Whodidit? The Black or Hispanic Guy, of Course!

Dang.

It's about 11:30 on a Saturday night, and I just finished watching this flick called "Vantage Point." Good as hell movie about different viewpoints as the president is shot by some wack-job terrorist group (not gonna spoil the surprise, but it is an entertaining flick).

Anywho, there is this one "viewpoint", as seen by a tourist played by Forrest Whitaker (a hell of an actor; I really need to check out "The Last King Of Scotland" to witness his Academy-Award winning performance). Now if you are not familiar with Mr. Whitaker, he is a person of color; not that should matter, but well, by the title of this little ditty, u know some negro-ness was coming into play in this bitch somewhere...:)

Anyway, the character Mr. Whitaker plays is a dude on the outs with his wife, and he happens to be in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time. As to, as mentioned earlier, not to spoil the film for those who didn't see it, he ends up playing a very vital and positive role in the film. It's cool, because he is just a normal guy whose personal life is going to crap, and he takes a vacation just to get his head on right.

Just like anybody might have done, whether they'd be Brown, Peach, or Mocha-skinned (as I've mentioned in earlier posts, there are no "white" folks nor "black" folks; seriously, if I was black, the only way I'd be able to tell where my mouth was is if I smiled; old joke, but makes sense).

So I finish the flick, kiss my spouse "The Franchise" goodnight, and begin to peruse the Internet before I headed over to my much-neglected blog. I hit the NY Daily News website (my hometown paper), and automatically there are a variety of stories about crime, murder, and so on and so forth.

Now take a second...let me set up this scenario for you...

Say there was a police chase in NYC where the suspects are, say, 16 to 18 years old, and in the end both of them are killed.

Automatically, what would be the first thing that would pop in your head?

I am willing to bet that you'd think they were gang members, drug dealers, and so forth, and they were (sigh) Black or Hispanic (or my aforementioned Brown (or beige or burnt, depending on parents or if the "peach" master's DNA happened to pop up 6 generations later).

It's OK to admit it.

I am a Brown/somewhat overdone skinned man, and it is the first thing I'd think.

Yeah, I know...not cool to put down my own peeps like that, as that it's bad enough when "peach/look like you threw up and u r pale"-skinned folks are trained from generation to generation to think that way.

It seems it should be much worse when a fellow "Brownie" (sorry, Girl Scouts) thinks the same.

So, whose fault is that, anyway? I mean, hell, how do we know that Robert and Thomas (first "peach" like names I could think of), two teenagers from, say, the Upper East Side in Manhattan in NYC got bored, sold drugs, and ended up being gunned down?

(Note, well more than likely, chances are the cops wouldn't have shot them unless they had no choice..."brownies" might as well have "please put bullet in my ass here" tattooed on their "bling" when it comes to policemen. Sorry; I know there are good cops, but too many of them abuse their power. That's another post for another day).

Is it the media, who have forgotten how to actually do a news story from all angles, but instead want the most shocking bit of news (or expected, as, well, all us "Brownies" and "Mochas" are robbin', stealin', drug dealin', 52 times over baby daddy losers, when we are on the news it has to be negative) they can get on the air to get your attention? Part of the reason why I didn't pursue journalism once I graduated from college (that, and back in the early 90's, I couldn't afford to be paid hairs stuck in shit for pay in exchange for 60 hours a week, hoping I'd get a spot at a major publication or newspaper).

Or...

Is it the way society wants people to think of minorities, as it is passed on to generation to generation? Ignorance is like getting sneezed on and a big ol' plug of snot hits you in your open mouth while eating a Subway sandwich. U'll catch something, and keep spreading it to the next person (as, well, u sneeze your mucous plug in their mouths). I was taught to distrust white folks; I can't blame my folks, 'cuz they grew up in the segregated south. However, they've met enough assholes from all races to know better in their fairly new older years.

Stereotypes are harder to get rid off than the "Brown" off of Michael Jackson (Vitiligo my ass, Mike!)

Or finally, is it just easier to assume that a certain group of people are always guilty of the worse, because we're all too lazy to find out the truth?

I mean hell, as long as it isn't happening to you or me, you figure it's just another "brutha" or "wetback" or "Chico"whatever who doesn't know any better, right? Good riddance if they get killed or go to jail, correct?

Don't get me wrong...if u r a dumb ass and u break the law, then u deserve to get bent over like a 90 degree angle and violated, OK?

However, and this is a lesson I need to learn as well, so that I can stop my kids from repeating the same mistake, if we all could actually look at things and learn facts about a situation (or in this case, a set of people), you might find out a few bad apples doesn't kill a bunch. The media, entertainment, etc has made billions off of reinforcing guilt on an entire set of people, teaching us to automatically assume that when a crime is committed, it is more than likely being committed by someone other than the majority.

Note...I know statistics show that most violent crimes are committed by minorities...this is, well, sadly, fact.

However...

Have you seen what the AIG's, Fords, GM's, etc have done lately? Billions of dollars wasted, and they come beggin' the Fed for help.

That's a f'ing crime.

At least the few bad "Brownies" and "Mochas" are trying to get their own...

...albeit in not the most honest fashion.

Oh, and I doubt that anyone would assume a minority ordered those AIG paid vacations after they got their first bailout.