
So now you’re saying, “White people never get credit for anything!” That’s because white people have already done everything. White FBI agents were the first swingers, J Edgar Hoover was the first cross-dresser, Madonna was the first born-again virgin, and Jack Baur was the first person to ever single-handedly thwart world terrorism! I mean COME ON NOW…. can a colored person (my brown skin qualifies me as colored too, Mr./Mrs. Black Person!) get a chance to do something?
These are ludicrous examples (I’m sleepy, OKAY!), but the first one raises a valid point. When someone of a particular category of people accomplishes something never done before by that people—like the first Hindu celebrity to have a sex tape leaked to the media—what’s wrong with bringing attention to it? It’s as if the naysayers want us to live in a world where there are no labels and everyone is exactly the same.
“Hello, multi-colored and nameless entity! How are you today?”
“Oh I’m fine! Thank you for asking, fellow multi-colored and nameless entity.”
They’re trying to turn us all into oompa loompas!
I can just imagine the general response when aliens first land on Earth. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone retorts, “Well, my father was an astronaut and he’s landed on Earth many times. Why didn’t he get his own article? If you truly believe in equality, then you will not make a big deal out a stinking alien landing, especially considering that the landing was WAY-OFF, dude!”
I guess my point is that true equality requires that we first learn to RECOGNIZE and ACCEPT all the differences that divide us. By attempting to deny these differences and pretend as if they don’t exist, we're only setting ourselves further and further away from our goal.
Wife Swap
Wife Swap was AMAZING 2nite. To me, it felt like America was finally given an insider’s glimpse into the average hiphop enthusiast’s life. We’re not gangsters or gangster wannabes. We’re normal citizens who work hard and raise families, but also happen to have a penchant for gangster rap or gangster cars, to name a few examples. We love the culture, but still care deeply about family values and responsibility.
I do feel though that the hiphop family was far too carefree with their children, not to mention somewhat arrogant and narrow-minded when it came to embracing other lifestyles. Added to that, their “keep it real” attitude irked me the wrong way at times. They’ve apparently never seen Dave Chappelle’s “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong”!
On the flip side, however, the other family was too uptight and rigid; plus they lacked the emotional cohesion apparent in the low-rider family. In addition, the children’s naivety threatened to impair their ability to forge successful adult lives of their own!
What I did appreciate was the low-rider family’s passion and free spirit, as well as the performance family’s open-mindedness and innocence. If only a medium between the two could be found!
Forex Trading
This week I hit $47.00, but then dropped to $32.00. It’s not bad, but I’m still quite frustrated nonetheless. The problem is that I’m relying on too much margin. I oftentimes must close bad trades before the market has an opportunity to retrace its steps. The EUR/USD trend is very bearish right now, but the reversals are killing me. I need to stop being greedy and start trading with a whole lot less margin. It’s just that I’m so sick and tired of being broke and having a car! It’s so annoying having to rely on other people to go somewhere or do something. I want to be MY OWN MAN! Sighs. Oh well!
Tic-Tac-Toe
I got bit by a tic this week but didn’t realize it as first. When I initially discovered the strange black shape stuck to my collar bone, I figured it was either a scar coming loose or a mole that suddenly popped up out of nowhere [I have no common sense whatso fricken' ever]. Several days later, I tried pulling on it and it came loose. I then discovered that it had MOVING LEGS, which led me to scream outloud like a girl and toss it into the sink. I am still freaked out over this! I just hope I don’t develop Lyme disease! God I hate bugs and insects! Fuck off already, you little bastards!
Instead of fucking me over, why don’t you just go and fuck yourselves!??
Social Networking
CNN reported this week that a new social network called Togetherville has been announced as a “new online community for kids and their caretakers.” Many parents are condemning the network on the basis that children should spend their time developing meaningful “real-life” relationships instead. I agree that “real-life” relationships are important, but I also feel that social-networking relationships have their benefits as well.
An online social network can allow little Bobby or Bernadette to chat with children from all across the globe. What better way to expand their mind and culture than to expose them to kids from Australia, Canada, the Philippines or even Zimbabwe?! You know, there is nothing innately wrong with using computers or gadgets to make friends, so long as you do it in moderation and don’t allow it to interfere with your real life.
Note also that some children may lack the social skills needed to express themselves effectively in the real world. By interacting with children online, they can gradually acquire the basic communication blocks needed to establish a real-life friendship. In 5th grade, for instance, my teacher Mr. Ascher spent every Wednesday afternoon chatting with me on the computer, although we were literally sitting right next to one another. It may seem ridiculous, but it really helped me become much more self-confident and expressive. Mind I have yet to overcome my social anxiety, but my case is a very unique and unusual one.
Look, by opening the gates to social networking, we are merely paving another method by which humans can communicate. God forbid we ever encounter a life-form that communicates differently than us....
Leaving out the Dog House
The dog is leaving tomorrow :’(, but I’m searching frantically for a replacement. I’ve found a few potential good matches, but people never reply to my emails. EXCUSEH MWA for writing in a very enthusiastic and open way…. hurumph!
I wish you luck on your travels, El Gringo. May it be as fun and rock-tastic awesome as this young pup’s trip.
I luv yah and will miss you, you fricken BITCH! The dictionary says a female dog is a bitch so don’t ya’ll DARE call me sexist! If ya’ll got a problem with the term, ya’ll betta holler at Merriam n Gary Coleman, aka Websta! (That’s a joke!)
Anyway. That's it. Night and God Bless!
pEaCe OuT
PS – I just read this on MSNBC: “The Texas State Board of Education adopted a social studies and history curriculum Friday that amends or waters down the teaching of the civil rights movement, religious freedoms, America's relationship with the U.N. and hundreds of other items.” I have to look into it, but my initial reaction is SMDH – SHAKING MY DAYUM HEAD!
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