Fair and Equitable Representation - Society's Biggest Myth

First of all, let me explain that I am in no way trying to diminish the Black Lives Matter movement, with this post. I fully support their cause! But we are still missing the point of equality for all, because we're ignoring the Asian-American population and the Indigenous population; not to mention, the lack of publicity the LGBTQ community has received during Pride Month.

ALL LIVES will matter, as soon as a person's race/ethnicity, skin color, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, etc. no longer governs how society treats them! Human beings, regardless of who they are, have rights; and it's astonishingly absurd that, in 2020, marginalized groups of people STILL need to fight the status quo, when it comes to securing their own rights as human beings! Slavery may have been abolished, but oppression is still widely practiced. And it is high time the rest of us got real with ourselves, and made whatever efforts are necessary to abolish oppression, as well.

Everyone loves movies and TV, right? Have you ever noticed that Hollywood has a serious lack of diversity? Check this out...

"Hollywood's serious diversity problem matters because how we tell stories, collectively as a society, and how we represent people not only reflect the dominant values of our society, but they also serve to reproduce them."

The lack of diversity in politics is blindly obvious, as well….

"The current Congress is the most racially diverse in history, but it’s still much whiter than the country overall, according to a new analysis by the Pew Research Center."

The LGBTQ community has been around, since the dawn of time; you know someone who's gay (or transgender), even if you're not aware of that fact. Back in the day, anyone who came out as gay or trans was killed, or put in jail. However, there's speculation as to whether James Buchanan, or Abraham Lincoln, might have been gay! Since we're working on electing our 46th POTUS, it's safe to say that's a strong possibility.

Just because you're not aware of that part of reality, doesn't mean it's not a part of reality!

There are 328 million people in the United States; 47 million of them are people of color, which is 14% of the total population. There are 535 members of Congress; 56 of them are African-American, 43 are Latinx, 17 are Asian-American, and only 4 are Indigenous (they were here first, folks!). Even our own government is disproportionately representing people of color.

When white folks colonized America, they treated the Indigenous people like crap! Instead of learning from them, the Colonists waged war against them, raped them, stole their land, and shuffled them all into what are called Reservations. Have any of you heard of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924? This law granted citizenship to Native Americans...the people who were already occupying the land, when the white people invaded and took over, were granted citizenship to their own country! They were here, first; they were already citizens of this country!! To this day, Indigenous people are treated like second class citizens, by society and the government.

Since we're discussing lack of representation, let's talk about religious freedom, for a minute. Christianity is not the only religion practiced in the United States; only 65% of the US population identifies as Christian, and a great deal of those who identify don't even practice it. However, according to the Religious Right, and our own government, Christianity is the only religion; if they have their way, it will soon become the State Religion, which is a clear violation of the First Amendment.

When it comes to movies and TV, Catholicism is the only represented religion; if the storyline mentions religion, at all. Very few times have I ever watched a show, or a movie, that mentions anyone who practices another religion; and most of the time, that religion is Judaism. When the storyline is about any other religion, it's always viewed as evil, or taboo...something that needs remedied (like Atheism).

How can we learn about our fellow human beings, when society, government, and Hollywood hide the truth from us? Every religion is valid; and before you mention Islam, I'd like to remind you that the KKK and Westboro Baptist Church are Christian extremist groups. Every religion has an extremist group; but the religion, itself, is not what we've been taught to believe about them. All religions need to be understood for what they are; and given proper representation in culture, media, and politics.

The definition of "marginalized" is a person, group, or concept treated as insignificant or peripheral. White Christians are not a marginalized group; people of color, the LGBTQ community, and folks who practice other religions are. The definition of "oppression" is prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control; white folks are not oppressed...they commit oppression against marginalized groups.

And until those groups are given the same recognition in society, media, culture, and politics, as the rest of us enjoy, we should stop calling our country a free nation; we should certainly stop calling ourselves a Christian nation! Jesus wasn't about oppressing marginalized groups of people; He treated everyone the same, and he loved everyone equally. If anyone is incapable of following that example, they have no business calling themselves a Christian.

The oppression of marginalized groups is wrong...full stop! They are just as much human beings, as the rest of us; and they deserve the same representation, the same rights, the same justice, the same opportunities, etc. as the rest of us do! Equality and equity are not evil notions...they were the ideals of this country, at one point in time. The problem with that is, back in the day, those ideals were only meant for white folks, only.

One final note; politics is a social construct. Stop letting it govern the way you feel about other human beings! Stop letting it tell you what to think about how the country should be run! Stop letting politics influence you so deeply!! Think for yourselves!

We can, and we must, do better!!