Friday, January 30, 2009
Who we are represents us
So, I was giving some thought to our latest reading in our Free Speech and Responsibility class in regards to Raed Jarrar http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/jarrar.html and his shirt “We will not be silenced”. I believe that a lot of this has to do with something we really hope we can avoid in our culture but inevitably we succumb to the inevitability of who we are and what we look like truly defines us. For example, a woman that wears a shirt with the phrase “we will not be silenced” takes on a different meaning. If a woman wore the shirt, it would be taken into context that she is speaking out for women’s rights or abuse. If a man or woman of color other than white wore the shirt it would be looked at as a racial equality stand. If a child wore the same shirt, it would be perceived that children have a voice as well. If a convict who displays a bunch of prison tattoos wore a shirt for example that read “3 can keep a secret if two are dead” takes on a heavier meaning of his social existence. Anyway we look at it, who we are represents our class, our status and the trials and tribulations of our represented nature for everyone in the world to see and interpret. Our history has shown us this as well as our present day. What is that age old saying? Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it? Apparently we have not learned anything.
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See the thing that irritates me about this guy is the fact that he says he had no idea what shirt he had. That's bullshit. He knew what he was doing and he went there with a goal of gaining attention for "his cause." Which is fine, but what bugs me about that is when I'm at the airport, I just want to get on the plane and get to wherever the fuck I'm going. It may be selfish, but whatever. He was trying to fuck up someone's day.
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