Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Casualties of Media

Lets clear the air right off the bat.
I consider myself a Southerner,  I live in a rural community, I'm conservative, I'm white, I'm a farmer and I'm a Christian. So in the eyes of a liberal urbanite, it would not surprise me in the least if they were to automatically assume that I was an inbred, hog calling, "racist."  I have no problem with first impressions.  We all have them.  It is those that pretend they see everything through an objective lens that irk me the most. My second biggest ire would be those that pass judgement upon that which they know nothing. To my limited knowledge, there has only been one perfect being to ever walk the face of the earth.

It would appear to me that the qualifications for being labeled a racist have been broadened to the point that no-one can escape its stigma. Enter the NAACP and poor Ms. Shirly Sherrod.

Now here is an organization that has clearly outlived its original purpose.  Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the organization didn't fill a need or that racism is not an issue today. Racism exists across the aisle, across the tracks, and across races of every kind. But as has been pointed out many times over the years, without social turmoil between the race it purports to champion  and  the [insert the race of your choice], this organization begins to fade from the limelight. Its feeling of self-worth dwindles. In today's world, don't we all have the ACLU as our advocate? A representative for all persons, not just one race.

But this isn't about the NAACP in particular.  Its not even about the consequences of pretending that "our crap don't stink" and then stirring up the hornet's nest.  Its about where we are today as a society when it comes to race and racism. And as I'm sure Ms. Sherrod will attest, we are heading backwards.

Individually, we have become far too pre-occupied in proving to the world that we are not racist.  We have apparently redefined to the term to include any action or thought that remotely recognizes any difference among the races.  Lets face it, there are differences. Instead of sweeping them under the rug we should acknowledge them. We should not flaunt them, but there is no harm in openly discussing our feelings or expressing our paradigms if we do it honestly and without reproach.  It is the holier-than-thou crowd that continue to tear away at our progress.....
.
.
.
.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Getting Started

Well, I guess every blogger begins somewhere. This is my first attempt. Rather than begin by immediately delving off into a point of interest or a particular ire I might have, I thought I'd use this first post and blog to get an idea of how this particular medium worked.

Posting would appear to be very much like any other dedicated forum. I've done quite a bit of that, so I shouldn't have any trouble here. As with many bloggers, I'm quite sure my main difficulty will involve putting ideas and thoughts down in a comprehensible format. I do love to ramble at times. Hopefully, my grammar teachers won't roll over in their graves at my prose structure. Hmmm...and I wonder; does this thing have a spelling checker? :) A spelling checker would certainly speed things up!


The blog's purpose:

I guess one might wonder what the purpose of this blog is. Perhaps I'd better address that in this post as well.

Over that past few years I've begun to notice a dramatic increase in the ineptness and ignorance of the media and apparently of society in general. I watch news feeds and new stories. I'll pause occasionally on some talking-head's talk show. I marvel at the sheer ignorance reporters have about the topic they are reporting on. I listen jaw dropped in disbelief as they speak as if they have some authority on the subject. I wonder to myself if the producers/editors of the show/publication are congnizant of their reporter's ignorance or if they are relying on the ignorance and gullability of the view/reader to accept at face value what they are hearing/reading. Surely not. Surely there are others like me who are in awe of the spectacle they witness.

Perhaps I stand alone in my observations. Perhaps my audience will hang on my every word as though it were gospel. Wouldn't that be irony at work.....

C'mon Anderson Cooper. Show me how little you know of things mechanical. I'm ready.....
.
.
.