Civil Religion

Disclaimer: I used this as my intro to one of my final papers. This is MY work.

September 2011 exactly 10 years after the horrendous attack on the World Trade Center, there was a New York Jets football game. They played who we as Americans consider “America’s team” the Dallas Cowboys. It was opening weekend for the National Football League and a very emotional time for the nation; especially the city of New York. A man in a Dallas Cowboys jersey (the away team) refused to stand up for the National Anthem. His reasons were he was a Jehovah’s Witness, but ultimately he did not really need an excuse or reason. We tote this saying “the land of the free” yet when one does something out of the norm and exuberates being free, we chastise them for it. This man was harassed by some Marines behind him for his actions and fellow attendees at the game saw nothing wrong with it. The man in the Cowboys jersey feared for his life and ended up using a taser on the group of men harassing him. Now, how ironic is that? A man sporting the jersey of “America’s team” doesn’t stand up for the national anthem and is harassed by some Marines for exercising his right to not do something, which is what we are told Marines fight for. No matter how free we think we are in America and how individualistic we want to be, everything boils down to a civil religion and obeying those unwritten rules in this country.

America's Education Plan

Sometimes we let our desires cloud our reality. The proof is always there, yet when the truth is too harsh we tend to keep faith in it possibly not being the truth. With each generation of children getting an American (public) education, it seems like the curriculum focuses more on passing tests than educating our future citizens. There are two main arguments that are supported by facts and unfortunately those facts are a poor reflection on our society. The way our government sees it, under-performing schools should be closed down and teachers "punished" for it. They use standardized testing to determine each schools' performance and an educators livelihood hangs in the balance. Is that fair? Not really since there are many factors as to why a certain school may have more students failing than the others and it probably has nothing to do with the actual teachers and their techniques. Maybe the school doesn't have enough school supplies, space, or teachers which is very common in these impoverished neighborhoods all over America that has schools closing at an alarming rate. This burden often falls onto the shoulders of everyone involved in said school, so they need to come up with answers with close to no resources. Well these teachers have to defend themselves for their rent, groceries, and student loan payments depend on it. The very legitimate argument these educators have is that education is not something solely done in the school. Where are the parents, why aren't they doing their part to enforce the basic educational values they received as a child? As a parent I'd be a fool to think that it is anyone else's sole responsibility to teach my child. We live in a world where responsibility is not a common attribute and people only think about the immediate future. Yes Sianna is my spawn, but she is a citizen of this world who will possibly make life decisions that will determine how every single one of us will live in the future. If she becomes a criminal because of the people she is around and my values and life jewels I gave her weren't enough, she may end up making someone who never cared for her welfare a victim who shunned her and it will affect/effect that person's family drastically. Or maybe one of her teachers who really inspired her will have a family member who suffers from some illness and that'll be the impetus behind my daughter becoming that doctor who cures said disease which effects millions of people. I mean those two examples are quite extreme, but exactly how far-fetched are they regarding our society? America's goal isn't our goal, period. The education system and it's standardized tests have been directly linked to studies which determine where prisons are built. States receiving funding to build prisons based on how low their scores are. America's goal is not a nation of educated people with hopes of living the "American Dream." America's goal is a nation of poor people with skill-sets which only allow them to go so far in life and keeps them dependent on the government. Starbucks and McDonalds are a dime a dozen, even more so than churches now. There will always be room for cashiers in this world as long as the citizens of this world don't value education; America banks on that, literally.

I done turned Brooklyn to Manhattan...

If there is any day that you'll learn, you gon' learn today. Read a Facebook status about a week ago which inspired this blog post. The person suggested that the faces we as Black people identify with (celebrities) are the ones they send to help destroy us. Sort of how the mafia or mob would send your best friend to kill you, so you'll never see it coming. We've been given poison from the enemy in various forms. The most potent is when it comes with a familiar face. Now I'm an avid NY Knick fan so my allegiance basketball-wise has always been a city thing as far as pride, but don't get it twisted I've liked watching the Brooklyn Nets. In fact the only Knick game I went to this year was against their new rival Nets and I've actually attended 2 Nets games this year. Everyone from Brooklyn no matter how long their residency is proud to be from here; sorry it's just the coolest borough. With that sense of pride comes a price unfortunately. Since there was word of the Nets coming to Brooklyn the whole city has been in a frenzy; new rival, a city divided. What some have failed to realize is that the division does not only fall with one being a fanatic of one of the two teams. See we have a new rivalry in this city and our political friends like to call it "class warfare." Other terms such as gentrification have been tossed around, but simply put it's the same old case of the Haves versus the Have-Nots. The most fucked up thing is that it ultimately boils down to a matter of race and location. Us poor (Black and Brown) people in Brooklyn have been sitting on prime real estate since forever with our easy access to the subway which makes our commute to the luxurious Manhattan a hop, skip, and a jump. Manhattan has become a wealthy European's paradise, so the natives can't keep up with the rising prices to live in the borough. Now moving to the Bronx isn't quite ideal well because there's nothing really there besides a zoo and Yankee Stadium (new and old). The city of NY has not really pumped a whole lot of dollars into revamping that borough, so all efforts have to come from the residents which isn't a whole lot. It's not as industrialized as a Manhattan or has a large enough population as a Brooklyn so it's almost a lost cause in the eyes of the powers that be in this city/state. Manhattanites want to be as close to Manhattan without that Manhattan price. Queens doesn't have enough trains/train stations and NOBODY moves to Staten Island. My Beloved Brooklyn has been gifted and cursed with a new-found desire of people wanting to live here. I mean over the years there has been a spike in residency and rent, but after the new stadium it's had a negative effect on the people. They threw native Brooklyn son Jay-Z all over the face of the Nets before they arrived and We as a whole embraced the new team and stadium never mind the steep cost. Local shops were bought out and demolished, even peoples' homes as well. Still didn't matter, it was a morale boost for the borough. Fast forward to Spring 2013, the Nets have an awesome season and Jay-Z bails out on the team for other endeavors and guess who is stuck holding this expensive ass bag? We were blinded by sports and fame and concerts and fancy new train stations and fucking forgot or didn't care to actually check what the average rent is by Madison Square Garden, this stadiums Big Brother. My wife and I have been passive-aggressively looking for a home to buy in Brooklyn and I swear with each Net win the price jumps another 10 thousand fazules. Damn, (y)our local hero Sean Carter came up in here like our good good long time friend and just whacked us mob style. No prints on the gun and we were the only witness, yet at the same time a victim. We let it happen and now look at the rent in Brooklyn. Look at what these homes cost. Brooklynites cant afford to live here anymore. Look what we let happen to my Beloved Brooklyn. We done turned Brooklyn to Manhattan... Yall gon' learn today, tomorrow, next week, next month, hell HOPEFULLY just any fucking day! Check your ingredients people, Peace!