In the spirit of Halloween approaching. I saw this sign while riding the city bus in Southeast DC in zip code 20019 that according to city-data.com (https://www.city-data.com/zips/20019.html) is 89.4% Black. I wonder who put up and what it means, kind of scary. It seems like it was thoughtfully put up based on it being taped on all four corners of the paper. So naturally, I assumed that the bus drivers or employees of the bus system were instructed to put these signs up and that it wasn’t a passenger; but that is simply an assumption and I am not sure. I hope that it was a passenger and not from the bus system that I believe is ran/funded by the government. I can sometimes be a little paranoid, but this was scary. Especially when you consider how blacks are treated in American society, the small subtle things we see and are surrounded by that influence our thinking both conscious and subconscious eventually have an effect on our self esteem and even how we are treated.
But on a more positive note. I also think there’s some truth to the statement. There has been many times historically where communities have had to adopt the lifestyle of the dominant culture in order to survive in society and those that didn’t simply could not survive. But as for the dominant culture through this act of enforcing their culture onto other groups they have adopted some customs from the dominated culture. Some that have had tremendous effects on how they operate. When you are able to put pride to the side and seek as objectively as possible what is best for humankind you find that all demographics have something to offer/contribute to society. Communities that accept this principle tend to succeed. I have heard the term “melting pot” used when describing the United States of America. According to Sapiens: A brief history of Humankind, “ Cultural diversity and territorial flexibility give empires not only their unique character, but also their central role in history. It’s thanks to these two characteristics that empires have managed to unite diverse groups and ecological zones under a single political umbrella, thereby fusing together larger segments of the human species and of planet Earth.”, “A significant proportion of humanity’s cultural achievements owe their existence to the exploitation of conquered populations”, “Today most of us speak, think and dream in imperial languages that were forced upon our ancestors by the sword.”, “the cultural ideas spread by empire were seldom the exclusive creation of the ruling elite. Since the imperial vision tends to be universal and inclusive, it was relatively easy for imperial elite to adopt ideas, norms, and traditions from wherever they found them, rather than to stick fanatically to a single hidebound tradition. While some emperors sought to purify their cultures and return to what they viewed as their roots, for the most part empires have begot hybrid civilizations that absorbed much from their subject peoples.” (P. 189 – 199) I could have find some more quotes and if you are looking for a in depth understanding of the entire concept, lease real chapter 11 imperial visions of the book Sapiens: a brief history of humankind. But all of these quotes introduce you to a different perspective on the message of the poster.
Leave a Reply