"What's Next? Jew For A Day?"
"Whats next, Jew for a Day?"
That was the rhetorical question asked at Riehl World View, earlier today. What prompted the query was the following:
Can a white family really learn what it means to be black? Can a black family similarly learn what it is to be wonder bread white? Of course not.
We do not have to miss a meal to understand the tragedy of famine. We don't have to be assasulted to recognize the horror of rape. The idea that somehow we must be made to personally experience a certain set of circumstances to understand, other realities is idiotic- and insulting, to boot.
In reality, of course, the white family is white- and in no way can a bit of time in a black neighborhood change that, or give them an understanding of what a lifetime of being black really means. The same is true of the black family. They are not white, will never be white and nice visit to the 'burbs isn't going to change those realities, either
To think that a change of locale would heighten awareness of certain issues, problems or might even promote a better understanding of different 'cultures', is insulting, to say the least.
If we want to make the world a better place, it is incumbent upon us to be the best we can be.
Great changes are the result of individual efforts. They do not occur because we played a part in the school play.
The tragedy in Darfur will not go away because we played the role of oppressed refugee or Arab janajaweed. The problems of the middle east will not disappear because we played bomb a throwing anti Semite or armed Israeli settler in a high school production of the drama club.
These, and other problems, will be resolved because serious people will exert Herculean effforts in ther attempt to overcome obstacles, heretofore unresolved. That's how it works in the real world.
Think about this: No TV reality show could outdo Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr, or any other American who made a difference. Reality TV would not have removed the Nazis from Europe or rid Communism from Eastern Europe.
While the 'can't we all get along' idiots want to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, the reality is that it will take a lot more than that to overcome racial, religious and cultural differences.
Playing 'let's pretend' may appeal to the idiot, everybody-gets-a-trophy-so-as-to-promote self-esteem crowd. In the real world, however, we do keep score- and in the real world, there are winners and losers, the everybody-gets-a-trophy-crowd, notwithstanding.
Want to make a difference? Want to make our world a better place? The formula to succeed in those endeavors is not a secret. We need to work harder at reaching into ourselves, to do the best we possibly can. We need to make the necessary committments to make those efforts bear fruit. If we do all that, those changes we seek will come to pass.
That was the rhetorical question asked at Riehl World View, earlier today. What prompted the query was the following:
LOS ANGELES - A black family learns what it's like to be white while a white family becomes black in the six-part documentary series "Black.White," scheduled for broadcast on the FX cable network in March. Makeup temporarily transforms the two families for the series developed by filmmaker R.J. Cutler and actor-rapper Ice Cube.We have to wonder- Where does reality end?
"The loud message of the show is that we are a divided nation," said Cutler, who won an Emmy for outstanding reality program for "American High." "But we can come together if we're willing to talk about our differences and work to see the world through the eyes of other people."
For the run of the show, the Sparks family of Atlanta and the Wurgel family of Santa Monica share a home in the San Fernando Valley.
Can a white family really learn what it means to be black? Can a black family similarly learn what it is to be wonder bread white? Of course not.
We do not have to miss a meal to understand the tragedy of famine. We don't have to be assasulted to recognize the horror of rape. The idea that somehow we must be made to personally experience a certain set of circumstances to understand, other realities is idiotic- and insulting, to boot.
In reality, of course, the white family is white- and in no way can a bit of time in a black neighborhood change that, or give them an understanding of what a lifetime of being black really means. The same is true of the black family. They are not white, will never be white and nice visit to the 'burbs isn't going to change those realities, either
To think that a change of locale would heighten awareness of certain issues, problems or might even promote a better understanding of different 'cultures', is insulting, to say the least.
If we want to make the world a better place, it is incumbent upon us to be the best we can be.
Great changes are the result of individual efforts. They do not occur because we played a part in the school play.
The tragedy in Darfur will not go away because we played the role of oppressed refugee or Arab janajaweed. The problems of the middle east will not disappear because we played bomb a throwing anti Semite or armed Israeli settler in a high school production of the drama club.
These, and other problems, will be resolved because serious people will exert Herculean effforts in ther attempt to overcome obstacles, heretofore unresolved. That's how it works in the real world.
Think about this: No TV reality show could outdo Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr, or any other American who made a difference. Reality TV would not have removed the Nazis from Europe or rid Communism from Eastern Europe.
While the 'can't we all get along' idiots want to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, the reality is that it will take a lot more than that to overcome racial, religious and cultural differences.
Playing 'let's pretend' may appeal to the idiot, everybody-gets-a-trophy-so-as-to-promote self-esteem crowd. In the real world, however, we do keep score- and in the real world, there are winners and losers, the everybody-gets-a-trophy-crowd, notwithstanding.
Want to make a difference? Want to make our world a better place? The formula to succeed in those endeavors is not a secret. We need to work harder at reaching into ourselves, to do the best we possibly can. We need to make the necessary committments to make those efforts bear fruit. If we do all that, those changes we seek will come to pass.
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