Being Poltically Correct Sucks @$$

I really can't stand the fact that we can't say BLACK or WHITE without getting a dirty look from some people. The thing that really makes me laugh though, is when I see people, teachers especially, tip toe around the race of people. The race that people always have trouble saying is black people. I laugh everytime a teacher starts talkinng about culture and race because when it comes to black ethnicity, they pause and get an "oh crap" look on their face and then the say african american. This is what goes on in their minds, "Damn, should I say Black? That might offend people. I'll just say African American to be safe." This happens to all people who are not black. One thing I find funny also is that white people feel guilty about calling an African American "black" because of history. Well, its not really funny but it does have some humor in it.

I do understand the need for some poltical correctness though. Imagine if there wasn't. It would be like living in the time before the civil rights act of 1964. There would be people openly using the word niggar or spic or guck openly, because whether we like it or not racism still exists. I may be exaggerating the amount of use of racial slurrs, but I might not be. I know plenty of people who are racist which really pisses me off. It is in this situations that political correctness is useful. I think its best applied to people who are in office and those that are racist.

I know I am jumping around from subject to subject but I get really irritated when this topic comes  up. I feel its  a good thing in certain situations and in others, people go to far. It's like our freedom of speech has been severely restricted. That is why I loved the Chapelle Show so much. For my generation, he was the one who bent and broke the boundaries of what was considered politically correct. When he was hosting his show, he once said that white people say that all black people look the same and he shot back that he thought that white people all look the same. This is funny but can be considered politically incorrect.

I hate racism and I hate it sexism even more. But being politically correct all the time severly limits our freedom and this is one thing I value above almost everything else. If I can't say black or white in my class because I fear being politically incorrect than there is something wrong. Race and Gender terms are the biggest contributers to being politically correct. I haven't mentioned the gender poltical correctness terms because I can't keep a a clear thought in my head if I address that issue.

This notion of being politically corrects comes from people who have been oppressed by certain words for such a long time that it's undrstandable when they lash out with this notion. But people can take it too far. I say we should learn to live with the notion that there are some people who are just plain jerks out there and even though we place certain rules on them, some won't ever change. I know it sucks but that is reality.

We Kicked Soviet Union's @$$!

The two world wars allowed us, the United States and the Soviet Union, to rise to the status of Super Powers. Which is pretty cool but a heavy responsibility. If we paid attention in history, we know that a whole bunch of “conflicts” arose out of that era; Vietnam, Korea, and awesome Olympics. Then after the Soviet Union fell and The Hasselhoff sang a stirring song at the Berlin’s Wall fall, we were the only superpower left in the world. Which is awesome but it put us in an lonely position. But ever since we rose to this lofty position, the world has, in a sense, has looked up to us as a Big Brother. A hated big brother but a big brother nonetheless. The world looks to us for many things and they use our language as a common denominator, in a sense. Many countries use English to communicate about science, technology, business and diplomacy. I attribute it also to the globalization of the world. The world’s economy is tied in with each other and that has caused us to business with one another. I believe it is this that has accelerated the use of English everywhere. We are the main consumers of almost everything.  Air Jordans made in Thailand; totally worth it. Clothes made by poor Latin Americans; lovely. Gucci Bags made by the sweat and blood of Chinese peasants; oh yes! We consume more than we make and that is other nations economies love us; the people, not so much.

 The many nations in the world use our language because we, Americans, are everywhere. But according to Barbara Wallraff, other nations who learn to speak English usually add their own language into it. We did it with British English and other English speaking languages have done the same. As stated in her essay, “English is much easier to learn poorly and to communicate in poorly than in any other language.” Which, I think is true. If we say That boy dumb or Me no understand, we get the message. If you try saying that in German it comes out as nonsense. You would have to use a complete sentence to express that simple thought. Ich bin nicht dumb. Which is kind of annoying but good.

What I have noticed is this: the world adopts the language of the world’s superpower. Look at what happened when the Spanish took over the world and they were the world’s Super power. They had the indigenous people learn their language and now A whole continent and then some speak Spanish. The Portuguese were powerful too, and the whole country of Brazil speaks Portuguese. The ottoman Empire conquered part of Europe and much of the Middle East, now some parts of the old empire have Arabic words mixed in with the native language. That is the way of the world. However, when the super power collapses so does their hold on being the dominant language spoken in the world. Right now, it is the turn of English to be on top but when The United States falls, because it will, so will our “global language.” That is a cycle of life.  Nothing lasts forever and the power of the U.S. won’t. As long as we remain the world’s superpower our language will be the dominant language of the world.

Chapter 2’s Impact on My Writing Style

The first essay that really affected me was Mary Pipher’s “Writing to Change the World.” I have always believed that a story has the power to change the world just like the Jungle or Herodotus’ Histories did to the ancient world. I have had a few books change the way I look at the world and one of them was one called The Dead Emcee Scrolls, which is a collection of hip hop poetry. I love to write, poetry mostly. But I have been in a slump for LONG time. I read that book and I felt like a new door had been opened for me. It is beautiful and simple, something that has been elusive in my writing. Another novel that changed my life was actually written by Gary Jennings’s Aztec. It was just so explicit! I never knew how much overt language was capable of being published. But it wasn’t just that it was eloquent. While it did describe certain scenes explicitly, it was still a moving book with a powerful message. I may be exaggerating about the explicit content of the novel but it was just amazing. It was a tragic but optimistic book. Anyone who has read it will understand.

There are few words that can make you feel the simple force of one word. Just like a breath lost in a strong wind, the strength of a word like eyes, dark, light can be lost in the complex way big words are put together. I would have not known how strong a word was ‘til I read Richard Lederer’s Essay, “The Case for Short Words.” It was like the sun rise after a dark night. If you haven’t noticed I have been trying to use monosyllable words together but it is actually proving tricky for me. I don’t understand why! Well, now I do but it is still disconcerting… I am so used to putting words like verisimilitude and apoptosis into my writing, I feel like it has been stunted in its growth. It was like seeing fireworks burst in the night sky, beautifully simple. I really don’t know what else to say. I can blather on and on about how special this essay was to me but it would be better if I tried to show it. So here it goes.

I sat down on the seat and opened a magazine. The door was locked and no one was at home. I read a story about how Brad and Angelina were in another clash on who was in charge and I was shifting to the next page when I heard a knock on the door. It could not be happening. My private moment was being interrupted. “Hurry up, I need to use to the Lou.” The knock would not stop. So I got up and glared at my sister. No one disturbs my privacy.

The next day, I hid in her room, right in her closet. She took a long bath, an hour I believe. She came out, with a towel wrapped on her head, robe on her body. I waited and at the right time, I banged on her door as hard as I could. I peeked out of the closet; Big mistake. She is 5’0 feet and weighs 200 pounds. There was stuff I should not have seen. Never mess with a girl’s private time or you might pay for it in odd ways.

I challenge anyone who does not get bored reading my blog to use monosyllable words to describe a moment in time that is really significant to them.

Indifference is Worse than Hate

First of all, I just want to say that the speech given by Elie Weisel and Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter are one of the best written essays I have ever read. That said, I will discuss what indifference and silence are.
These two were masters at using ethos, pathos and logos. They weaved the concepts seamlessly; they tore out your heart, lifted your soul from the darkness of ignorance and rewired your mind at the same time. What they spoke of though was the evil of indifference and silence. I was once read that indifference is the opposite of love. After reading those two essays, I couldn’t agree more. What indifference brings to mind is a robot. I know it seems weird, but hear me out. When we think of the movie terminator, we think of humanity fighting against the machines. What was more frightening than their endurance and strength was actually with the indifference they killed with. Men, women, pregnant women, children and babies died at their metal hands. What is scarier, a man who kills in anger or a man who kills just because he can? As Elie Weisel stated, it is indifference that makes us inhuman. Because what defines us as humans is the ability to love. Other animals can possibly love but humans do it in their own unique way. Love drives our society subconsciously. Whether it’s the love of power, justice, money, mercy or equality, the most significant thing is that we love. Or as Thomas Jefferson alluded to, it is the pursuit which we yearn for. Even if we never experience love for someone or something, we will always pursue it.

Now silence, is a different thing. Let me give an example of silence. It was my first year in high school and I was taking algebra because It was not forte. The classroom was full of the typical high school kids. There were the party goers, the jocks, nerds, the cholos, the cool kids and the outsiders. I was a nerd. But as the semesters passed, the cool kids would bug this girl, who was an outsider. She was quiet and did her work. She was a nice girl and had much to offer in friendship. I talked to her but soon the “cool” kids, began to nag her almost every week. They made fun of her shoes, how she dressed and her silence. She just sat there and took it. It was painful to watch but her silence made it worse. It’s like watching someone die. I have never felt more ashamed of myself than in that year. I had the power to stop it but my silence was what caused her to be bullied. I have since than vowed not to remain silent against such injustice. It is hard to keep that vow sometimes because I fear standing alone. I understand what Martin Luther King said about the time of silence being over when he initiated the movement of desegregation. My case was not as extreme but I do understand the urgency of which he spoke of. Silence is worse when you care because it marks you as a coward. I would rather be categorized as a robot than a coward.

Question 5: The Power of Language!

What has the power of language done for me? I have an idea of what it has implanted in my mind but I have never really been able to talk about until now. Also, because I have never been asked that question before so I don’t know how to respond to it correctly. Here goes my thoughts… When I think of language, I think of magic. It is mystifying how a few sounds can be meddled into something musical and understandable. Think of the word green. It symbolizes a color. How do you define color? A shade of the rainbow? A pigment? If you were blind how would you know what it was? Language is what paints the blank canvas of our world. Imagine not being able to tell someone you love them. Sure, you could express it in your eyes, your touches, your smile but doesn’t hearing “I Love You,” make you go all warm and fuzzy? Language is magical. It can make us feel things deeper than we could with just body language. It takes on the transcendent quality that music has. (I talk a lot about music because I am so moved by it; it’s a reoccurring notion when I talk about something universal.)


But there has been a defining moment where I did feel the power of language. But in order to describe that experience, I have to describe another one first. I was a child in elementary school, fourth grade to be exact. A friend of mine had inspired me to read more and create my own stories. So, in the fourth grade, I tried my hand at poetry. I was in love with this boy named Timothy and I was so inspired I wrote my first ever love poem. At the time, it was a great achievement because I was young and a friend of mine memorized it because she loved. It goes like this:

“Love, what is love? Is it a kiss or a hug?
Yes but It comes from the heart and soul.”

It is humiliating to think that this was deemed good and I am a bit embarrassed for posting this. Here is my first ever poem. This is significant because of what it did. It opened a new world for me; like a window into my soul had been opened though I didn’t know it.

When I was in high school, I took a creative writing class. I was procrastinating. It was a period before my Creative Writing class and I hadn’t done my homework so I asked my friend to give me a theme to write about. She told me to be dark. So I turned my IPOD on and wrote to a dark song. This is what came out:
The sweet song named immortality calls
It calls to all beckoning blind greed.
"Listen to echoes,” eternal life says
“Resounding through the empty hall of souls,
Till your own grave to keep you level
Just try to remain sane in raucous rage.
Gnash your teeth, claw your way out, so alone
So desperate, lament to creeping death
Freeze your own heart but leave only despair.”

That is what I wrote and in that moment I felt the power of language. I felt the power of curiosity through language. I was amazed That I was capable of coming up with this and I wanted to know “What else am I capable of?” I know that is not the best poem written but I am proud of it. Curiosity is a powerful thing and I still want to know, “What’s next?”