To anyone who has not been living under a rock you are probably very tired of one word in particular, torture. President Obama released the Bush administration torture memos and the news has exploded with ideas, opinions, and talking heads. That is not surprise, it is the hottest story going around, but what has surprised me is the lack of “torture” in the blogs that I follow.
Now I know everybody has an asshole and it seems everybody has a blog, but I like to believe that the ones I follow daily are people who are very talented with a strong point of view and the ability to not only make their point but back it up. But with the exception of one, who is an Obama detractor, nobody else has gotten into torture talk.
Here at the window I try to balance news with pop culture, some gay issues, color identity, music, and fun. But this week has had me very limited in things to post about because I am all tortured out. I think in this matter I am not alone. Most of my sidebar blogs are people of color and I just find it impossible to believe that within this multi-sexual, multicultural rainbow, nobody has an opinion.
I can only chalk this up to the fact that these people, whose opinions I really do respect are disturbed by torture. I mean so much so to the point that they are not discussing it. Personally while I want everyone involved to be punished for these things that happened I think the thing that bothers me more is the knowledge that these things happen everyday. People of color locked away in jailhouses for traffic stops or other minor infractions. The fear that every black man that I know has that guilty or innocent , if you ever get put in the back of a police cruiser, you life is officially in the hands of whatever Gods you hold dear, because you may never be seen again.
A fear that strikes to close to home is too much to talk about.
2 comments:
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DJ, i think your last sentence sums the whole thing up. it hits too close to home. someone on the bus (where i spend most of my life) said that he didn't want to talk about it because he wants Pres. Obama to succeed and these tortures would someone end up being his failure. a bit of a stretch? yes, but i can totally see some people sharing that point of view.
my personal opinion and knowledge of what people i know, feel that it's payback and that somehow the prisoners deserve it. unfortunately, if you try to compare the treatment of the prisoners to the treatment of minorities then it appears that you are either excusing the alleged terrorists or implying that people of color are in the same league as terrorists. its a no win situation.
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