This End Down » Rants, Raves, and Whines

The N Word (and The View)

Matt — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:08:30 +0000

If you’re interested, first watch the video, and then read Tereva’s response she e-mailed them.

Whoopi, Sherri, and Hasselback on The N Word

As an African American woman, I would like to thank Elisabeth Hasselbeck for her empathy and concern for not only the Black community, but for the unification of humanity. As Whoopi stated in the controversial episode discussing the ‘N’ word, we do not live in the same worlds. There are prejudices that I will undoubtedly undergo because of my race, but, are we not called to correct the past wrongs of our history? I believe that Elisabeth’s yearning is for us to mend the bridges that our past has attempted to destroy, and the ‘N’ word has caused nothing but emotional strife and suffering.

I hope that the View’s audience did not walk away thinking that Whoopi and Sherri’s perspectives are accurate representations of African American thoughts and attachments to the word. How can we embrace something that has such negative connotations? By continuing to embrace the ‘N’ word, we are furthering the wedge of segregation and racism, by stating that it is ‘ok’ to make allowances for some people’s use of the word and not for others. We are also stating that is ‘ok’ for us to perpetuate self hatred, but it is not ok for others to hate us because of our skin. Can we get any more hypocritical and ignorant?

Is this the kind of world that we want our children to inherit? A world where they are to continue living lives separate from their peers, mates, co-workers, friends, family, because they follow an unspoken rule of conduct? It’s absurd. You can NOT strip shame away from a word that has been used for hundreds of years. It is inextricable at this point. Whoopi, Sherri, listen to your female counterparts. The color of their skin does not strip them of their credibility, nor their wisdom, and desire to rectify situations that hurt our communities and world.

How far more precious are you than the birds

Matt — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 08:10:24 +0000

About a month ago I was stressing out about where I would be living next year and what would happen with the Monastery. Well, a month has passed, and nothing’s changed. It’s too late for me to get a house loan, and I still don’t have the paperwork I need for that; it’s certainly too late for the church to be livable by August 1st. So, next week I go rental house searching.

Last month when I was freaking out about it, Jane reminded me of this. I just hunted it down in my journal, because I needed it again.

“Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? [...] Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? [...] But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (chunks from Matthew 6:25-34)

Oh, financial aid

Matt — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:08:14 +0000

Apparently, the $1750 that I expected from the financial aid department isn’t coming. Which puts my tab for two classes this semester as $3425.22. Yah, I hate talking and complaining about finances. But this isn’t just talking and complaining. This … Continue reading →

This may become a trend (let’s hope not)

Matt — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 02:57:07 +0000

7:45: Page 0 of Wuthering Heights
7:45-10:09: Fall asleep several times at CC while trying to read Wuthering Heights
10:09: Page 132 of Wuthering Heights
10:58: Home. Page 132 of Wuthering Heights. Still.
12:07: Page 185.
12:30: Page 201. (break: My roommate needs some serious prayer for family stuff. I know most people don’t know him, but if you’re sitting at home thinking, “Who should I pray for?” — or even, “For whom shall I pray?” — the answer is Brendan and his family. Seriously.)
12:50: Page 201
2:40: Page 287 of Wuthering Heights. The end.
4:00: Sleep after reading other crap.
11:00: Class. No test. No quiz. He decided to instead verify that we’ve read by just making this class more discussion-oriented, and if he thinks that someone’s BS-ing and didn’t really read, then he might reconsider. I’m almost frustrated, but, not really.

9 days left of undergraduate education (well, in a few hours it’ll be 9.)

Perhaps this week’s third (near) all-nighter

Matt — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 04:21:58 +0000

Never has 11 days seemed so long.

10:25pm: Home from practice & dinner
2:15am: Finished paper

4:25am: Halfway done with Frankenstein

5:15am: Three-quarters. The birds just started chirping.

6:02am: Boo-frickin-ya.

This week is not my friend

Matt — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:18:58 +0000

Not a good day.

My FTP program freaked out and deleted an entire program–the only copy I have of it. It was almost finished, and I was going to post it up here within the next few days. Now, it’s entirely gone, and I really don’t think I have the willpower to reprogram the entire thing.

I got a C- on an exam, the first time in my life I’ve gotten less than a B on a test, because my professor tested us on material that he hadn’t taught in the class. When I asked him how he could justify testing us on material that he hadn’t taught (this is the professor who, at the beginning of the class says, “You will not be tested on anything except for my lectures. All you have to do is take notes. 99% of the exams are on lecture notes.”), he said, “Well, you remember that 99%? This was that 1%.” I then asked him why my lack of knowledge of that 1% took away so much more than 1% of my grade on the test. He just laughed a little.

Quick update:

I love my life. I have so many good things in my life. There’s something about my God, my friends, and my life that makes it impossible for me to stay unhappy for long.

About the word “race”

Matt — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:50:07 +0000

How can we get away using a term like “race”? It has no meaning. Ethnicity? Culture? Sure. Skin color? Area of origin? Language? Sure. Not that we should be divided along those borders; exactly the opposite. However, how is it that even educated non-racist people continue to propogate this term? I found myself using it today and had to stop myself. Interracial relationship and racial reconciliation are interesting terms, because while they contain the term I so dislike, they exist only because of the abuses the word race reflects. So maybe, until the traces of those abuses disappear, those phrases are still appropriate. Maybe. And someone might say intercultural relationship is just as asinine as interracial relationship, but I would suggest that it’s exactly the comical natural of “intercultural relationship” being used only to describe relationships between persons of different ethnicities that will lead to the realization that it’s a distinction that needn’t be made.

She’s white. Well, she’s Jewish. He’s white. Well, actually, he’s from Guatemala. So? Well, some people see Latino as being different from white. Oh, her? She’s mixed. Him? His parents were both mixed. So… what does that make him?

It’s all silly.

Xanga as simulacra

Matt — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:58:12 +0000

Here’s something fun. Jean Baudrillard, a French philosopher, founded a lot of his theories on the idea of simulacra. It’s quite complicated, but the general concept is that a simulacrum is a simulation that so effectively represented the original (often in a more accessible way) that it first covered (masking the original) and then replaced (masking the absence of the original) that to which it referred. Baudrillard often referenced those famous cave paintings (you know which) as an example of this. In order to protect the original paintings, preservationists erected nearly exact replicas of the paintings for the viewing public to enjoy. The old caves are no longer maintained with the same fervor with which people maintain the new representations, and the new caves are those which are experienced by the majority (if not entirety) of the visitors; hence, the duplicates have replaced the original and become more real (to the visitors) than the originals.

All of that was to preface this suggestion: Xanga has become a simulacrum. Online journals exist to document your existence for those who are not there. When you begin to spend your real life time discussing Xanga, Xanga has become a simulacrum; the original (actual personal experience) was first covered with its description (journaling) and then replaced (discussing journaling becomes more important than having experiences which merit being journaled.)

Funny.

One thing to note: there is no suggestion in labeling something a simulacrum that the new creation is in any way better or worse than the original. It’s merely for the sake of discussion.

I’m pissed, but trying to not be

Matt — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:26:26 +0000

UPDATE: I figured out why everything seemed so bad. I mean, this stuff did suck. But, I forgot to eat dinner last night. So at the time of this writing, I hadn’t eaten for about 20 hours. The picture’s still awesome, though.

I came into class an hour early on my last day of class after saying pretty specifically that I didn’t want to because a classmate was completely sure she’d need my help. I’m now sitting in the stupid computer lab on the other side of the room, because she is, like I said she would, getting all the help she needs from the teacher. So, I’m sitting in the hot basement of Norman, being pissed. Also, the teacher informed me that the lesson plans we’re creating (I was so proud to be the first in the class who was finished) must also include examples of the assignments. I made mine for high schools and junior high (most of the class is working with middle and elementary school), so every one of my five lesson plans includes an assignment like a five-page paper, a book of poetry, etc. So the idea is, I’m not actually done with my project–I need to write five-page reports and create movies and record podcasts and all that kinda crap. Just because finals week isn’t hard enough.

In other news, the laptop is definitely broken. The power connector on the back has been tested now with three different power adaptors, and none of them work. Safeware promised to call me back by yesterday at 4. Surprise of all surprises, they didn’t.

Here’s what I’m working on to cheer me up, though. And no–this isn’t from Halloween. Hunter and I went to class like this yesterday. It was great.

Ha! And you though it was actually coming.

Matt — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 19:53:01 +0000

Continuing the Safeware/MicroMedics saga: It’s been now four weeks since I sent my laptop in the second time (and over three months since I first called Safeware.) Last week they promised that they were installing the part. This week I called and said, where the crap is my laptop? They said, oops, defective part. Had to ship it back, and we’re waiting on a new one.

A new one. Again. A new rumor is out that the Macbooks will be announced next week. Do you know what would be hilarious? If I got my new laptop, which has been delayed for three months from when I originally thought they would announce it, before I got my stupid old laptop back.

Frickin’ hilarious.