I could begin this all by saying that racism exists and how it is an issue solely for black communities, but I won’t. Unlike most media dealers, I am not here to “fill respective societal boxes.” Although I do believe that labels help to ease some of the tensions of finding others that are similar to oneself, I do not necessarily find that these stigmas have more of a positive influence than negative. We live in a world where power is a necessity, and it has to come from somewhere. Now, this isn’t me poking the bear at the ideas of one group oppressing another, no. We have all been guilty of that at some time or another in our ancestral histories, even in our own individual histories.

Oppression is a term that comes with so many interpretations. I want to focus on one that holds truest to everything that I stand for, which is an unjust or cruel exertion of authority or power onto another thought to be inferior. With that definition, anyone can be an oppressor, and if the definition of racism has anything to do with the oppression of another, then we are all guilty. Slavery was not just about the Africans who were stripped of their native lands and sold to the waiting hands of white property-owning Englishmen because behind some of those deals, the Africans were selling each other and it still happens today. Irish, Chinese, Japanese, and Native Americans alike were used as slaves too, and there were many more groups of people who were forced to work by the installation of fear and control by a master. This one fact shows that we have no one to blame but ourselves for our growing hunger that stems from power. We are alone as individuals, thinking that we are united fighting some age-long battle for civil and social justice, but in reality, we are playing into the hands of a bigger man, a man with many faces and no soul who wants to see us divided.

United, we are a force to be reckoned with, but divided, we are easily defeated. By playing the games set by our largest opponent, and the original oppressor, we continue to live blindly. For too long we have relied on our sense of belonging to guide us into these respective boxes laid out for us, and it's torn us apart. We came from the same blood, our creator the same. However, there is someone out there who doesn’t want us to see that. We must be in constant battle until we destroy all that we have worked so hard to achieve. In the race against race, no one will win, but all will lose if can’t clear our eyes now.