Rebuttal

Suddenly I feel like writing again. Maybe it's the change in the weather, or maybe it's the clout of depression that has finally lifted, or maybe it's the fact that I have managed to offend a reader with something I wrote months ago. It's interesting actually, the certain lines that people draw in the dirt that they're unwilling to cross. What sets you off? Is it racism? Abortion? Politics? Drugs? Animal abuse? Molestation? Religion? The list goes on & on and people will find themselves offended by one thing and not another, I get it. We're all humans, but different in many ways. What I don't get is the George W. Bushian attitude that some people adopt with certain topics that places them into this mindset: "If you're against the war, then you are with the terrorists". Um, no. That's not how I see it at all.

In an earlier post I made a joke at KFC's expense. They had placed a framed picture of two black kids holding a bucket of chicken on their dining room wall. Hung anywhere else, this picture would simply be seen as blatant stereotyping, but to have it hanging on the wall of a corporation that earns billions of dollars serving fried chicken to the masses, well that makes it more than a simple stereotype... that makes it downright hilarious. I almost couldn't believe it when I looked up and saw it, and the irony immediately smacked me right in the face. If I owned a KFC would I put that picture up in my store? HELL NO! Matter-of-fact I wouldn't hang that picture anywhere, because I understand that black people loving chicken is a frowned upon stereotype and I'm not a racist prick. But the fact remains that the owner of that KFC either: A) didn't give a damn, B) has a bold sense of humor, or C) it never even crossed his mind. It's 2011, so I find it very hard to believe the owner simply didn't know. Come on people, we all know.

Question: is something racist or prejudice if there is no malicious intent? The fact that I merely observed and reported on something I saw and pointed out the humor behind it, does that make me an awful person? I don't think so, but I know where I stand with at least one of you. Just the other day I listened to a news story about how the University of Irvine served fried chicken and waffles to their students in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was a harmless idea by the campus chef, he was simply acting on an impulse that lead him to believe would be appreciated. Needless to say it was not, and the university submitted a formal apology regarding the insensitivity of the meal choice. Am I any different from that chef for pointing out what I found to be ironically funny? Or how about the owner of the KFC for hanging the actual picture? This is absolutely a fine discussion to have and I can somewhat understand the other side of the debate, but I must say I don't see myself straying from my original inclination, because I meant no harm.

If you want to get angry over someone, who is by all accounts a racist, then focus your fury on Glenn Beck and his list of "intelligent minorities" who are an "infection and a scourge" and want to "manipulate the masses" and "destroy America as we know it". Every one on the list (except one) just so happens to be Jewish. And the filthy notion that George Soros (as a 13 year old Jewish boy during the holocaust) was sending other Jews to death camps, could very well be the lie that sends Glenn Beck to hell, if you believe in that sort of place. Beck is an atrocious being who places his political ideologies in front of human compassion and understanding, all-the-while raking in millions of dollars drawing ill-conceived conspiracies on chalk boards and shit-talking his way between pseudo crying sessions.

And I get scolded for making fun of KFC's poor taste in wall decor? Hahaha, whatever man. Each to their own, each to their own.

Comments

  1. I get offended when men or women are sexist to the point where it's ridiculously insulting.
    Or I get offended when people bash on different religions.

    I also get offended when I'm not eating KFC. That sounds so good right now.

    ReplyDelete

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