February 19, 2009

Dear Equality.

While wasting away at a computer screen in an office no bigger then a closet, my mind began to wander. This is the result.....

OK.

I don't think I believe in equality.
Equal rights for lesbians,gays,mexicans,blacks,whites,men,women and so on, inevitably means
submission and incorporation, not liberation.

The equal rights agenda is not about respecting difference, but destroying it. How can we have any self-respect if we sacrifice our identity and culture for the sake of parity? It is acceptance.

I do a fair amount of complaining about people segregating themselves. I understand
While in the process of building a movement, there is a need to come together, feel togetherness, share a common ground (solidarity). At the same time I feel that Latino fest, queer specific events, and all other similar situations are at sometimes counter productive. Labels and categories can easily become part of oppression. Am I queer enough or Mexican Enough to join these groups? Do I have to attend these events and be active in the lifestyle to claim it? I Just wonder, how important is it to 'feel' like 'others'? Is my feeling deep enough? How deep is deep enough? I see it as creating sameness. Well, not completely, but the tendency does exist.

I guess I'm not really making any sense at all. Maybe I just feel that I don't fit in anywhere? That could possibly be why I am so bitter.

The best I can get from what my brain is trying to ooze out, I guess is that, I love the fact that people want and are different. It is much better than settling for complacency, but keep in mind that not everyone will agree with you and some people could never be the same as you ( and its not there fault ) and that is okay! Chill out.

I used a thesaurus Quite a bit for most of this rambling. I don't apologize for all the spelling and grammar mistakes! haha

there may be a future collection of my thoughts on 'Privilege' later






4 comments:

Unknown said...

i liked reading this one. i also am not down with equality, but mainly because i am white and then i'd be less rich, ha! but seriously, i appreciate seeing people celebrate their differences (as opposed to fighting over differences). people are NOT born equal and i think people need to recognize it. besides obvious ethnic differences, some are dumb, and some are smart. some are pretty and some are ugly, etc. and there's shades of grey all in between. the idea of equality is a remnant of the judeo-christian heritage western civilization was built upon (all men equal in the eyes of god), and we all know how much god sucks.
fuck color blindness
im white, and you're not. our lives are very different, and we can still be friends.

you inspired me to rant, good job!

hullahbaloo said...

just get a boy toy everything will sort itself out

jay-way. said...

i liked reading this one too. you fit in with the rest of us mixed kids that don't fit in, richard.

i think the aim of equality, conceptually, is to get to a point where we are all judged based on our individual stupidity rather than our assumed ignorance because of one group or another that we fit into. i'm dumb cuz my brain is dumb, not cuz i'm black, i'm queer, i was born with girl parts, etc.
i think too we all have that inane desire to belong to something but oppression or perceived oppression heightens that urge. and because of that we cling to the group or groups that we feel most anchored to, be it skin color, religion, sexual orientation, or whatever else you can find that makes you different than your oppressor.

kill whitey, Black power.

Ashley C. said...

Yeah, I think a lot of people equate equality with sameness. Yes we're all equal, deep down in a fundamental way (my life is no more important than yours), but we are not all the same. Cultures are different, girls and boys are different, races are different. I don't understand why these differences can't be recognized. It's like when people say they don't see color. They're stupid. Everyone sees color and we should see it. Differences make us more interesting.