Charles Barkley is My Soulmate
The other night, when I had way too much coffee and was up until around 2am surfing blogs, I also caught The Tonight Show...with Charles Barkley.
There was big old Charles, goofing it up with Jay....and then he started to make sense. Charles made a very cogent point that Liberals and Conservatives, esp. those who are hosts and commentators on the various television news programs, are nothing more than rich people serving their own interests. Basically, Charles was saying that these Liberals and Conservatives were only putting on shows and not really debating the issues, because, as rich people, the true isssues of this country don't effect them.
He hates both Fox and CNN--saying, truthfully, that they are both one in the same and are there just to further the agendas of rich people, not to forward a true liberal or conservative viewpoint. (hmmm...kind of like alot of "blogs" out there that like to purport they are run by "amateurs"...but that's another issue)
Charles went on to say that race is not the big issue in this country....it's social class.
OMG! Charles, I love you!
He went on to say (if I might distill his comments) that poor whites, blacks, and hispanics have more in common than they think--and that commonality is terrible public school educations and a system that works to keep all of them down.
This, coming from a black man who has been highly successful in the system and has a great deal of money.
He's also very right.
Both Liberals and Conservatives, in their own ways, play the race card as a way of stirring up the poor against one another. It was a tactic used during the Civil War to get poor whites in the South to fight for the Plantation owners when even they were bought and traded by their own kin...and in an insidious, covert way that was just as demeaning as open slave trade.
So, let's face it, I'm right and Charles is right--the rich trade on the fears and ignorance of the poor. They pit one group against the other with polemics and rhetoric guaranteed to stir up emotion against reason. They feed them a "street culture" that glorifies their ignornace and encourages violence against themselves. They keep the race issue alive because it serves their purpose--to keep them on top. The Liberal rich love affirmative action because it keeps poor whites from advancing by saying that poor whites, because of their skin color have the exact same opportunities as rich whites (even if their family structures and educations are vastly different). The Conservatives are against affirmative action because they know that, if you have enough money, your color doesn't really matter--you are better as an ally working to keep the rabble down and maintaining the status quo than you are in helping to advance others of your "race."
(Note: it's fascinating how, when someone in a minority family gains status, all generations of a family become huge paragons of virtue--it's the old Protestant idea that states you are blessed and among the saints if you gain money and success in the temporal world, and that this is predetermined by God. What a crock of shit. But a crock of shit that works for both Liberals and Conservatives. go figure)
If a guy like Charles Barkley can see this, and has the courage to get out there and say it, there is definitley something to it. Guess Charles either has enough power to not fear any retribution, or "they" just let him get away with saying that because he's perceived as a clown.
I'm not positive of either perception...I'm not sure of the current popular opinion on Charles.
Still I find him a fascinating man. Charles is, in many ways, a warrior who has not only learned the power of brain over brawn, but also has been able to turn nasty mouthyness into playful yet socially astute banter.
Too bad Jay has such a big stake in the status quo.
There was big old Charles, goofing it up with Jay....and then he started to make sense. Charles made a very cogent point that Liberals and Conservatives, esp. those who are hosts and commentators on the various television news programs, are nothing more than rich people serving their own interests. Basically, Charles was saying that these Liberals and Conservatives were only putting on shows and not really debating the issues, because, as rich people, the true isssues of this country don't effect them.
He hates both Fox and CNN--saying, truthfully, that they are both one in the same and are there just to further the agendas of rich people, not to forward a true liberal or conservative viewpoint. (hmmm...kind of like alot of "blogs" out there that like to purport they are run by "amateurs"...but that's another issue)
Charles went on to say that race is not the big issue in this country....it's social class.
OMG! Charles, I love you!
He went on to say (if I might distill his comments) that poor whites, blacks, and hispanics have more in common than they think--and that commonality is terrible public school educations and a system that works to keep all of them down.
This, coming from a black man who has been highly successful in the system and has a great deal of money.
He's also very right.
Both Liberals and Conservatives, in their own ways, play the race card as a way of stirring up the poor against one another. It was a tactic used during the Civil War to get poor whites in the South to fight for the Plantation owners when even they were bought and traded by their own kin...and in an insidious, covert way that was just as demeaning as open slave trade.
So, let's face it, I'm right and Charles is right--the rich trade on the fears and ignorance of the poor. They pit one group against the other with polemics and rhetoric guaranteed to stir up emotion against reason. They feed them a "street culture" that glorifies their ignornace and encourages violence against themselves. They keep the race issue alive because it serves their purpose--to keep them on top. The Liberal rich love affirmative action because it keeps poor whites from advancing by saying that poor whites, because of their skin color have the exact same opportunities as rich whites (even if their family structures and educations are vastly different). The Conservatives are against affirmative action because they know that, if you have enough money, your color doesn't really matter--you are better as an ally working to keep the rabble down and maintaining the status quo than you are in helping to advance others of your "race."
(Note: it's fascinating how, when someone in a minority family gains status, all generations of a family become huge paragons of virtue--it's the old Protestant idea that states you are blessed and among the saints if you gain money and success in the temporal world, and that this is predetermined by God. What a crock of shit. But a crock of shit that works for both Liberals and Conservatives. go figure)
If a guy like Charles Barkley can see this, and has the courage to get out there and say it, there is definitley something to it. Guess Charles either has enough power to not fear any retribution, or "they" just let him get away with saying that because he's perceived as a clown.
I'm not positive of either perception...I'm not sure of the current popular opinion on Charles.
Still I find him a fascinating man. Charles is, in many ways, a warrior who has not only learned the power of brain over brawn, but also has been able to turn nasty mouthyness into playful yet socially astute banter.
Too bad Jay has such a big stake in the status quo.
posted by Tish Grier at 11:17 AM
4 Comments:
I love this post, Tish!
When Charles played for the Phoenix Suns several years ago I learned that not only did I like him, but that I agreed with most of his political/social views. There have been a lot of people who can't look past the "mouthiness" to see that the man actually has a lot going for himself.
The stigma of social class IS growing in the United States and unfortuanately will continue to grow simply because the majority of Americans don't believe that we as a nation are vunerable to it. My oldest son and I have argued for years that one of the hardest things to be in this country is male, middle-class and white. Look out if you actually say it out loud! All of the sudden you've become a racist trying to keep the minorities down. Whatever. Ben Folds has a wonderful song that speaks out on this growing "phenomenon", all I can say is let's be aware people!
Kudos to you Tish!
The myth of the American classless society. Anyone in America can grow up and be president. If you just work hard enough. Any number of crass, heartless comments sold to keep everyone believing it's just around the bend for them and believing if someone doesn't make it then they only have themselves to blame.
"it's the old Protestant idea that states you are blessed and among the saints if you gain money and success in the temporal world, and that this is predetermined by God..."
Funny how the root of all evil also serves as a gauge for how popular one is with god.
It still drives me nuts when people talk about race being a problem, because living where I do I see it being MUCH more about class than where your ancestry lies. And funny how much of the media ignores the widening pay gaps that are making the "middle class" obsolete. (kudos to npr though for bringing it up somewhat regularly.)
-Soli
I *always* got into trouble at Smith because I *always* brought up that I was *not* one of the white aristocracy, regardless of my skin color. I come from a working poor background, that's how I got to the hoity-toity institution, and I was always bugged that nobody wanted to acknowledge that.
And I've been thinking alot about the whole notion of the rich inheriting the earth. Been reading up on the roots of Protestantism, and will have a bit on that probably tomorrow.
:-)
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