Everything Being Equal ...

For a long time I have been bothered by inequality. Our constitution says, "Equal protection under the law." Unfortunately in both law and life it just isn't true.

Last week-end, as the ESPN announcers gleefully stated repeatedly, when star running back for Oregon, Thomas broke loose once again for long gainers making defensive players look like they were at lunch, they referred to the player as the "Black Mamba."

I reminisced about a few years ago in a similar situation on Monday Night Football, when Howard cosell said in his excitement, "Look at that little monkey run." Using an improbable stretch, the remark, instead of referring to his elusiveness and speed, equated monkeys being black, as the runner was. Cosell was fired for the so called gaff.

In law, there are many other examples. "Hate Crimes." You can beat the crap out of another person and be charged with third degree assault. Call your opponent a racial or ethnic slur turns it into a felony. Really. And we accept this enormous error in judgement and equality as alright, because after all, it's prejudicial. Since when, as distasteful as it is, is prejudice illegal?

One of my favorite memories is that of Bayview Daze a few years ago. A black man wandered into a bar that shall remain un named. It was at the time a drunken irreponsible crowd that contained a few red necks. The black man was hasstled with, "Your kind don't belong here, man." He left, not wanting to cause any trouble. The red neck followed him trying to start a fight. He took a swing at the black man. He woke up in the hospital and under arrest. I loved it. Instant karma.

But even the term "Red Neck" is a misuse of the term as originated. In hot climates as in the southern United States, a man guiding a mule and controlling a plow from sun up to sun down always ended up with a sunburned neck. Ergo, a red neck. He was just a white farmer doing what farmers do. It was picked up as a slur toward what the "equality community" defined as an uneducated white guy that was prejudiced. That in and of itself is a prejudicial term.

Here in Idaho, just where you are from is prejudicial.  "You from the city? get out of here, man. You from Los Angeles? You don't belong here. Move on. You a Catholic? Muslim? Baptist? "I ain't. Move on, Dude.'

Affirmative Action. Now there is a fine shiny buffed up righteous phrase. "Affirmative." That word suggests that it is good. Positive, rather than negative. Spin.
Choosing a person of color or of foreign birth over anyone else for a job, education, anything, is flat wrong. It's not reverse discrimination. It's just plain discrimination or by what ever ilk you wish to justify it. Equality is a simple well defined word. Why try to alter it's meaning?

Where have we gone in trying to be righteous? How did we get here? Why have we not redressed these obvious wrongs. Why are so many apologists of our society so uneducated as to our origins. Why? Why?Why? The route to enlightenment is education not  laws that are unconstitutional.