open your eyes.
This past sunday, i was talking with rsj (visit his erstwhile blog here) about the duke lacrosse scandal, and how horrible it was that these three dudes were subjected to over a year of anguish for a crime they didnt commit, when rsj said something illuminating. it was something to the effect of: 'please. that type of thing happens to black people all the time, and no one gives a @#$%. one year of persecution? hell, it's been proven that this country has executed innocent people before. one year is small potatoes.'having been put in my place, as it were, i replied honestly: 'well, i guess im more affected by the duke thing b/c i can relate to it more. it's something that could as easily have happened to me.'
and that's true, but what rsj said is also true and in this case more significant, in that it opened my eyes to something i wouldnt (necessarily) have thought about. unless i want to be a hypocrite, i cant be exasperated by the duke events without trying to fully appreciate how such events are not extraordinary for minorities.
and in turn, i cant help but think about the va-tech massacre in much the same way.
i dont want/mean to belittle how tragic this week's shooting was, but at the same time, id be remiss not to illuminate some cold hard facts about the iraq war, in the context of va-tech:
32 innocents were killed at va-tech on monday; there have been periods during the iraq war in which over 100 innocents per day have perished.
32 innocents died at va-tech on monday; around 60,000 innocents have been killed in iraq since our invasion.
26 kids were killed at va-tech on monday for no reason; over 3,000 american kids have been killed fighting a war that has been all but proven to have no reason behind it.
it's like d told me in an email this morning:
the top headlines on my yahoomail this morning were (In this order) 1.the bomb threat at v tech and 2. the four bombs that killed 115 people in baghdad.
people should be at least JUST AS AGHAST at what's going on/has happened in iraq as they are at what's transpired at va-tech.
end of story.
posted by Colby | 10:42 AM
2 Comments:
Stanton is right (as always), but I just want to point something out - I saw one of the players interviewed (I think it was Reade Seligman, please forgive spelling errors), and he expressed this very thought. He basically said that he believes he was exonerated easily because he was (relatively) rich and white, and that the experience threw into relief the plight of innocent underprivileged or minorities accused of crimes, who don't have the resources to protect themselves. He apparently now wants to be a criminal defense attorney. He was thoughtful and eloquent, and he gained my utmost respect for putting the situation into perspective like that.
And even though I am completely absorbed by the VTech tragedy, for which I have no words, I agree that we have been completely desensetized to the much larger (in terms of numbers) tragedy taking place daily in a far-away land.
i always wondered why we can spend hours upon hours using every media outlet dissecting the stories of, portraits of the victims etc and never bat an eye at thousands that die on a daily basis - death is a part of some people's daily life. i feel sometimes that people see the safety of living a a pure right and not also as a privilege.
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