"Judge not lest ye be judged"

How do you measure the true weight of a threat or of difference? What is so threatening about listening to someone else's view when it contradicts yours? What is the danger in using "humorous" stereotypes? Isn't all free in love and comedy after all?

Two things influence these questions.
1. Tonight's saturday night live episode where they had two African-American emergency workers "refusing" to work on "their holiday: Martin Luther King day." The "joke" didn't stop there though. Instead they were criticized for not knowing "their" history and portrayed as lazy, uneducated, self-absorbed and hypocritically political. What is the point exactly of such "humor" anyway? This really should piss people off, not make them laugh. The show also made it a point of using "dumb redneck" trucker stereotypes and a joke about a newscaster who has both many "husbands and a tv wife." Perhaps I am too "thin skinned" but I do think that this sort of "humor" isn't funny at all, it's troubling.

2. Reading the enormous (and angry!) response to Marcy's letter to the arbiter titled "Symbols of Racism." You can read it on her blog: http://bodyontheline.blogspot.com.
Just reading the letters of response, there's so much anger and defensiveness, offense at her "ignorance" and "bigotry" and people can't tell apparently whether or not she's a professor or a student because they address her as both despite the fact that her preface clearly says she is a professor. Anyhow, the responses made me think...how do you change such things if you can't even speak your mind without evoking such blanket hatred? How do you encourage thought, respect for diversity and discourse on a subject such as racism if people aren't willing to even acknowledge their own biases. Some of the responses had some interesting questions though, for example a couple of people asked how the Confederate Flag is any more "racist" than the American flag, the cross or other symbols people don or display every day?

Lastly, I'm wondering what people will think or if I'm going to get some hateful responses on the pictures I've put on here in the last few posts. I wonder why an image of two men embracing might make people angry or if words about feminism might create certain mental boxes to try and put me into. One of the most intriguing comments from Marcy's blog/arbiter article is the one that quoted Ann Coulter. I could say, gee imagine that, you're quoted a woman who has made a career feminist/leftist/liberal bashing but do you ever wonder why you agree with her and where she would be if it weren't for the leftist/liberal/feminists? Hmm???

When will it become a serious matter to think about power and the abuse of power and priviledge? Authenticity? Agency? Authority? When can we (or can we) just sit down and have a discussion...human to human...about humanity?

peace!

"Always hold firmly to the thought that each one of us
can do something to bring some portion
of misery to an end"--from a card someone gave me for the holidays.


.
...question the weight of the gaze...
just what do you expect to see?