So That's Life?

During the Great Depression, Hollywood drastically cut their ticket prices and Americans responded by making the movie house the place to retreat from the dismal world around them. Some say it was escapism and some say that the movies were tailored to meet the desires of a desperate public. Regardless, many people found solace in those dark buildings.

Today, we are mired in a recession not nearly as dire but equally as confounding. As then, people are attending movies in droves. Given the current heat-waves across the country, many are escaping the heat but I’m sure that there is also a desire to escape into a world of fantasy, even if for only a few hours.

Last night, that safe haven was destroyed by a gunman in a theater in Aurora, Colorado at the premier of “The Dark Knight Rises”. As of this writing, 12 people are dead and 59 injured in a shooting spree that authorities say was premeditated by a mentally disturbed person calling himself Joker. Unbelievably, the town of Columbine is only 15 miles away. This unfortunate area has been the victim of two of the worst mass killings in the U.S. in just the last 15 years. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

As if this horror wasn’t enough, not one day had passed before the lunatic fringe reared it’s ugly head and began to make noises about gun control. Not even one day and I see squawkings by a Texas congressman that sound like he’s channeling Tail-Gunner Joe McCarthy. He claims that Judeo-Christians are being targeted by these types of shootings. In their defense, the presidential candidates both took the high road.

It wasn’t long after the rantings hit the Internet that the fur began to fly. I took part and witnessed discussions on how this did or did not justify gun control. The lunatic fringe had their sharp knives (and dull wits) out in force. I know it’s only a matter of time before the anti-violence folks denounce the movie for causing the shooting. How ironic that the main character, Batman, never uses a gun.

As witness to the partisan bickering, it occurred to me that if this is how we respond to a tragedy that affects us, it’s no wonder that we can’t even fix the every-day problems. I saw people claiming that a better armed public was the solution to this problem. The oldest victim was 45. Are we talking about strapping iron on a 16-year-old? Surely, if one of the movie patrons had been armed, more people would have been hurt, not fewer.

How many more of these horrific events do we have to endure before we reach the tipping point? And, when that does happen, will it come down to “those with the guns make the rules”? I had one idiot refer to me as a zombie when I told him that allowing citizens to arm was like abolishing the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Has our society denigrated to the point where insisting on basic constitutional protections is unacceptable?

The terms bi-racial and mixed-race irritate me because we’re all members of the, one and only, human race. If anyone tells you differently, they’re just spoiling for a fight. This racial differentiation thing breaks down when people start dividing up the population based on the “one drop” rule or shades of skin color. I much prefer the term culturally-mixed but I don’t take offense at the ignorance of the term mixed-race. The only offense I might take would be when people with no factual or first-hand knowledge of the experience try to explain it.

I don’t know what to tell people or how to explain the unique feeling of being bi-racial. There is no feeling of being pulled to one side or the other. There’s no problem with allegiances. We are who we are and any attempt to identify with only one is purely a fraud. Life is hard enough without succumbing to social pressures to “be” included in one cultural/racial group or another.

In a recent interview, Morgan Freeman expressed the opinion that President Obama is the first mixed, not African-American, President. I’m sure this will raise all kinds of hell with the many people who voted for and supported him based on affiliation with his skin color but Mr. Freeman is very correct. Although he may not understand the unique feeling that comes with being bi-racial, I can see his perspective. Here is a man who grew up in pre-civil rights Mississippi which practically defines the Afro-American experience of the 20th century. Although he didn’t say it, I’m sure he takes some offense when a man with absolutely no connection to a shared experience claims the same heritage.

The author of the article says, “traditionally, Americans of mixed racial heritage are allowed to decide for themselves which, if either, of their parental communities with which to identify. Obama has self-identified as an African-American from an early age.” She obviously never read either of the President’s books where he talks about his struggles with identity in his adolescent years. Of course, this was the MSNBC Hollywood reporter so I didn’t exactly expect Pulitzer quality reporting. I’d also have to argue that it really depends on which culture you’re talking about when you say “traditionally”. Still, the article  started me thinking about what factors would go into this choosing.

In a 2011 NY Times article, the adviser to a University of Maryland multi-racial student organization (who is half Afro-American and half Japanese) recalled saying in 1974, “I was black and proud to be black.” He continues, “There was no notion that I might be multiracial. Or that the public discourse on college campuses recognized the multiracial community.” I’ve heard people declare pride in their cultural background many times before but, when I read this, it started me thinking about the nature of pride and being proud.

According to the online version of Oxford Dictionaries, proud is defined as: feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one’s own achievements, qualities, or possessions or those of someone with whom one is closely associated. I think it’s important to note that this definition applies to either an individual or another individual with whom you are associated. It doesn’t apply to a group. Therefore, the statement, proud to be American, is really nonsensical. However, it is perfectly reasonable to say, the combat valor of our troops filled me with pride or the accomplishments of our Olympic team made me proud to be American. What I am saying is that there really can’t be any pride in being affiliated with a group. When you take pride in group membership you invariably take more than you give. The excess is hubris and is free for the taking.

Some might take this as extreme word parsing but I feel very strongly that pride must begin within each of us. In defining it this way, I demonstrate what I feel is important and I would never propose to force those values on someone else. I’m very proud of my daughter’s scholastic achievements but I don’t expect anyone else to be. In 2008, the people of United States elected a President and whether you call him mixed, black, African-American, or just human, I am proud that we did.