Sandra Bland

For the past three months, it appears to have been open season on black men and women. Last month at a pool party in Texas, police were called after a woman picked a fight with the event organizer; Tatyana Rhoades. As a result, an innocent 15 year old girl was thrown to the ground and wrestled by an overly aggressive police officer.  Adrian Martin, 18 year old black man who was trying to calm down the girl was arrested for interfering. This month, Sandra Bland was pulled over for not using a traffic signal when she decided to switch lanes. Once the State Trooper spoke to Bland, he claims she became argumentative as well as uncooperative. A video surfaced of the incident showing an officer asking Bland to put out a cigarette. When she refused to put it out, he threatened to "light her up" with his Taser. Sandra was then asked to get out of her vehicle. Law enforcement officials also state Sandra kicked the trooper before she was arrested, but another video shows a woman who most likely was Sandra as her lawyer suggests, being manhandled, having her head banged against the ground and has her body pinned down by the police officer using his knee to hold her in place, injuring her arm, causing damage to her back. Sandra was then arrested.

 After being held in custody officers claim Sandra hanged herself in the cell by using a trash bag, noting how she spoke of depression and PTSD. They even go so far to attack her character by bringing up irrelevant information pertaining to her past usage of marijuana and an unfortunate event where she had a miscarriage in an attempt to discredit her as some no good, ghetto trash with a possible edge towards being suicidal. Some law enforcement officials along with the media is commonly known for portraying people of color in a negative, stereotypical manner, often missing the facts of several individuals until it is either presented or discovered that officials weren't being completely honest. In truth, Bland was actually a college graduate who attended Prairie View A&M University in Texas; she was returning as a student ambassador, she was not some average uneducated hood rat.

In the case of Sandra Bland, the facts clearly show it's not possible for her to have killed herself the way it was reported, nor is there any evidence to support their claims, but sadly there are still some people in the black community as well as some white people who fail to acknowledge her death as a murder, believing she truly committed suicide. Others who have heard her exchange words with the trooper from viewing the video openly express disdain for how Mrs. Bland handled herself, arguing she should not have been combative, feeling she brought most of this issue on herself. Many who hold this view refuse to believe racism is still a major problem in America, wanting to believe racial biases no longer exist. Despite their lack of understanding on this matter, racial profiling has been going on for years and it still continues to this day with some places far worse than others, especially if you live in southern states. Given the fact she was pulled over in Texas, a state  which is very well known for it's racism throughout history; it should come to no surprise as to why anyone in the black community would be outraged by this act of social injustice.

   
There are five important facts to consider when you examine the death of Sandra Bland found in this post I came across on Facebook, presenting some valid points:

In America, people often boast about just how much this country has changed, which in regards to our technological advancements, discoveries of different planets, acceptance/ understanding of many differences found within a variety of cultures; America still has a long way to go as far as dealing with numerous incidents concerning it's long standing racism as well as the racial biases that come along with them. Despite what millions of Americans want to believe, there is a hefty amount of social inequality that derives from society's stereotypical misconceptions pertaining to how they view black people as a whole.   

The War on Black People: Misconceptions of Black Lives Matter

The current state of the black community has been attacked with an overwhelming onslaught of bigotry mostly coming from police officers in the form of brutal beatings, false arrests, racial profiling, and more; leaving others to wonder just how much has changed in the last 55 years. As problems continue to increase, people who are not affected by this display of unnecessary aggression often ignore it, claiming there is no sign of these problems being racially motivated, despite visual evidence proving them to be race related issues. Some the same people who are blind to the reality also have developed a misunderstanding towards anyone presenting the idea of Black Lives Matter, treating it as if it were akin to white supremacy. In reality, most people supporting B.L.M., are fully aware that all lives matter, however they also acknowledge not everyone in this society feels the same; in fact there still exist a large number of people who view blacks as less than human and at this time many are openly displaying hatred of African Americans, prompting people in the community to be supportive by expressing to each other as well as the world; they matter. In truth, if blacks weren't being singled out during any of these incidents, no one would feel a need to express a sentiment regarding their lives being important.

In today's society, people want to believe racism no longer exists, as a result we are left with individuals who fall for stereotypical depictions of how a few black people act, equating them to a majority in a grossly overgeneralized view, contributing to the problem at hand. Given all that has happened, black people just want to be treated with respect and deserve to have justice served whenever law enforcement becomes trigger happy, overzealous, racist assholes. Another misconception often mentioned is an assertion of black people trying to slander the names of all officers, which isn't the case. Black people are fed up with being harassed by police officers, but this does not mean they view all of them as being corrupt and racist; they only have an issue regarding those who are bigots.

America is often regarded as the land of the free, home of the brave, yet men and women continue to be falsely arrested, beaten and killed. This land has become nothing more than a place for corrupt cowards, lies, illusions of freedom, fake equality and dead black bodies. 

Idol Worship

In the event of worshipping an idol, we begin to lose a sense of skepticism, hanging on nearly every word of whomever is the subject of our interest. In truth, everyone has had at least one or more people they have been influenced by and possibly look up to, often seeking this person or people, for guidance on any given number of topics, which can be ideal when help is needed. However, a large number of people tend to forget that their idol is still only a human who has faults.

The main cause of idol worship comes from an abnormal level of admiration. This particular form of admiration usually begins in childhood when a kid finds an adult or teen mentor (and even a fictional character or possibly an athlete) who inspires them to push themselves above and beyond their limits, leaving a long lasting impression. Because of these kind of interactions, people who fall into this category generally have an issue accepting when their hero has made some bad decisions in life, wanting to believe the idol is perfect.

Reasons people view idols as perfect-

Individuals who refuse to see their idol in a negative light often present a low level of self esteem and lack confidence in themselves once they come to the realization the person who inspired them may not have been as great as once thought, leading them to have self doubt and become depressed. People who share this view also appear to be overly obsessive in terms of their fandom as well as some of their favorite activities. Others who suffer from this condition may become angry, feeling hurt and betrayed, resulting in holding slightly nihilistic views or having anti-social behavior.

In the end we all need someone in this world to guide us in the right direction, help us make a difference and reach our goals. As a whole, humans are prone to making mistakes, many of which can be corrected and is essential for ones growth from childhood to adulthood, however this does not mean we should view our idols or mentors as a higher power; they are far from being perfect.

In the event of worshipping an idol, we begin to lose a sense of skepticism, hanging on nearly every word of whomever is the subject of our interest. In truth, everyone has had at least one or more people they have been influenced by and possibly look up to, often seeking this person or people, for guidance on any given number of topics, which can be ideal when help is needed. However, a large number of people tend to forget that their idol is still only a human who has faults.

Coming soon...

Change of plans

Due to unforeseen issues, I have decided to hold off on a few articles I planning to finish this year, instead I will be working on a few older articles for Theoretical Inquiry that need my attention. The next theory I'll be focusing on has to do with Pocahontas and whether or not Disney's portrayal of her life was a tasteless film romanticizing events that never took place; so keep an eye out for it. For any past theories, check out the box on your right titled: Theoretical Inquiry.


-Kwan

Random: If Humans Were To Go Extinct Would We Be Worth Remembering?

Art by Jeremy Chong.

Earth is filled with a vast number of cultures, traditions, and customs derived from the minds as well as actions of one of it's most interesting inhabitants: humans. It is often subject to debate whether another species would consider us to be inferior, destructive, and dangerous, or intelligent, fascinating, and compassionate. The major problem found once this particular question of how an alien species would view our species, lies deep within our own limited view of alien thought processes along with personality traits. When asked what they think could happen if Earth was visited by extraterrestrials, humans often claimed to view aliens in one of two ways:

1. World dominating conquerors- in this view, aliens are regarded as tyrants who would wage war with humans, enslaving all who do not perish, eventually claiming the planet as their own.

2. Peaceful helpers- this view centers around the idea of E.T.'s visiting, offering technology far beyond what we have ever seen.

With views of alien species mindset as well as their motives, both merely assume they are adherent to the very same form of thinking we often used in our efforts to discover new countries, states, etc. Each view also asserts aliens are prone to similar emotions with their own collection of biases. Neither view has been able to answer the question in a satisfactory manner. Perhaps the issue isn't the differing views, but maybe the solution can be found in how we have been perceiving them as completely separate possibilities when in reality, it's more than possible for the answer to be a combination of both. If we are to assume another intelligent species may be similar to us, we have to consider some aliens could potentially be dangerous to us while others may be harmless.
Given the massive size of our universe, it's fairly reasonable for one to come to a conclusion; aliens probably will have multiple sub-species in relation to them (in one way or another), but will differ in a multitude of ways with distinct physiology, reflecting on their native planet, leading to an infinite number of possibilities.
Much of our existence in the universe has significantly altered the environment we inhabit for better or worse with a number advancements in science and technology, but as of right now our significance in the universe itself can only be defined by how we relate to our fellow humans and what we choose to believe of it, as well as how much higher we choose to believe our importance is in comparison to other species. Beyond that, our importance as a race of humans in this universe is much smaller than we want to imagine. If humans had become extinct some years before any kind of contact could be established and aliens discovered our history I think there would be a certain percentage (not sure how much) of them that might be intrigued by it and find us fascinating while another percentage wouldn't. Much of it depends on exactly what they're after or where their own interests of other life forms lie. As to whether or not we'll be worth remembering, in a sense I would say yes for two reasons: 1. many of our failures and cognitive dissonance can be used as an example to expose problems they may have in their society if any.
2. The more positive traits of the human race as well as their accomplishments might be of interest purely to have a record of things that happened in the universe along with the negative portions for the sake of  having a source to reference.  

Random: Is The Vampire Diaries superior to the Twilight Franchise?

Since the very beginning of it's series, The Vampire Diaries has shared a few notable comparisons with the movie series Twilight, not only for it's use of vampires, werewolves, etc. but it's tendency to focus on a love triangle as a core element of the plot in their first three seasons.
 Despite this reliance on the love triangle aspect, V.D. has proven to be more versatile in it's method of storytelling by employing a variety of other known mythical creatures such as doppelgängers, witches, werewolves, hybrids, ghosts, travelers, and more. In addition to their vast amount of mythical species, there are three other components that place the vampire diaries above twilight:

1. Acting:  In the first film of Twilight's franchise the acting is stale, lifeless and dull, seemingly lacking any form of emotional depth, making you feel as though the characters are pretty much bland with little to no development. However, the vampire diaries have had  some relatively decent acting since their first season, with nearly all of it's main cast receiving a great deal of character development as the series progressed. Of course in this case, diaries, has a clear advantage over twilight since it is a TV series versus a movie series. It's worth mentioning the reality of V.D.'s main cast only needing two and a half seasons to achieve character development versus Twilight's characters never receiving any over the course of five movies.

2.  Vampire lore: In it's defense, Twilight has created a unique version of vampirism, daring to go for something different, but their version of vampires lack the gothic feel as well as dark tones of which all forms of bloodsuckers have been known for, making them appear to be watered down light weights. Removing this aspect takes away one of the central points of their creation, leaving them to be far less intimidating. In contrast to this, Vampire Diaries, has been more faithful to the gothic atmosphere of vampire lore while being able to add their own unique spin to it. V.D. also presents itself with a more realistic approach in execution.

3. Characters and story: As previously stated, Vampire Diaries' most interesting aspect is the versatility it possesses in it's story structure, using a good amount of realism, blending old myths and legends with modern day themes, as well as jumping back and forth between character's past and present through the use of flashbacks. This method of story telling gives us a more interesting visual representation of events, making it a modern tale with trace elements of a period piece. In regards to the overall story of Twilight, much of it is very similar to it's TV series counterpart, but the weakest parts of the franchise are some of the same things that make V.D. a good show. Twilight's stories lack a great deal of versatility in the writing department, under utilizing any of the potentially great elements it may have. In a sense some of the aspects attributed to their vampires are pretty creative and imaginative, but it fails to make up for it's one dimensional storytelling. Given the fact Twilight has a considerably lighter tone than V.D., it doesn't hold the same level of maturity or realism that diaries has continued to display.

Characters in Twilight, particularly the main ones of the series, feel more like archetypes of a character instead of actual people; one exception to this might be Bella, who has come off as a naïve, desperate girl who makes ridiculously bad choices when it comes to a man. For example; even though Elena, Bella's TV series counterpart, plays the same type of roll in her respective series, she has shown noticeable differences in her resolve. Elena is more or less; smarter, stronger, and far more mentally stable having gone through much more losing parents at a young age unlike her movie counterpart. However they both share a few similar flaws and have made some seriously dumb choices. What makes Elena superior is her ability to realize her mistakes as well as admit to them in order to become a stronger woman.


In truth, both series do their best telling an almost identical tale about a woman's love for a vampire having significant differences made apparent in execution, but in the end what it really comes down to is which of the two is able to deliver a more believable performance, possesses better writing, and has more interesting, fully developed characters to entertain beyond a simple love triangle plot. In every single area presented, Vampire Diaries has proven itself to be the better of both series.


                    

                              This has been another addition of Random, thanks for reading.