By Dewayana T Barnes
Facing the truths behind the social constructs
“Ignorance is bliss” is a quote that constantly plagues my mind on a day-to-day basis. It appears that the more knowledge I gain, the more I think the quote holds some truth. This semester is probably the one in which I have acquired the most knowledge, simply because the last few semesters have mainly been filled with general education components. My current nineteen-hour course load is diversified this semester, with classes including “Black Political Thought,” “Women’s Studies,” “Middle Eastern Politics,” and our own interdisciplinary course offered through the liberal studies program. I began to realize that my thoughts didn’t belong to me when the first thing Dr. Angela Davis said to our Women’s Studies class was, “What are ideologies? Is that your way of thinking or some theory that society has constructed?” That’s when I realized that I had been socially constructed, ignorant to the truth that lies behind the masks of democratic and capitalistic notions that propel the United States forward today. I didn’t recognize the white privilege or the patriarchal structure that continues to deny me my basic human rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Now, I understand the structures falsely proclaim that the United States is a place of freedom, equality, and justice. They claim that people of color have risen to great heights of success since the days of slavery and no longer need reform of social changes within the democracy to become totally equal to whites. Obviously I understand that their propaganda is truly for economic gain and not for social justice, which is greatly needed. Beneath their smiles and nods of admiration, they secretly want to continue their privilege, even if it creates a disadvantage for people unlike them. Most elitists claim that people of color want to rob them of their privilege to use it for themselves; this simply is not true. People of color just want the same access and participation in American institutions, like everyone today. Just look at the alarming facts that plague blacks today. Why is it that prisons across America today are moving towards privatizing to benefit from the quick cash that comes in from labor produced by a predominantly racially marginalized community? One out of every eleven black males is involved in the criminal justice system. Black males are over seven times more likely to be incarcerated. There are almost 200,000 more black males in the prison system than in institutions of higher learning. Why is it that women of color constitute the fastest-growing prison population today? An African American woman is eight times more likely to go to prison than a white woman. This is in response to the disappearance of the welfare state as a result of legislation passed during the Clinton administration and the so-called “war on drugs.”
This so-called “war on drugs” should really be “a war on poverty.” Do these alarming statistics not display a cry from marginalized communities for social reform and change? African-Americans are disproportionately placed in poverty, and America’s main concerns are the politics of oil and the continuously growing support of laissez faire economics. When will America shift its interest to domestic policies and not butt into everyone else’s business? Why is it that we always see some hungry filthy child in a Third World country on television every other commercial, when the largest population of people in poverty in the United States is children? Why do more than a third of children not have adequate health care? I know what my opponents will say: “This is a land of opportunity, and those people chose not to act on it.” Statements like these enrage me with anger, because not everyone has equal opportunity. Like I stated earlier, just look at the statistics. Why do most of them affect people of color? Surely it’s not because we’re lazy, because everything in this world has been built upon the backs of people of color.
The United States is a pimp: the biggest gangsta in the world. The need for greed overcomes every other emotion that is displayed in everyday American life. People of color in the United States suffer from neocolonialism, and we must take a stand against this. A start would be for all minorities, including the disabled, the elderly, and the homosexual community to rally beside all racial minorities, stand up to the elitist pigs and fight for freedom. A revolution needs to come, and hopefully I will see one during my lifetime.
