Race and Racism

I'm generally a little behind on the times here in Kosovo, most of my news is acquired through the blogosphere when I get time to check it out or even on the front page of MSN or whatever.

Anyway, through word of mouth, I heard about this group called Prussian Blue, a group composed of a set of 13 year old Twins named Lynx and Lamb Gaede who are White Nationalists. I thought that in and of itself was a little odd that these girls who are that young are taking up singing about topics such as that (though I think their names are cool).

I'll admit, I was intrigued, especially after hearing about how they were on CNN or Primetime or something (like I said, I'm getting most of this Second Hand) in which they were put in a bad light, or so they say.

Well, I wanted to find out more, so I surfed the internet, found their site, and read up on them. They appear to be normal 13 year olds in a sense, except for the pictures of them posing with T-shirts depicting a Happy Face Hitler for Aryan Wear and the prominantly displayed link to National Vanguard on their homepage. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and how talented these girls really were, so I downloaded a couple of their songs (which were free) to get a feel for their music. Like I said, I was intrigued by this.

Um, let me say that the White Nationalism and Aryan aspect aside (which I find disgusting to begin with, especially their absurd paranoia toward anybody of Jewish Decent), I wasn't impressed. Maybe if one of them is singing by themselves, they sound fine, but when they are both singing together, they sounded awful. Like they were off key and couldn't harmonize together. It sounded terrible, and though they are from Bakersfield California, they sounded like they were trying to come off as being from the South. I think the only reason they are getting attention is because they are a couple of thirteen year olds who are singing about White Nationalism, because they sure in hell ain't talented.

Though I agree that they do hold up an interesting point. Myself, being the Blue Eyed, Blonde Haired person that I am, would definitely fall under the category for White Nationalism, and I don't think anybody should feel ashamed of their race. Unfortunately, though Black People have BET and Ebony Magazine and Black History Month, or what not about being black and celebrating their black heritage, there isn't really anything about celebrating being European Decent without being labeled as a Racist. You listen to some music groups out there and there is a lot of hate talk within their various songs toward white people but people seem to overlook that as being Racist. Well, though I don't agree with Prussian Blue's message, I do agree that if a racist rap song can be labeled as music and not some message of Hate, well then, Prussian Blue and groups of the like can be labeled in the same light (Because like Prussian Blue, a lot of these Rap Groups lack talent as well)

On a side note, I sure in hell am not a racist, I have a lot of good friends that are Black, Asian, Latino or what not and they are genuinely good people that are hard working and trying to make the most of their lives (which is one of the good things about the Army as it is a True Melting Pot of American Society where you will run across people of all Race, Religion, and Political Affiliation or what not) There are gross generalizations made toward these groups that is sometimes true and some times exagerated. I have just learned with time that maybe you can make a gross generalization with a group, people are still individuals and you need to judge them based on their merits as an individual, not on their race.

Which reminds me of a persona experience on the subject when I was a Freshman in Highschool in Princeton California. My English class was going over some literature in response to Black History Month and talking about the Civil Rights movement and some of the things people had to go through to win their rights in the 60's and so forth. We were talking about some of the harsher things that happened during that time and several people kind of sat in silence pondering this. Then somebody made the absurd statement that it made them ashamed to be white.

Why the heck should anybody be ashamed to be what they are? At the time I wanted to stand up and ask that person "why do you feel ashamed? Is it because you personally did racist acts in the 60's toward black people? Why should I be ashamed by how another group of people acted? They weren't acting on my behalf, they don't speak for me. Just because a few white rednecks in the south were going around lynching people just because they were black doesn't mean that I supported their actions. I wasn't even conceived yet!" Maybe some people believe in the concept of original sin or that the sins of their parents and ancestors are theirs to share, but I happen to disagree with that. I am not responsible for how anybody in my family acts, they are all individuals and adults, responsible for their own beliefs and actions. I should not be held accountable for acts committed by racists 40 years ago 3000 miles away. There is no reason why I should be ashamed of being white. Because it is a part of me and is who I am. The stereotype of my race doesn't dictate who I am. I do.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

As a side note - I think Prussian Blue and White Nationalists are retards.