America In Context

Here are a few things I’m thankful for:

• I’m thankful that I’ve had a pretty lucky run on this Earth so far.
• I’m thankful that I was born with certain advantages that made it easier.
• I’m thankful that I’m a fairly smart guy. I inherited that from my mom’s side of the family. I also got my snark from that side of the tree as well, and because my snark provides me with infinite enjoyment, I’m very thankful for it.
• I’m thankful that I don’t mind working hard. I inherited that from my father’s side. My father is a hardworking man, and my grandfather fed his family through the Great Depression by working his ass off, either in employment or by foraging for their very survival. When in doubt, work hard. It usually clears things up.
• I’m also thankful I was born with another advantage, something that put me to the top of many lists, and made my life easier than so many others, for I was born a white man.
• I’m thankful that I can walk into an office, a law firm, a bank, or a grocery store without being prejudged because of the color of my skin.
• I’m thankful that, if I run out of something crucial for me or my family, I can walk into a convenience store at 11:30 PM without having my intentions questioned. At worst, people think I’m just a dumbass, whereas others who may enter such a store late at night are instantly believed to be criminal until proven otherwise.
• I’m thankful that I’ll only be pulled over or questioned by law enforcement if I truly do something wrong or suspicious. Others can be pulled over simply for having a non-preferred skin tone.
• I’m thankful that if I do get too drunk, or too angry, or too belligerent in public, or even to a cop, I can probably get a fair break and a decent defense. I probably wouldn’t get shot outright.
• I’m thankful I can succeed or fail based on my own strengths & weaknesses, of both talent and character. Others have the deck stacked so hard against them, they have to exhort a Herculean effort simply to earn a comfortable living.
• I’m thankful I was born a guy, and I don’t have to deal with some utterly bullshit glass ceiling that restricts either my salary or my advancement opportunities.
• I’m thankful that, in my youth, I could go to dates or parties without worrying if the other person in the room was going to drug me & invite their friends to rape me.
• I don’t even have to do unnatural things to my hair simply to fit in. Boy is that a big deal.

There is no greater blessing than to be able to go through life and succeed or fail based on one’s own talents, skills, actions, and character. Unfortunately, there are far too many people in this free country who have to do all of that while being hamstrung by the prejudices, indifferences, and intolerances this land has carried for over 300 years.

If you want to share the blessings you have received, work to make this country a better place. Race, color, creed, or gender should never be used to make anyone’s life harder.

Unfortunately, that’s simply not the truth in America today.

Peace.