Back to the grind

It's hard to believe it was only a week since I posted my last blog and that I've back at school for an even shorter time. Once I returned, there was no time for farting around like after winter break. It was straight back into classes and what some people would refer to as "the grind". It took me a couple of days but once I reminded myself that the next two weeks were going to be super busy with midterms, and a paper I got my act together and got back to work.

In addition to being sort of out of it just because I had just gotten back from break, a lot of other stuff has been on my mind. For one, HEALTHCARE! WOO! I couldn't be happier that this finally passed and next time someone tries to say Obama isn't doing enough they should think about the fact that he's made history in just over a year despite the fact that his predecessor left him in a seemingly impossible situation to get out of. Respek.

Healthcare: Great. Responses to healthcare: trifilicious. Multiple congressmen were SPIT on by conservatives the day of and after the vote. I don't understand how this is allowed. If a Republican were spit on this would be a HUGE deal. How dare we disrespect the great patriotic congressmen of this country, right? Yet these people were SPIT on and black congressmen, (one of whom was a champion during the civil rights movement in this country) were called the n-word as they walked to work. This really upsets me. The fact that TODAY we still have people who want to rewind and go back to a time when certain groups of people were marginalized concerns me. The fact that the "teabagger" movement is considered a legitimate MOVEMENT. Really?! Despite from trying to draw a historical parallel that DNE (does not exist, calc AB whadddupp?!), these people are refusing to believe that healthcare will benefit them when the majority of them don't have coverage. Healthcare is a good thing. Especially for people who don't have coverage now. I don't see how you can argue the other way. If you get sick it makes sense that you would benefit from some sort of plan that would allow you to get care at a cost that's affordable to you. Right? So why do these people not want healthcare? Why are all these way Right groups coming out with such full force now? WHY in the world would intelligent people vote for a ticket that could've possibly made Sarah Palin president of the United States? I hate to constantly play the race card but if it's all that's in my hand....

And it has been this whole week. On Wednesday (I believe) an article was written for the Harvard Salient (for those of you who don't know, the Salient is the Conservative publication on campus) that called Harvard's new "Ethnic Studies" secondary field "a good example of an academic subject driven entirely by a leftist political agenda". The author stressed the importance of a "conservative" education that included no histories other than those of Western civilization. He essentially calls the accomplishments of all other peoples, namely marginalized groups useless and illegitimate...things that we shouldn't bother learning about. "Americans of color have undoubtedly done some things of note, but their 'encounters' and 'experiences' are not of paramount importance to a university education." What about the "Americans of color" who were the basis for the foundation of the economy of this country back in the day? What about the outstanding accomplishments of black artists and writers despite generations of structural setbacks they had to endure? He LITERALLY says that "Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality" are "useless". USELESS? This is simply untrue. On the most BASIC level...there was a time when women could not vote. Now they can. Should we just ignore that there was a change there? Is that not noteworthy? As far as I'm concerned, a "university education" should not ignore history.

So...what does this mean? If you are not a white, christian, male of Northern European decent, the history of your being is illegitimate. Sorry, I know that might be hard to hear. Now I know some people might be thinking I'm being too harsh. After all, freedom of speech right? What about my freedom to be legitimate and learn about myself and where I come from? To my surprise, there are people out there who believe that I shouldn't have that freedom. How could someone this young hold these views? It doesn't make sense. He wasn't born at a time when "progressive" things weren't being taught which means that he grew up in an environment where he heard these things. It's scary to me that people who hold such regressive beliefs about people and the world, particularly of this country (just because it's closer to home for me) still exist today. WE DO NOT LIVE IN A POST-RACIAL SOCIETY. If anything, people are more vocal about their racist views now because there is so much backlash against Obama anyway, so why not? But hey, they have a voice so what can we who know this stuff is just plain wrong do about it? We have to have a voice too and be just as loud, if not louder. Right now is truly a scary time because the more we progress (black president, healthcare) the more angry and vocal the regressive voices (racist people spitting at congressmen and saying the n-word, teabaggers) will become.

My point is we gotta get back to the grind. There are amazing things happening right now and there's opportunity for so much more. I have a feeling people are going to be talking about this time in the future so I'd like to make some more history while we have the chance and before it's too late. Keep talking to people, write little blog things like this, argue with people, read about what's going on. Get back to the grind. I certainly have. LifeSci 1b and this stuff have been on my mind all week. Oh leh do ih.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLH3XLZirHU

-JRJ