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Beck and West: instruments of division?
When we as individuals find ourselves in a position of power and influence, it always serves us best to take full advantage of the opportunity bestowed upon us to insure that we support and help others.
Many of us graciously accept the responsibility that comes with fame or popularity; but then there are those who misuse the occasion (especially in the area of race relations) they are given to share their knowledge and/or talents to help and benefit others.
Recent comments (and actions) by both Glenn Beck and Kanye West are unfortunately perfect examples of people in influential positions who (by virtue of their nature) tend to ruin our opportunity to benefit from the positive difference they could make.
In July of 2009, Glenn Beck, responding to President Barack Obama's response to the police incident involving Harvard professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., and to the time spent by Obama under the guidance of his former pastor, mentor, and friend - Rev. Jeremiah Wright, called President Obama a racist, and specifically stated that the president does not like White people.
In September of 2005, Kanye West, lashing out at former President George Bush for his initial response to Hurricane Katrina, accused Mr. Bush of not caring about Black people. Then in September of 2009, West rushed the stage at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards and took the microphone out of the hands of Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech to proclaim that Beyonce Knowles was the woman that had the best music video of all time.
As a society, we are in the process of changing (and eventually eliminating) a number of our primitive behavioral traditions so that true growth and progress can be experienced by all.
Men like Glenn Beck and Kanye West are not helping with this process. Instead, their uncalculated outbursts have in fact made them both an integral part of the problem.
We need solutions - not problems. We need to understand that we all originated in one place; it does not make sense that we continually rip and tear one another apart when we all (as human beings) have the same needs.
We are not perfect individuals, and we are going to make mistakes, but to keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again is not acceptable, and we cannot continue to stifle our own progress by engaging in conversation and/or behavior that not only creates division, but that directly contradicts our existence as intellectual, civilized, free-thinking human beings.
When we all accept the fact that we were created as intelligent life forms capable of thinking and functioning at high levels - high enough to devise a strategy that will allow us to work in unison across racial lines, then we can all come together on one accord and collectively operate as the 'solution' that eliminates our problems.
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