Justice For Some

Like many other people, I was unsurprised to hear that Darren Wilson was not to be indicted for his murder of Michael Brown. Nevertheless I was and still am incredibly furious and disappointed at the state of our justice system. It got me thinking of the Pledge of Allegiance that a lot of us were required to blindly recite every morning in grade school:

"I pledge allegiance, to the flag of the United State of America,

and to the Republic, for which is stands,

one Nation, under God, indivisible, 

with liberty and justice for all."

With recent controversies (e.g. Zimmerman, Rice, Wilson) springing up so often, "justice for all" is becoming further and further from the truth. It got me thinking, why have we gotten so lenient (to say the least) with severe law offenders? Recently I started watching How To Get Away With Murder. For those who don't watch it's about a defense attorney who hires a group of law students to help her win cases for the sleaze and scumbags of Pennsylvania. The show shows the extremes the defense go to in order to win at any cost and how immoral they are. Yeah yeah I know it's fiction but still, most defense attorneys are known to be despicable people. People are getting away with murder (hence the title) in cases where it's damn near obvious they're guilty! Of course I'm not only blaming DAs for the issue of injustice but they are undoubtedly a huge part of the problem.

When you think about it, our justice system gives way too much opportunity for those indicted to get off easily or even scot-free. Sure I'm all for fair trial for all but too many criminals end up not getting what they deserve. I mean I thought we hit rock bottom when Zimmerman was found not guilty but then came the Ferguson decision. It's one thing for juries to wrongfully acquit someone but to not even indict is just asinine. Still I'm not ready to give up on humanity as so many people seem to be doing. It always gets worse before it gets better, right? 

Final WBS Thoughts

Let me start off by saying how much I enjoyed the roller coaster that is The White Boy Shuffle. The change of pace and setting was really refreshing and it was interesting how there were still many connections to be made to the previous three novels.

Out of the three, there's no doubt that TWBS is most similar to Invisible Man. So much so in fact, it could almost be a remake set in the 90's. Gunnar and the narrator both start off incredibly unaware of the racial tensions between whites and blacks. They then get their whole worlds turned upside down by moving to opposite environments (Santa Monica to Hillside, the South to New York). There they undergo a series of transformations that culminate in a huge event of chaos that leave them forever altered.

Unlike Invisible Man, however, TWBS ends very somber and dark. Rather than signing off with a positive outlook toward the future like the narrator, Gunnar seems to have completely given up on the world. His dismal disposition is somewhat shocking as he has a growing family and friends to live for. On the other hand, it's understandable how he's fed up with the endless blind worship he faces at every turn. He wants to go out his way and the only way he can is to embrace death. Why give those who detest him the satisfaction of the kill? Beatty then closes spectacularly with the image of painted white targets centered around Gunnar's motel printed vividly in our minds. How appropriate.

Rant on Race

Last week we had an interesting discussion on whether or not white culture exists in our society. Some jokingly said it doesn't while others pointed out various white stereotypes. It got me thinking, why isn't white culture as tangible as other ones? What does race mean to us?

There's no point in denying it: our society is comprised of countless divisions ranging from a variety of characteristics. No matter how hard we try to break down those barriers, they still exist. That being said, out of all of them, it seems the racial one has cracked the most. All one has to do to see the progress is compare 17th century to 21st century America. It makes sense that we are the most progressive/open-minded today then we've ever been but it doesn't mean we should take it for granted or be satisfied with where we are.

When you think of white people who immediately come to mind? Caucasian Americans right? Black people? African-Americans. Asians? Chinese. Latinos? Mexicans. Alright so the last two aren't consensus but definitely common misconceptions even today. It's easy to place minorities into set groups but what about whites? Black people are associated with rap, slang, fried chicken, watermelon and Asians with math, video games, bad English, rice. We've heard it all. Most racial cultures are pretty concrete yet when one encounters a random White person, it's hard to categorized them into a predetermined standard. Yeah there's the rich white man or the redneck hillbilly but they aren't as "obvious" as the other stereotypes.

By definition a Caucasian is a white-skinned person; a person of European origin. So there's the answer to my first question. There are just so many different types of white people all with varying physical features, accents, dialects that it would be preposterous to put them all under one huge classification, right? But then what about other races? For Asians, there are Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. each with -American counterparts. Latinos: Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Argentinians, Columbians, etc. each again with northern hybrids. Most Asian-Americans are more similar to Caucasian Americans than Asians. While occasionally we have prejudices derived from personal experience it's mostly media and/or ignorance that fuel the irrational organization. I admit it, I do it a lot. Happens to all of us.

It's fair to say that race has more of a social association than biological. That barrier is no longer held up by science but by us. It's so easy to get entrapped in our own bubbles and forget how massive the world is. Everyone is most accurately defined by where and how they live, not by social constructions.