Pessimistic Politics: Race Riots? WTF!!!

Caution: This article deals with themes and messages some may find offensive. What did you expect, the word “race” is right in the title?

So I’m in Korea, where every family is 100% Korean and has been for longer than anybody can remember, and I have to explain to everyone I meet that not only am I American, but I’m German too, and my best friend is Polish [editor’s note: only legally. Perhaps some Native American, but the world will never know…], and I went to high school with some people from another planet, and so on. But, I explain, that’s the wonderful thing about America. America is unlike any other country, because nobody is originally from here. It’s a big mixing bowl where everybody can be accepted as fundamentally American while at the same time celebrating their heritage. It is, as I said, wonderful.

You almost get to the point that you can be a little smug while you talk about it, as though no other country has quite achieved our level of sophistication because they're homogeneous. But then, I hate smugness, so I make a concentrated effort not to be.

Even so, it’s not wrong to be proud of my country, is it? Even if our current administration is run by morons, even if we haven’t escaped the trappings of social class that exist everywhere else, there are still some really good things you can say about us.

Then I sign on to drudgereport.com, my choice in up-to-the-minute news, and find out that my hometown is making headlines around the world. Race riots? WTF!!!

My first instinct was that this was yet another ploy of the Bushies to get the entire world in their grip. After all, an 8 o’clock curfew isn’t something we ever saw in America before New Orleans and New York, and it just makes sense that Bush would practice on a few individual cities before declaring himself emperor for life. It wasn’t until I read the article that I realized the feds had almost nothing to do with it. It’s all your fault.

Yes, your fault. I’ve been silent on the topic long enough, but I can’t help but notice that ever since I left, the country hasn’t been able to take care of itself. Maybe it’s my fault, I was micro-managing too much or something, but I’d still expect you to know that some things are not acceptable. Hurricanes, race riots and martial law, oh my. These things never happened under my watch.

To be honest, I can see why the Nazi party picked Toledo. As I hinted before, Toledo is a predominantly eastern-European city. Which means a lot of Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, Austrians, and the people who started it all, the Germans. That’s not a criticism, I’m German and proud of it, I’m just trying to explain their choice. Probably they were hoping to elicit more sympathy from the pasty faced whites before moving on to the less receptive cities, like Harlem.

Hell, maybe they did. KKK membership logs aren’t exactly a matter of public record, but I would hate to think that anyone I went to high school with ran off to join the Klan (and here I am thinking of a specific dandelion-headed dweeb who makes a habit out of backing the losing side).

I feel the need to explain myself, because I’ve been thinking about this for a while. When we were growing up in the suburbs of Oregon, Ohio [editor’s note: next to Toledo. Duh.], nobody ever had a problem with race. I often remarked, and heard others remark, how anybody could ever be so short sighted. Racism sounded like the stupidest thing in the world.

Mind, this wasn’t because we were more enlightened than anyone else. Really, it’s because there was no race. Really. I went to elementary school with 500 similarly complexioned children and one black student, who I used to believe was made out of chocolate pudding. Really.

Same through middle school and high school, and when I finally ran into an exchange student from Mexico, I was so taken by her exotic charms that I begged her to come with me to the Homecoming dance.

I’m not excusing racism, but it’s easy to dismiss it when you have a fundamental lack of understanding of the problem. We were sitting in Honkeyville, USA, casually chiding anyone who would raise a hand to anyone different from them, when everyone we knew was exactly the same. All I’m saying is, it’s a lot harder to contend with when it’s staring you in the face everyday.

I’ll give you an example, and it’s difficult for me to talk about because it makes me feel like I’m a bad person. I am an American working in Korea, the only American in my office, the only white person in the entire building (the rest are either Asian, black or Texan). It really shouldn’t bother me at all, but after about six months, I began to realize that it did.

I have yet to completely come to terms with the fact that Koreans irritate me, but it’s true. Their accent annoys me. The way they speak to each other in Korean and I feel like they’re talking about me irritates me. The way they bow every time someone senior to them joins the formation so that they look like drinking birds gets to me. It all starts to bother me.

Does that make me a racist? No, not really. I might be experiencing culture shock for the first time, might even prefer my own culture to theirs, but it’s only normal to appreciate what you grew up with. I can think whatever I want, but as long as I don’t act on it, nobody is in any position to talk bad about me. As long as I go out of my way to treat all my soldiers fairly and respect everybody’s individual beliefs, I’m still doing my part to strengthen the alliance and promote a spirit of unity.

But now I’m incredibly off topic. I believe I was talking about the Nazi Party. Aren’t they just expressing their right to freedom of speech? Isn’t it okay to say whatever they want, as long as they don’t hurt anyone?

What about the black gang members? Isn’t it okay to express their displeasure as long as they don’t hurt anyone?

Surprisingly, technically, the answer is yes, they should be allowed to say whatever they want. Even if they come into conflict, they are both simply engaging in a debate of ideas. The problem comes in when they violate the terms of a “peaceful demonstration” and began advocating violence.

Simply using the name “Nazi Party” brings a certain connotation to mind, and I have a hard time believing that their ultimate goals were peaceful. Even more so with the gang members, who began shooting and rioting right away, endangering innocent lives. The government is, much as I hate to say it, authorized to intervene to save lives, which is what they did.

I no longer remember the point I was trying to make. Call it a ramble, if you will, but I hope I brought up a few interesting topics. And I hope somewhere, somebody will engage in civilized debate over it. Just don’t start killing people.