Ranting on: Self Respect

in the early evening on Thursday, the 21st of October 2004 by Tina

In the words of Ray Charles:

“I knew being blind was suddenly an aid. I never learned to stop at the skin. If I looked at a man or a woman, I wanted to see inside. Being distracted by shading or coloring is stupid. It gets in the way. It’s something I just can’t see.”

I have a previous post where I am talking about affirmative action, Negro college fund etc… Now I am a person who (if I were of age) back in the 1960’s I would have been fighting along side folks like Martin Luther King Jr, because I agree completely the treatment at that time was wrong! No one should ever be treated like a second class citizen (as well as the long list of problems of that time period)!

There was a time where “minorities” needed help in securing employment, by not being fired or not hired due to their race. Look around, now we have a problem with people who should NOT be hired and or should be fired, yet all in the name of affirmative action they are employed! This is degrading to the races they once benefited. How on earth could anyone have self respect knowing they are only hired & not fired due to such a policy? I know I enjoy knowing I am hired on my merits; I have satisfaction in the fact that I am employed due to my abilities and hard work! I do put “minorities” in quotations because I do not like the term, I think it is an insulting term, almost like they are minor and do not count, so I try not to emphasize such a degrading term (even if they are a smaller part of the population, it just an insulting term, are they a smaller percentage?).

Along with affirmative action, another obsolete item is the Negro College Fund. Again there was a time this would have been a benefit, but now it is against the law to not accept someone for any other fund due to race or religion. So this is a special fund for only one race, that isolating those folks and again shows perhaps they are unable to earn a scholarship by any other means or merits, they only can achieve a scholarship against others of their own race, doesn’t that sound sad.

So I have added a quote above from the amazing, aw-inspiring, legendary Ray Charles. The man deserves and has fully earned respect every step of the way! I added the quote from Ray Charles above for several reasons. He saw the advantage of being blind and think of the times he had witnessed; that shows even more of his character! He found judging someone by their color and not by their character “stupid”, very well said!

America is an amazing place, and the people are what make this country special, as well as our policies and how this country is run, whether it is good or bad! The shame is when people draw lines due to race, status, religion, or some other insane reason. We always can gain from each other, regardless of background, regardless of age, regardless of education!

So we also have these commercials focused at the black communities, again another insult. These commercials make it appear the black community would not vote unless urged to by celebrities representing their own race. Again how insulting I would find that, if I were the target of such advertising! I can see the encouraging the youth to vote, although I think that is a bad idea for a whole “Ëœnother reason. People should be encouraged to vote by their own intelligence and will to do so, not because some celebrity is insisting they do so!

So to sign off, look again at the quote above by Ray Charles, remember it!