Gotta come out and talk about the protests in Iran. I wasn’t going to because, does the internet really need yet another rant about how bad things are there. But, hey, that’s what blogs are for. Right?
As I type this I’ve got CNN running in the background so I can hear any updates on what is going on.
Living in the United States I am very aware of the fact that I have a lot of freedoms. Not just as a female, but as a human being. I don’t have to worry about getting fined and jailed for holding my husband’s hand in public. I don’t have to worry about being arrested for not covering my head. And I know I can speak my mind and criticize anything I don’t like, even the government. Americans have a lot of freedoms.
I have grown up with a lot of baby boomers trying to tell me how hard they had it and how hard they fought for the freedoms that I enjoy today. My mother told me once that the 1950’s were one of the most oppressive decade towards women in history. A girl I know full on thought that the only woman’s suffrage movement that ever existed was in the 1960’s. I know that we had some ugly times in the past 50 years. I’m not going to deny it… but there is a big difference between having rock concerts and getting high on drugs to protest the government and what is going on right now in Iran… and it really brings things into perspective to me.
Last night CNN was reading blog entries on Facebook from Iranians. One wrote about how yesterday might very well be his last day on Earth. It’s shocking and depressing. I’ve heard reports of “expected violence” in U.S. protests in the past (a day without an illegal comes to mind) that turned out to be absolutely nothing. Just aging hippies remembering the glory days of getting arrested in protests and wanting to see that again because, to them, it validates them.
I know that Iran is a totally different culture and there is REAL oppression there… but part of my brain really wanted to believe that things wouldn’t be so bad today. I really wanted to believe that today would be a relatively peaceful day with maybe a few little break outs of unrest.
But no. These people are really fighting and really dying for their belief in a better world. That person who wrote they might not come home tonight wasn’t stretching the truth and… though it is incredibly inspiring that people are willing to sacrifice themselves for a better world, it’s also really depressing and sad that they have to at all.
Ok, disclaimer before I get angry hate mail about how I don’t know what I’m talking about. I am NOT talking about the Civil Rights movement. I am talking strictly about those spoiled rich kids who went on road trips and had tons of sex and drugs and went to drum circles and hung out in San Francisco to protest “government oppression and sexism” in this country. You know. The aging boomers and shallow post boomers who say all the right things and really want to believe that they have suffered when really they’ve benefitted the most from this wonderful country we are in.
Black America, the men and women who fought that fight in the 60’s, you people are heros. And it makes me sick every time I hear a rich, white, 50something take credit for what you achieved.
One final note to everybody. The next time you start criticizing this wonderful country we are in, take a real look around. Women have the ability to complain about trivial things like whether or not the latest Star Trek Movie was sexist. We have a black president in the Whitehouse. And every American has the right to tell every other American that they don’t agree with them on issues of religion, politics, and morality.
Ok. I’m done.
-kat
P.S. Josh wrote a wonderful short essay about Iran on The Hanger. Please read it and let us know what you think.
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2 comments:
I pray for the people of Iran. I really do. I hope they can find a peaceful resolution to the election issue, but unfortunately, that's not what I predict happening. Still, I believe something good can come of the Iranians' struggle in spite of the violence. If the United States can progress from a land that favors white protestant male to being inclusive of all races, I believe Iran can do it too.
p.s. It still blows my mind we have a black president in office. Seriously, I didn't think I'd live to see it (or at least live to see it as young as I am).
*pops out of nowhere*
Hello~
This might be late, but yeah, situation in Iran also caught my attention, Particularly, i'm on Oriental Studies, Middle East being one of the areas i'm most interested in, culture, history and religion-wise. And you know what? They pretty much have never had peace. It's sad, but humans are still humans, so they fight wars everyday.
Oh, and as a fellow American, this is something that totally pisses me off, and i'm sorry it's you the one that has to read this, but while reading your post all that "Americans this, Americans that, We americans" etc, i just have to point it out.
Why do all "Americans" refer to themselves as such, and usually call the U.S. "America"? Because America is a whole big contintent, and not just the U.S.
It's really annoying and kind of insulting sometimes how U.S. people name themselves "Americans", because us (the rest of the American people from the rest of the continent), just know that when a US citizen uses such word, they mean ONLY the US,and US people ONLY.
Seriously, are US people in such a bubble as to forget they are part of a continent, and not the continent itself?
Honestly, if a mexican were to say he's american in front of a group of US people, they would laugh in his/her face, and deny it.
So yeah, maybe people in America a.k.a. the US have many freedoms, but people from the rest of the continent, in particular nations, are not so lucky.
Colombia is at war with the F.A.R.C., Venezuela is on its way to be ruled by a selfish dictator, Brazil has serious social issues concerning deliquency, drugs, poverty, and everything the existence of "favellas" implies. Bolivia is probably the poorer country on South America, and i can assure you that Argentina is a total mockery, politics, economics, education and health-wise.
I know the US has its own problems, freaking xenophobia and intolerance being its top one, imo, but it would be nice if they would just stop calling themselves Americans, ignoring all the other millions of people with whom they share the continental land, and stop calling their own country the same as the whole continent, ignoring all the other nations in it.
So, if you mind passing this on to other "americans", i would highly appreciate it.
And again, i'm sorry it's you the one who triggered this on me, really. But i guess i kind of exploded, and couldn't keep it to myself anymore :/
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