The Existential Factor

Although Racist aren't the omnipresent Boogey-Men they were in their hey-day, I readily admit they do exist. Racism however, has become fairly obsolete.

If you consider racism in the sense of a widespread united hatred for an opposed race, you may find, as I have that it's largely non-existent.

Every now and then a Racist will make an appearance in society. Sometimes w/ enough shock & awe to vie for the nation's attention e.g. Imus, Jena 6. But more often that not, Racist as a whole are lucky to garner a few minutes of conversation around the water cooler.

A hushed "Did you hear about the guy who told all the Black people to exit Wal-Mart?" Or a lone article in The Washington Post on the depiction of our Head of State as a primate. 

By and large Racism, that unified conviction to hatred, is beginning to evaporate. If it's not gone already.

Yet as I write this I find I'm not filled w/ pride. I'm not "proud" of our society. I don't feel as if we've consciously taken a step forward in to unbiased acceptance. If anything I feel the absence of racism in society is merely a by-product of our attention span.

In short, we just don't care anymore.

We're not moving forward with the same conviction we had to running backwards.

Mass Lynchings may be a thing of the past, but Gay Marriage is still a thing of the future. While any and everyone may have the right to vote, no one has the right to free Health-Care.

There's been no real growth. We've kinda just, "moved on".


What do we really have to be proud of??

Has racism stifled the existence of Black Culture?

Webster defines culture as "The predominating values or behaviors that characterize a specific group or organization".

Throughout time epic civilizations have come and gone. Each with their own rich culture. Practices and traditions saturated in their core values.

Today I find culture most present in the major ethnic parties of the world. Asian, Hispanic/Latino, Indian, Italian, Jewish, Native American. All massive civilizations who as a whole hold an authentic conviction to preserving the core of their culture.

And yet as I comb through the melting pot that is America I find myself unable to pin down the existence of Black Culture. Does it exist?

Black in the sense of the American Negro. For I feel a large majority of those who identify themselves as "African American" on their legal documents would more accurately prefer to designate themselves "Black" given the option. Though genetically rooted in the African culture it is my belief that the modern day "African American" doesn't identify with being African very much if at all. And rightfully so. At this point several centuries seperate us from the original classification. At this point we are "Black".

So where is our culture? Where do we stand amidst the other towering nationalities of the world? Did our conviction to hatred during our racial contest drown out our Culture?

I readily admit we as a people share certain stereotypical/genetic commonalities, but as a whole I find we have no widespread traditions. Or at the very least an accumulation of shared values.