Go Ahead, Be Offended

So at various colleges and universities, some white-as-white-bread kids got together and had parties with gangsta/ghetto themes. "Bling and Bubbly" as one instance called it. On the MLK holiday too. Okay. Que the overreactions.

So I'm the first to admit that as a white guy, I'm probably wildly unaware of how much more unpleasant life can be with darker skin color. I'm also an adult male and don't have a screaming case of vaginitis.

What I think may not be appreciated by the black community (See footnote) is that white people are, by and large, operating from a style deficit. That's why when a style is adopted by whites, it's no longer cool. As a result, white people are always ready to rip off another culture. No sense in whining about it.

So they want to have a gangsta-style party. Fine. Here's the standard: this is only okay under if these two conditions are true:

1.) If these future-soccer-moms and "daddy got me my job" mouth breathers HAVE any black friends, they must invite them and explain the theme. If they don't have the balls to look a black person in the eye and spell this out- they don't have the character to pull it off.

2.) The inverse must be acceptable. If a bunch of students at say, one of the historically black colleges like Grambling decided to have an Enron party, or country club party, or whatever the fuck white people do that is worth mimicing, would THAT be okay? If the crowd at Grambling wanted throw a party where they all dressed in lots of polyester and drink wine coolers and Zima, and talk about fucking golf, more power to them- although my bet is that ANY other party idea would be more fun.

So if these two conditions are met, let the dumbasses do their thing. Yes, I think having a party like this on the MLK holiday is in bad taste, but here's the bottom line- it's legal and permissable to be an inconsiderate asshole. Why on earth some offended party thinks that a private gathering merits an institutional investigation, or what outcome they hope to see is a mystery. These young people are not enlightened, and judging by the party photos that beget this nonesense, they aren't interesting either. Best avoided in any event.

And, while I'm thinking of it- if these gangsta fashions are desparaging to black people, why doesn't anyone within the black community tell the black people who are the source of this? Oops. Not even Bill Cosby gets to ask that.

Note: No- I'm not being intentionally provocational by failing to use the word "African-American". All but one of the black people I know are not from, and have never been to Africa. So long as I am "white", they can be "black. I've gone round after round with a black friend over this subject, and she assures me that I'm mistaken, but understands that I'm trying to rationalize an emotional matter, and am not doing so out of malice. I still fail to understand how "African-American" is appropriate or sensible. Where is the corrollary? How am I a caucasian-American? I'm not decended from the people of Caucasia, nor have I ever been there. It's all a ridiculous verbal circle jerk that I see no reason to use. I'm from the US, just like Jesse Jackson, and that makes us both the same, except for our skin color. And if it were really that big of a deal, wouldn't the NAACP, United Negro College Fund, Congressional Black Caucus, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the others that don't immediately spring to mind using more antiquated names have updated their names?

Related Rant: I am also told to avoid using the word "oriental" to describe a person. I'm sorry- I'm going to push back on this one too. Not only do I not use the word to be perjorative or mean spirited, it's fucking accurate. Asia (as in "asian", which they would have me use) is a BIG FUCKING CONTINENT. Look it up. I know that most of us from public schools have a poor grasp of geograpy and are easily duped by the PC police, but this is absurd. Asia Minor, for example is a geologically and historically significant part of Asia, is populated with Persians, Arabs, Kurds, and Turks, plus whatever smaller ethnic groups that are under my cultural radar. None are "Asian" in the sense of say, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, or any other ethnicity that might be described as being of the Orient. Now, to be specific, the Orient is a debated term without specific boundaries, like the "Western World" (and I expect it's use in colonial times lead to this issue) in that some include Persia and some don't. I don't know that it matters, and here's why- it doesn't include Russians. Yeah, you know Russia? That nation that covers most of Asia? Yeah. You may see where I'm going here. Calling a guy from Japan "Asian" is about as specific as calling him "Russian" or "Earthling" and it's a useless concession to over-sensitivity.

Alright, so if you think I have my head up my ass on this (wouldn't be the first time) feel free to set me straight.