Closing Pandora's Box

…Continued (Click here to read part 1 & here to read part 2)

One reason I very much liked the film American History X was due to the message it portrayed about hate and how one man (Derek) who was saturated with it turned his life around. This change was the culmination of a chain of events, each making him question his hate and anger. I found the following quote very powerful and it is something we should take some time to contemplate on:

There was a moment, when I used to blame everything and everyone for all the pain and suffering and vile things that happened to me, that I saw happen to my people. Used to blame everybody. Blamed white people, blamed society, blamed God. I didn't get no answers 'cause I was asking the wrong questions. You have to ask the right questions. Has anything you’ve ever done made your life better? – Bob Sweeney (American History X).

A lot of the time we are shackled down by our own negative mentality, blaming others in an excuse to justify things that we don’t want to deal with. If only we asked ourselves the right questions and broke down the barriers of distrust, paranoia and suspicion, life would be so much easier. We’d have more time to enjoy than to pick out the bad points of a person, people, place or even a thing. 

In the previous post, I briefly mentioned how a fear of the unknown can lead to one hating that unknown thing; be it a person, thought, rule, or inanimate object.

The veil is something which causes a lot of angst and fear among people because one cannot tell who it is behind that cloth or why they have chosen to cover themselves up in such a manner. Many people due to their limited knowledge or bad experience have come to associate negative things with the veil and some countries have gone as far as either banning the wearing of the veil or wish to impose a ban. This particular interview was published in The Times 2 supplement found inside The Times (Friday 19^th November 2010). Due to political correctness and or for a fear of offending the veil wearer, many people may refrain from asking questions. This is to help them understand the practicalities of how things are done once the veil is on and lets one learn about why this particular lady has chosen to cover herself up. I think the honesty and humour with which this woman answers the questions should be applauded. There are very few people out there who would be willing to do such a thing, even though it is a way of removing misconceptions.

(Click on the image to download – 7.9mb)

Openness and transparency is an important way to remove the plants of hate growing within our environment whether at home or in the wider community. Educating oneself about others and asking questions is one way we can achieve that.

I’d like to end this by quoting a narration about hate from the end of the film American History X:

So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you'd like. 'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'

Where is the love? – Black Eyed Peas

I posted a few lyrics from the song ‘Where is the love’ by Black Eyed Peas at the end of part 1. I wanted to share with you the full music video but due to issues with privacy, I couldn’t embed it here. You can watch the video by clicking on the link above.

Last week I watched 3 excellent films; all of which I had seen multiple times before but thought I’d relive their awesomeness. On Tuesday I watched Mississippi Burning, on Wednesday it was American History X and on Thursday I watched Schindler's list with a friend.

(Click on the thumbnails to see the trailer for the movie)

On Tuesday last week I also turned on the radio after months. I was bored of waiting for the boiler man to come (they have such flexible appointment times). It wasn’t music I was after as I had already blasted my ears enough that day. I tuned into London’s Biggest Conversation (LBC) which is a discussion station regarding everything and nothing, ranging from why insects go round in circles around light bulbs to whether getting shat on by a bird is actually good luck. That particular day the topic of discussion was how to stop terrorism in the light of the admission by the Home Sectary, Theresa May, that the prevent program aimed at curbing radicalisation among young persons is not working as well as it could be. The presenter asked a member of the anti-terror think tank whether all types of extremism had a religious founding. The reply was:

No, I don’t think so. We all need justification for our actions and beliefs. Some people find it in religion, some people in anti-Islamism and some people find it in racism. Take for example the EDL, BNP, IRA, organisations that base their extremist ideas on politics.

Earlier this year, the following article appeared in the news:

On my first day of university (6^th October 2008 – yeah I remember it very well) I was feeling the standard emotions that one feels in such a big place surrounded by hundreds of new faces; the anxiety with a tinge of fear, but most of all the excitement. I remember sitting on the floor in the large lecture theatre listening to the various introductory welcome speeches because all the seats were full. I remember the first place we went after that was down into the depths of the medical school into the Dissection Room (DR). There was no rancid smell of decomposing dead bodies but instead the strong potent odour of formaldehyde (used to preserve the cadavers) penetrated one’s nostrils and caused itching of some people’s eyes. The room was brightly lit and one would not have assumed this was a room full of death. There were 18 metal tables arranged in 2 rows, each containing something covered by a green plastic. A skinless hand was hanging down out of the green plastic on one of the tables and I guessed then what we were just about to witness. As we entered the room, we were assigned a table by which to wait until everyone was assembled. After a short wait, a voice rang out from the speakers. “Hello and welcome to the Dissection Room. You should all have a demonstrator who will give you an introduction to the work done down here, safety precautions and the rules of the DR.” The green plastic was lifted up, the soaking towels were removed and there it was lying before us. A few people gasped, another person fainted and fell. A skinless dead face with an eye ball missing stared up at us.

At the end of the DR session I was washing my hands, trying to get rid of all the dead body juice when someone walked into me. After the apologies, and introductions, it transpired he was from Pakistan, having come to the UK only a few years ago. We got talking, went for lunch together (it was chicken at Amal’s) and that’s when we started talking about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This initiated a heated discussion on terrorism during which I made a side comment about the idiots who go round blowing themselves up and taking the lives of countless innocent civilians. It was then that I realised the guy I was talking to was ‘pro’ all the things I was anti; suicide bombing, indiscriminate killings and sacrificing one’s life and dragging down a dozen other people with you. Oh and he was a right pervert, with a mind that rotated around sex. Not just natural sex either (don’t even bother asking).

Having watched American History X, and looking back on the events of that day I’ve come to realise a few things. Extremist ‘recruiters’ play with your emotions. They make you feel angry, hurt, cheated on, uncared for and then exploit those feelings. In the film, Derek’s (played by Edward Norton) mentality transforms into that of a racist after his father tells him how ‘affirmative black action’ means that jobs are being given to black people not because they are the best at something, but to fill numbers. He quotes an example from his work where a black man was given a job for which a white man had better qualifications. He put forward his point in a subtle manner but it had a lasting effect on young Derek’s mind. When the father, a fireman, was killed, Derek blamed all the country’s problems on immigrants; ‘blacks, browns, yellow whatever.’ In response to the reporter asking what this has to do with anything, Derek replies, ‘Because my father was murdered doing his job!Putting out a fire in a fucking nigger neighbourhood he shouldn’t be giving a shit about. He got shot by a fucking drug dealer who probably collects a welfare check!’ In the same way, that guy I met on the first day of university tried to rouse my anger at America and Britain by twisting his words so that the killing of Muslims looked as if it was the killing of my own family. Organisations such as the BNP use issues like immigration and spread false information about certain peoples to rouse the emotions of the native population, who, as a result of which feel under threat. Once the seed of hate is sown, the tree flourishes and grows strong very quickly.

*****

But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And if you hatin’ you’re bound to get irate
Yeah madness is what you demonstrate
And that’s exactly how anger works and operates
You gotta have love to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love y’all.
(Where is the love – Black Eyed Peas)

- END OF PART 1 -

To be continued (Click here to read part 2)…