Archive for March 14th, 2005

2005.03.14

Once Upon a Time in America Part Three

Once upon a time in America the Stock Market crashed horribly. Our country went into an economic depression so bad it is simply called the Great Depression. Few people could get a job to take care of their families. Even the rich, though protected by the vast amounts of wealth they had acquired, realized that unless the situation was fixed America could fall apart. We had fought a war in Europe that was dirty and nasty. The American Midwest was swirling in dirt called the Dust Bowl. Times were bad and American moral was in the pits.

Washington stepped in to take control. Sweeping reforms were set in place and many programs started to help Americans recover and be prosperous again. Eventually we had Social Security, which insured that what ever happened you would be able to retire with something, which was better than nothing, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, which put people to work so they could send money home to feed families and make improvements on our American infrastructure.

America was beginning to see that together we could accomplish almost anything. As proof of this President Kennedy declared that within a decade an American would be walking on the moon, and we did just that. No matter how bad things might be, as long as we trust in each other and have broad trust in our government, we can accomplish what is best. For everyone.

2005.03.14

Hairism in America

…the dream remains the same: a society free of hairism in our lifetimes.Why does America insist on calling our fellow citizens, who happen to have dark skin likely from their African ancestry, Afro-Americans? Is that like call white Americans, likely with European ancestry, Mullet-Americans? Is America that obsessed with our hair? Do we really distinguish ourselves along lines of what kind of hair we have from birth?

I call on all Americans, regardless of your skin color, to reject this blatant hairism. It is discriminatory and irrelevant in our modern society where hair can be straightened, colored, cut, shaped and shaved. Some people even wear wigs. Blatant hairists would have you think that this is important, that the hair makes the person and some hair styles are better than others. Yet some hairists out there might themselves be in the closet, wearing product or getting hairdos that hide their true origins.

The Founding Brothers all wore wigs. Perhaps they thought it would hide their origins or prevent hairists from their days from raising a stink. Wigs went out of style a long time ago, but I think the dream remains the same: a society free of hairism in our lifetimes.