From the Rubber Room

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month since I posted anything. Apologies to all my peeps out there who USED to read my whiny, pretentious little blog. But, you wouldn't have wanted to be in my head for the past few weeks. It's not been a pretty place.

First, there was the crazy election which, results be damned (politicians ALL stink), was a wonderful thing for the American people in that at least our pathetically apathetic society finally got off it's over-entitled rump to get out and vote in record numbers. Of course, I am disappointed that so many only got out to vote for further entitlements promised from a candidate from the far-left. Let's hear it for the new Socialist Republic of America! Gosh knows it's worked so well for Russia and China and .....well, I could go on, but I won't. Sour grapes only make vinegar, right?

And I also lost a member of my family last week. My 20 year old cat, Ashley, was finally called home. She was my first daughter and our loyal companion for two decades and she'll be greatly missed.

And there's been many other minor tragedies that, you know, just happen in every day life. But I don't want to start another whining session...oh, poor pitiful me. Who the heck wants to read that crap?

What I DO want to write about today are the many, many news reports and op-ed articles I've seen in the last couple of weeks surrounding the election that insist on bringing up racism. Are there REALLY people in this day and age who would cast a vote for President of the United States based solely on skin color?

That question notwithstanding, I'm really becoming increasingly annoyed with how far in the other direction we've allowed the pendulum to swing since the birth of the civil rights movement. Please don't get me wrong, I am wholeheartedly against racism. I was brought up to believe that we're all humans regardless of what color, religion, creed or culture we are. But more and more, the very people who were the biggest victims of racism in this country are now openly perpetrating the very actions that they fought so hard to overcome.

What do I mean? Well, like voting for a mixed-race candidate solely on the basis that his father was African American. Like feeling it is perfectly acceptable to call me "honkey, cracker, whitey..." but if I mouthed a slanderous word against an African American, or a Mexican American, or an Arab-American, or an Asian-American....well I'd be racist. And what the heck ever happened to just plain old Americans?

It occurs to me that as a caucasian woman, I don't have a "White History Month" to celebrate. Nor do I have any Affirmative Action laws that would ensure my success over other candidates who may have more experience or better credentials. I don't have a "White College" to go to, nor do I have any Rhyming Reverends who will come and publicly, loudly take up my cause if I'm wronged by a person of another race.

Could you just imagine the public indignation if I announced that I was starting a Miss White America Pageant? Or organizing a Million White Woman March?

It's okay for marches and speeches to be heard from every corner of the nation about black pride and latino pride and whether you're brown, yellow, orange or purple, it's okay for you to proclaim your pride in your race. But what would happen if I proclaimed my white pride? I'd be a racist, right?

Wrong. I'm a caucasian. I'm a female caucasian. A wife. A mother. An artist. An independent. Many other labels I and others could slap me with. But I'm not a "white American."

I am an American. There's only one kind. A patriot of this country and what it stands for. For the freedoms that were bought by the blood of my ancestors and of those of many others who served, and still serve to protect my right to the freedoms I enjoy.

If your African hreitage is more important to you, then go to Africa. If your Mexican heritage means more to you than the laws of this country, feel free to go to Mexico. And if you feel that your Muslim religion is being slighted by other religions in this country - there are many other Muslim countries that would welcome you.

This is America. A nation built on a set of morals and ideals that all true Americans should still hold tightly to our hearts before we lose it to political correctness.

We are very politically-correctly dividing our nation into separate cultures instead of embracing the melting pot that made this country great. So if you want to be a citizen of this United States and benefit from the freedoms and opportunities inherent with that, then you are simply an American. No hyphenates. No apologies.

May God bless the United States of America.