Okay, binomal. We get the point. You love the song but you find yourself incredibly tortured because of it.
Man, six posts over two years, and you flipflop again and again. That borders on obsession. Whether you love or hate PE, this song, or whatever...that's fine! Opinions are just that and it's okay if you don't agree with the Nation of Islam. The rants have nothing to do with the song's meaning though.
If I see someone handing out pamphlets on the street, and they don't offer one to me, I don't freak out. It's all right. Maybe it's not meant for me...
Nobody says you have to "accept" anything from anybody. You've made your point, now just don't listen to PE if you don't agree with their message. Again, it's probably just not for you.
Oh, and to address your points on racism, they seem mighty shallow to me. You seem to have this white bourgeois mentality that everybody should just "be normal Americans" and not make waves when it comes to race issues. One of PE's central themes is that it's difficult/impossible to be "normal Americans" when there is still an imbalance of power between the races. As a result, PE's lyrics argue people who feel persecuted because of race should stand tall and fight back to empower themselves, rather than being polite and asking "normal America" to let them assimilate into that great old, perfect White European Judeo-Christian culture that passes for "normal America" to people who make the points that you are (or seem to be) making.
It's the same thing "normal America" told Native Americans to do after subjecting them to the destruction of their culture and outright genocide of their people. A whip across the back and the enslavement of your people gives you the right to be a little confrontational, don't you think? So if you think "cracka" and "nigger" have equal weight as insults or the same dark power as words of hatred and oppression, you should 1) walk outside and open your eyes, 2) read a few history books, and 3) finally realize that things (TODAY, not in the 1800's man, but right now) are still not balanced in this country!
Just because you are an idealist and think things should be perfect does not mean they are, and in the real world someone with experience different than yours has the right to say whatever they think, and sometimes people fight hate with hate. Equality shouldn't exist only when it suits your opinions or is convenient for you. Things have never been equal in this country, so don't blame a dog that gets kicked everyday of its life for biting its former master's leg. You sound seriously out of touch when you say everybody should just "play nice." Again, open your eyes man - how do you expect PE to "play nice" when the power structure they're talking about plays as dirty as it gets. Read the lyrics. Don't believe all the hype of people who call PE racists, but think for a second of where they're coming from. Try to put yourself in anybody's shoes besides your own. And then, once you actually have an educated opinion, come back and say what it is that "drives a wedge between people," as you put it. The wedge is already there, it's always been there, and ignoring the wedge doesn't mean there's not a wedge!
Okay, binomal. We get the point. You love the song but you find yourself incredibly tortured because of it.
Man, six posts over two years, and you flipflop again and again. That borders on obsession. Whether you love or hate PE, this song, or whatever...that's fine! Opinions are just that and it's okay if you don't agree with the Nation of Islam. The rants have nothing to do with the song's meaning though.
If I see someone handing out pamphlets on the street, and they don't offer one to me, I don't freak out. It's all right. Maybe it's not meant for me...
Nobody says you have to "accept" anything from anybody. You've made your point, now just don't listen to PE if you don't agree with their message. Again, it's probably just not for you.
Oh, and to address your points on racism, they seem mighty shallow to me. You seem to have this white bourgeois mentality that everybody should just "be normal Americans" and not make waves when it comes to race issues. One of PE's central themes is that it's difficult/impossible to be "normal Americans" when there is still an imbalance of power between the races. As a result, PE's lyrics argue people who feel persecuted because of race should stand tall and fight back to empower themselves, rather than being polite and asking "normal America" to let them assimilate into that great old, perfect White European Judeo-Christian culture that passes for "normal America" to people who make the points that you are (or seem to be) making.
It's the same thing "normal America" told Native Americans to do after subjecting them to the destruction of their culture and outright genocide of their people. A whip across the back and the enslavement of your people gives you the right to be a little confrontational, don't you think? So if you think "cracka" and "nigger" have equal weight as insults or the same dark power as words of hatred and oppression, you should 1) walk outside and open your eyes, 2) read a few history books, and 3) finally realize that things (TODAY, not in the 1800's man, but right now) are still not balanced in this country!
Just because you are an idealist and think things should be perfect does not mean they are, and in the real world someone with experience different than yours has the right to say whatever they think, and sometimes people fight hate with hate. Equality shouldn't exist only when it suits your opinions or is convenient for you. Things have never been equal in this country, so don't blame a dog that gets kicked everyday of its life for biting its former master's leg. You sound seriously out of touch when you say everybody should just "play nice." Again, open your eyes man - how do you expect PE to "play nice" when the power structure they're talking about plays as dirty as it gets. Read the lyrics. Don't believe all the hype of people who call PE racists, but think for a second of where they're coming from. Try to put yourself in anybody's shoes besides your own. And then, once you actually have an educated opinion, come back and say what it is that "drives a wedge between people," as you put it. The wedge is already there, it's always been there, and ignoring the wedge doesn't mean there's not a wedge!