Defining a Generation

Over the last 20 or so years a lot has changed. Technology has come from the Apple II to the iPod. We've elected a black president. Nowadays most people are a lot more accepting than they were 20 years ago

Now many states accept and have legalized LGBT marriage. From the days of Harvey Milk and even earlier even being openly gay was a horrible thing. Even being suspected of being gay was horrible in the eyes of people. Now seeing two guys or two girls holding hands or kissing isn't out of the ordinary anymore. While the equality has gotten a lot better, the hate of the LGBT group is still ever present. Shown a lot in the media members of the LGBT community are frequently bashed verbally but also physically.

I personally am glad to see the acceptance of the LGBT community and the legalization of marriage. Hopefully in the future people are more accepting of the members of LGBT community but unfortunately there will always be people who want to cling to the old ways.

The Really Real World

The MTV show Real World is causing a serious problem. It presents people with an archetype of what people are like. This creates two things in peoples minds. It makes people think that certain people are a certain way. The other thing is it makes people think they are supposed to act a certain way. The major problem with this is thinking a group of people is all the same. This builds onto the already prevalent stereotype which is never a good thing.

I may be generalizing but people who watch MTV are the type of people to believe these stereotypes. With that in mind it is my opinion that MTV wants to keep its viewers ignorant. Thanks to Dave Chappelle, who I love, and MTV white people really are the most ignorant group of folks in the world.

Accidental Racist

The big deal over the accidental racist controversy seemed to be a few choice words sang or rapped by LL Cool J and Brad Paisley. One phrase that caused a bit of a stir was "If you forgive my gold chains, I'll forgive your steel chains." This means that in exchange for being able to wear gold chains, LL Cool J will forgive the dark age of slavery. Another phrase that was under scrutiny was Brad Paisley remarking that he didn't mean to be racist, he's just a Skynyrd Fan. Lynyrd Skynyrd, while not racist themselves, have a lot of fans who are racist. Even Skynyrd themselves pointed out in a concert that they believe that the confederate flag is racist.

I believe that we don't need to constantly be thinking about it but at the same time it should never be forgotten so something like that never happens again. This may not have been such a horrible song if they actually recorded in the same room instead of across the country from each other. I don't care for the song but I can see what they were trying to do with it.