A Touch of Irony

Irony always seems to be around and today is no exception.
Ever since the mass slaying in Charleston, South Carolina at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17 of this the year, the furor to minimize or eliminate aspects of the Confederacy in the South has waned but not totally subsided.
Now, the city of New Orleans has entered the scene with the city council voting to remove prominent Civil War-related monuments from some of the city's busiest thoroughfares. As can be expected, there were those for and against the idea.
But the presence of Confederate names in different places across the US is not unusual, however. It's been determined by geographers that there could be as many a 872 parks, natural features, streets, schools and various other locations bearing the names of major Confederate leaders in 44 states. Now, this is where the irony comes in. The Confederate States of America was made up of only 11 states. That means 33 other states have "embraced" an important element of the Confederacy . If you subtract the four Border States, that still leaves 29...northern states. That is truly ironic, don't you think?

Numbers Never Lie...But People Often Do

     The unwarranted blanket condemnation of the religion of Islam and all of its believers can be summed up by the following mathematical equation.  It's called the Transitive Law:

                                   If A=B and B=C, then A=C

                                   Thus, since all Muslims (A) are believers (B)
                                   and since believers (B) can be Muslim terrorists (C)
                                   then all Muslims (A) are terrorists (C)

     This mathematical expression represents the view accepted by a large number of Americans; and that view is being increasingly accepted...and at an alarming rate. However, keep in mind this equation doesn't lie when it comes to numbers...only when it's applied to people. Therefore, all those of the Islamic faith are assumed guilty by way of association through their religion simply because a minority of "believers" are radical killers.Thus, a harmless, yet necessary term in mathematics has been used to formulate and perpetuate devastating lies within our society...and other societies.
     By extension, all Christians can be held accountable for the dangerous and bigoted views held by the Ku Klux Klan during its bloody reign of terror and murder. The Klan promoted a "Christian" agenda, thus making ALL Christians culpable for its unholy deeds. Sound fantastic? Not really. But then, condemning Islam and all Muslims is a totally different matter, isn't it?

The Holidays Aren't Cheery for Everyone

It's a pretty well-known fact that when the "Season to be jolly" rolls around, not everyone's in a festive mood. Millions of citizens are alone. They have few if any friends. Family might be very distant or non-existent. For countless thousands, depression only worsens. Therefore, these people, when they see the holiday season approach and it prepares to get into high gear, are all-to-aware of not being part of it. Sadly,the situation gets worse as the season progresses. However, American businesses can help alleviate the stress and loneliness for many of these poor souls. Starting next year, they can start cutting back on all the "holiday cheer" they spend millions of dollars trying to promote.

Not everybody has a "Norman Rockwell" sort of life with a mom and dad, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews or cousins sitting joyously, laughing and joking, around a well-stocked dinner table, sharing a family meal large enough to feed the whole neighborhood. Nor do they have that battalion of eager (and often greedy) family members sitting near the carefully decorated and lit Christmas tree as gifts are handed out and unwrapped. For those who are alone, this is a grim reminder of what they do not have...what they cannot share and enjoy.

Seeing all of those smiling, laughing and gladdened "family" members in thousands of colorful and obscenely expensive commercials for products hoping to be sold in order to line the pockets of greedy retailers of all makes and models only deepens the problem. Old yuletide films and all those newly generated to warm the hearts and souls of American families, seen running ceaselessly from October (or earlier) through December, can also prove extremely difficult to bear for people who have...nobody.

So, Corporate America, stop pushing to nauseating levels the "joy and cheer" of the season and reel in the pomp and ceremony of the "Holiday Season" just a bit (well, maybe a lot). You might not make as much money (Yeah, sure!). But then again, you will have saved millions of dollars trying to coax people to buy things they don't really need at discount prices they still can't afford. And at the same time, you will have shown a little compassion for those who are alone...and often forgotten.

     Back in September, the student government of Wesleyan University got in a snit and decided to reduce funding for the Argus, the school's paper. The Argus had exhibited its fourth estate right by printing an opinion piece criticizing elements of the Black Lives Matter movement. Written by Bryan Stascavage, an Iraq veteran and self-proclaimed "moderate conservative, he disagreed with the "tactics and messaging" the movement pushed but agreed with its motivations and mission. In October, a noted columnist from the Washington Post wrote a piece detailing national campus intolerance in general and the implementation of censorship against the Argus in particular.

     College and universities are supposed to be the centers, the bastions, of free expression. I've always believed that spoken ideas, views, perspectives, opinions for and against a particular subject have long be guaranteed by the Constitution. I've long believed that same expression, as voiced within newspapers on or off campuses, was considered untouchable. I guess I was wrong. Wesleyan, along with other "centers of higher learning," have used political correctness to trump the free expression of views and opinions. Times sure have changed since I was in college. 

     In 1969, while attending Mount San Antonio Junior College in Walnut, California, the school elected to have a special guest speaker. Students were invited to attend that Friday afternoon and listen to Dr. Angela Davis. 

     At 25 years of age, Dr. Davis was already known nationally. She was a professor at UCLA; she was respected and reviled; she was black; she possessed a commanding presence, her dominant bearing capitalized by her full Afro. She was associated with the Black Panthers. And she was a Communist.

     The 1960's were on full throttle regarding civil rights and the Vietnam War. Neighborhoods were burning down and American citizens were taking sides over a conflict that saw division in this country not experienced since the Civil War.

     Nonetheless, Dr. Davis was invited to speak that hot, smoggy day. There were no complaints, no protests, no picketing, no rocking throwing in opposition to her visit. The small area of seats was filled with eager students. We wanted to listen to what she had to say. We the students guaranteed her right to say it.

    However, once Dr. Davis finished speaking, a minor disturbance broke out. And though I don't recall what Dr. Davis talked about or what actually precipitated the incident, I feel fortunate that I was able to listen to someone of Dr. Davis' national and political stature. 

     Though but a small junior college, Mt. SAC was part of that level of higher learning where differing views, popular or unpopular, could be voiced. A small college in 1969 embraced the right of free speech.

      Would someone like Dr. Davis, with such a firebrand background, be able to speak on campus today? Would she be given the guaranteed privilege of free speech? I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.