I read a Facebook status yesterday asking why it was a big deal that no woman has ever been admitted to Augusta National. I then read an article by a guy asking the same question, both saying, "There are women's only clubs. Why can't guys have this?" They both pointed out these organizations known by all of 14 people whom are members, saying that Augusta's male-only membership was the same thing. A person then commented on my friend's post, saying that it doesn't make sense, just like African-Americans can have BET, yet if whites had such a channel, there would be an uproar.
I'm sorry, but are some guys that stupid? What, if men weren't allowed to play at Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, would they be okay with it? Would that not be a big deal for male baseball players? Oh, but they had that one park at a middle school in Topeka, Kansas which only allowed males, so all is well then, right? Augusta is arguably the most well-known course/tournament in the country, if not the world. It's asinine to compare a woman not being admitted to Augusta's male-only membership to a man not being admitted to an organization known by only a handful of people.
Yeah, if only women were allowed into the White House to visit the president, but only men were allowed to visit the president of a book club, there wouldn't be any fuss made about that. It's the same thing. Gotta love false equivalence.
Onto the other bit - I love when Caucasians in this country complain about reverse racism. Did we have to go through slavery? No. Did we have to really fight for our voting rights? No. Did we have to fight racism from a majority? No. Are we today continuing to fight for equal rights? No. Minorities in this country have had to deal with far more obstacles, problems, hurdles, discrimination, hate crimes, etc. than we have (especially heterosexual white males). So what if there's BET? A month honoring African-Americans? We've been honoring white Americans throughout our history and continue to do so. We just haven't placed a name next to a particular channel, day, news source, etc. making it appear as if the intended demographic is white Americans. Some people are so insecure. "Oh, look - there aren't any minorities on this show, but it's not on WET (White Entertainment Television), so we're not being as racist as those over at BET!" It's really easy for people to look at things from their narrow vantage point and refuse to open themselves up more to the bigger picture, attempting to empathize with people different than they. No Caucasian male in this country will ever know what it was like to be a slave, to be looked upon as less than a full person, to not have voting rights due to their (our) gender or race. None of us will. Why, instead of asking, "Geez. That's old news. Get over it! What's their problem," say, "Huh. I wonder what their story is. I've never gone through such obstacles before. I'm curious to learn more. I'm going to go talk to him/her"? Ah, but getting to actually know a person takes time, work and effort and it's easier to just cast a certain group of people in a certain light in order to make ourselves feel superior. Yeah, like I said - insecurity.
I'm sorry, but are some guys that stupid? What, if men weren't allowed to play at Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, would they be okay with it? Would that not be a big deal for male baseball players? Oh, but they had that one park at a middle school in Topeka, Kansas which only allowed males, so all is well then, right? Augusta is arguably the most well-known course/tournament in the country, if not the world. It's asinine to compare a woman not being admitted to Augusta's male-only membership to a man not being admitted to an organization known by only a handful of people.
Yeah, if only women were allowed into the White House to visit the president, but only men were allowed to visit the president of a book club, there wouldn't be any fuss made about that. It's the same thing. Gotta love false equivalence.
Onto the other bit - I love when Caucasians in this country complain about reverse racism. Did we have to go through slavery? No. Did we have to really fight for our voting rights? No. Did we have to fight racism from a majority? No. Are we today continuing to fight for equal rights? No. Minorities in this country have had to deal with far more obstacles, problems, hurdles, discrimination, hate crimes, etc. than we have (especially heterosexual white males). So what if there's BET? A month honoring African-Americans? We've been honoring white Americans throughout our history and continue to do so. We just haven't placed a name next to a particular channel, day, news source, etc. making it appear as if the intended demographic is white Americans. Some people are so insecure. "Oh, look - there aren't any minorities on this show, but it's not on WET (White Entertainment Television), so we're not being as racist as those over at BET!" It's really easy for people to look at things from their narrow vantage point and refuse to open themselves up more to the bigger picture, attempting to empathize with people different than they. No Caucasian male in this country will ever know what it was like to be a slave, to be looked upon as less than a full person, to not have voting rights due to their (our) gender or race. None of us will. Why, instead of asking, "Geez. That's old news. Get over it! What's their problem," say, "Huh. I wonder what their story is. I've never gone through such obstacles before. I'm curious to learn more. I'm going to go talk to him/her"? Ah, but getting to actually know a person takes time, work and effort and it's easier to just cast a certain group of people in a certain light in order to make ourselves feel superior. Yeah, like I said - insecurity.
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