Apathy and Civil Rights

I am amazed at what is going on in Louisiana. I wasn't going to post about this but after the total rape of civil rights and the justice system that has gone on, especially this week, I can no longer keep quiet. I think, really, that what disturbs me the most is not the details of the "Jena Six" events (and if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then I recommend you watch the news or read a newspaper every once in a while). What bothers me so much is the reactions I've witnessed as a result. I'll be honest -- I'm fucking sick of how apathetic this society is. Yes, we hear about all the outraged people, the rally, Rev Al Sharpton getting involved, ect ect. But what have any of us really done? When are we really going to take a look at ourselves and our own lives? What the hell did people MLK, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Douglass, Ella Josephine Baker, Rosa Parks, and Bayard Rustin fight so hard for? We have accomplished so much in this country, and yet so little has changed. You put a fucking noose on a tree as a "warning" to the African American population in your town, and you should get more than a slap on the wrist. That's a death threat. Seriously, that is no different than directly threatening a person's life, which I had assumed was a serious crime. Apparently, not in the deep South. Not if you have the "wrong" skin tone, that is. But more to the point (because I have no interest in going through all the ugly details of the situation right now, it's too exhausting), why is it that everytime I talk to someone who is infuriated about what is happening all they do is complain with no real action? People lost their lives, their jobs, everything during the civil rights movement to fight for what they believed in. What do WE do? We wear a specific colored shirt to signify how much we support our cause. I'm sorry, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone (or do I really care?), but that is bullshit. Donate some of your money to get those fucking kids out of jail. Write a letter to congress. Make your voice heard. Rally up. But don't sit around and wear a black t-shirt and think that you're helping. I think it comes from a good place, yes. The intention, I suppose, is admirable. But good intentions are not enough to fight injustice. People are too indifferent, reading about some atrocity or another in the paper, and then forgetting about it once it's tossed into the recycling bin. Or, simply, people get too wrapped up in their own lives... which hey, I can understand because life is tough. Frankly, and forgive me for sounding like a conspiracy theorist here for a moment, but I am not the least bit surprised that the demographic most willing to go out and do something (18-30) is the demographic most in debt to credit card companies, college loans, ect., making it difficult to escape our lives to do more than we're capable of doing right now. I think it's calculating and it's subtle. But the point is, sometimes no matter what is going on in our lives, we have to be brave enough to take a step forward and make a change. What happened (and IS happening) in Jena is something that I would go as far as calling sinister. We live here, in a country built on the ideals of freedom, and we shouldn't rest until this nation truly lives up to it -- even if it's not going to be during our own lifetime. It's not acceptable that this is still happening. NONE of us should find this acceptable. And not even just this, but civil rights violations can be found everywhere and we have to, at the very least, stay aware. Malcolm X once said something like, "I don't see the American Dream. I see an American Nightmare." I love this country, because I can see what it has the potential to be. But the farther it falls away from the Dream, the more pronounced the Nightmare becomes.

As individuals we have to take action. As individuals we have to do anything we can to fight injustice. And sometimes it will shake up whatever comforts we're used to, but anything worth fighting for is going to be a hard as the saying goes. And I'm not saying that you should attend rallies all the time or join the ACLU or constantly preach whatever your cause is. But HAVE a cause. Donate a few dollars, every little bit helps. Write a letter to your congressman. And yes, I realize that sometimes in this big world and in this messed up system, it seems like there is so little that any one person can do. However, with that philosophy, nothing would ever get better in this world. Apathy is just as bad as hate. Both are counterproductive to any real progression. And I honestly believe that we deserve to live in a world better than that.



"A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan."
-Martin Luther King Jr.