This Is My Rifle: Fueling the Flames of Racial Warfare

Posted by Jason James on 04/18/12 | Filed under Features, This Is My Rifle

Human beings are a disappointing species.

During the past few years I've become increasingly angry with the state of the world and the overall ignorance of western civilization in general. It almost seems like we've slid backwards down the evolutionary chart with every technological leap forward we've taken. I find it ironic how we consider ourselves to be the most intellectually advanced generation of human life ever to have walked the face of the earth, yet most of us can barely concentrate long enough to make it through an entire newspaper article or even a 2 minute video on YouTube. We've built machines that can mimic our own thoughts and actions and created a digital network that can connect people from opposite ends of the globe in seconds, but at the same time we fall into a perpetually widening set of social and political traps perfectly visible to the naked eye.

It's hard to sit back and watch the world annihilate itself, although, at times I find a sort of subtle pleasure in it. In those rare moments when the universe finds balance and the mentally and spiritually cancerous members of our species are severely punished, I find peace in knowing that there is a force greater than us watching and analyzing every detail. But more often than not it's those in the middle, morally moderate, perpetually teetering back and forth between right and wrong, who ultimately fall into the abyss and suffer the consequences of conformity. It's these people who blindly follow ideas and theories based on external influence rather than the voice of reason, and it's also these people who pay the karmic toll for the so-called leaders and elite members of society.

I can't say that I'm not surprised at how fast the racial anxiety has spread across America following the murder of Trayvon Martin, the entire situation itself is a recipe for disaster, but I will say that I'm astonished at how easily the public was manipulated by both sides of a war brewing between idiots and arbitrated by the corporate whore mainstream media.

Whether it’s Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton doing everything within their power to stay in the media spotlight or Sean Hannity opening his fat mouth to once again misinform his naive majority White audience, the stage has been set and battle lines have been drawn between opposing circles. The murder of Trayvon Martin is now a secondary issue, the primary focus being the underlying resentment between races in America, and in typical fashion, the media is right at the center, strategically pushing propaganda to both the Black and White ends of the spectrum. The unfortunate circumstances surrounding Trayvon Martin’s death are no longer the concern but rather the catalyst for a quickly developing race war, manufactured and propagated by the media. As a result, we now have the New Black Panther Party ready to engage their self-proclaimed enemy (the all too familiar "White Devil") in what will undoubtedly give way to a deadly conflict with the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement threatening retaliation for any violent crimes committed against White Americans by Black citizens. While "news" outlets schizophrenically shift between portrayals of Trayvon Martin as a regular kid on his way to college and a troubled teen destined for prison, nobody seems to be asking a vital question; why is this happening?

In searching for an answer you come to realize that there are multiple layers to the problem, each more complicated than the last. The first and most obvious answer is because those claiming to be in support of justice for the Martin family have managed to spin this tragedy into an opportunity that serves their own personal interests. Between Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (who have both become parodies of their former selves) and the New Black Panthers it's blindingly apparent that they are all desperate to establish relevance in a world where they are no longer necessary and have used this young man's death to maintain a public presence. If they were so concerned about the vitality of young Black men in America then why don't they set their focus on Chicago, New Orleans or any one of the hundreds of cities in the United States where Black youth kill each other at such a rapid pace they barely live long enough to reach puberty? I'll tell you why; because the mainstream doesn’t give a fuck about Black on Black crime and when little Black boys murder each other, CNN news cameras don't show up. It wasn't until the national media decided to tell the story of a Black teenager murdered by a White man (actually a White/Latino mix, the press seems to keep forgetting that part), that all of a sudden everybody catches the first flight to Florida just in time to be interviewed by Anderson Cooper. As long as this story is considered news worthy by the media they'll be there, dragging the Martin family behind them right to the bitter end.

Next is the money; Trayvon Martin attracts people and people attract advertisers, therefore, the television networks will run with the story as long as it brings in the ratings they desire. The magazines and newspapers need sales, and what better way to do it than by presenting "shocking new evidence in the Trayvon Martin case" right there on the front page? Even if the information is false and fans the flames of racial dissent, who fucking cares! The dollars are rolling in so why stop now? This week it's the story of a promising young man with a bright future, next week it'll be a cautionary tale of a juvenile delinquent suspended from school for smoking marijuana and possessing tools commonly used to perform burglaries (for the record, I can break into your house using a credit card or a hair pin. I guess Black teenagers should be careful of getting caught with those as well). The media will twist and distort this story any way possible to squeeze every dollar out of it and exploit Trayvon until a newer, better story comes around, at which point they'll drop him in a heartbeat, latch on to the next controversy and start the process over again.

Last, and most importantly, the circus that has erupted around the Martin/Zimmerman story provides the perfect distraction and has effectively diverted the public's attention away from recent events that would otherwise be cause for debate. While most of the western population is embroiled in heated discussion about racial prejudice and class division in America, the global elite continues to press forward with their agenda, maneuvering quietly below the radar and away from the nearsighted public. When they attempted to shut down our right to free speech with SOPA, we fought back and pushed until the bill was abandoned by Congress. But while we've been busy quarrelling over racial and cultural entitlements, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act- which coupled with the NDAA for FY 2012 is a far worse bill than SOPA- has been making it's way through Congress and if signed into law will end online privacy as we know it. And while we've been busy speculating whether or not George Zimmerman will spend the rest of his natural life in prison, Jon Corzine, the man behind the 8th largest bankruptcy in US history, stole 1.2 billion dollars from every day average Americans and will probably never see a day behind bars. Case in point, there's a lot more happening in the world right now that we should know about.

By no means am I trying to deemphasize the racially biased and downright deplorable state of the justice system in America; I am merely trying to bring order out of chaos. The goal behind this all is to divide us and keep us separate. The murder of Trayvon Martin has been used to manipulate us into believing that, once again, we are incapable of living amongst each other in peace. Instead of viewing ourselves as members of the collective human race, we have been compartmentalized and broken down into classes and groups in order to contain a power that, if organized and directed correctly, is far greater than any bank, government or secret group on the planet.

Even though George Zimmerman has now been charged with second-degree murder the melee is far from over. There's no doubt that his trial will be highly publicized and stretched to its furthest extent in order to advance the interests of the media and elitists as outlined above. As time goes on it seems as if the pool of people looking to benefit from the controversial nature of this case is deepening by the minute, with everybody from President Obama (drawing a comparison between himself and Trayvon with his bid for re-election conveniently just a few months away) and Trayvon's own mother (who trademarked the phrases "Justice For Trayvon" and "I Am Trayvon") looking to capitalize. While I do understand both the President's statement and Ms. Martin's move to patent these phrases (a pre-emptive strike against those who would use Trayvon's name and image for profit perhaps?) what confuses me is the lack of effort on all sides to calm the hostilities.

The truth is, we're supposed hate each other and this particular event was a great way to raise some old demons. The world is far from a perfect place and inside all of us lies some form of prejudice. The only question I ask is, will we manage to pull ourselves away from it before it destroys us?

(Jason James is an artist, freelance columnist and writer for RefinedHype.com. You can listen/download his most recent album, "Marvelous World Of Color", here and you can contact him here and here.)