chiggerwood said:
I have no idea why this got me so worked up.
Me, neither. So if you can't fight
all the causes, you can't fight
any of them?
Maybe the reason these folks have picked this particular cause is because
this one they may actually be able to change. I can't cure cancer, I can just give money to people who think they can. I can't stop sex slavery -- I could "raise awareness," but who is there among us who doesn't already think it's wrong?
This cause is something that really does demonstrate quite a bit of insensitivity,
and yet so many people don't see it as a problem. You realize that's exactly how some people feel about some instances of human trafficking, right? Because it's not a bother
to them, it's "not a worthwhile cause."
Yeah, there are "real racists" in the world. The people that think these costumes are hilarious? They're among them. What you mean to say is that there are "worse" racists in the world. Yep. Very true. And
those racists are too far gone to listen to anyone, because they fully know and admit they are racist. Someone who thinks it's fine to dress as the "lazy, donkey-riding Mexican" is someone who is a racist-in-denial.
It's not that they hate Mexicans. It's that they don't consider what the other person may feel about it. They consider that other person's culture to be nothing more than fuel for a goofy joke. That's a kind of racism -- it may be a "softer" or more "accidental" kind, but that's
exactly what makes it worth pointing out.
If even
one person looks at the poster and says, "Hmm... I hadn't really thought of it that way. I guess it is a little more rude than I thought, and for not much 'joke,' either," then this campaign has accomplished
far more than a bumper sticker that trumpets some "real" cause that everyone already agrees with.
Whether or not you agree with the topic of the campaign, the fact is that this is
exactly the kind of campaign these kids should fight -- because it's something they actually have the power to start changing.