Offending the Masses

So, yesterday I fucked up. I let something get published that apparently infuriated a lot of people. I did not write what was published, but I did approve it. And today I've been chastised for it. Let's just say what got published was considered racist. Let's just say the joke involved our soon to be president and gold rims. Let's just say a lot of people were unhappy. I've been beating myself over this for the past 20 hours. I couldn't sleep last night as a result. I'm awesome at beating myself up. Seriously. I should get paid to do so. I'm glad I didn't get fired for letting what happened happen, but it makes me think a lot about race and the mentality of people.

You see, if a black person calls another black person the "n" word, it's acceptable. If a white person calls a black person the "n" word, people freak out. Racism is everywhere. It's in The Onion and on Curb Your Enthusiasm and on the Chappelle Show and 30 Rock and Stuff White People Like. And it's funny. But not everyone gets these jokes. Ever since we've elected a black president, suddenly everyone has become so serious. People like to pretend they're not racist and that we're living in a post-racial America, but it's not true. Why do we still lock our doors when we drive through a "bad part of town?" How come affluent white people live on the North side of Chicago while poor black people reside on the South side? There is an imaginary line, people, and no one wants to discuss it anymore. Electing a black president doesn't make us less racist. I also believe there's a difference between racism and satire. A fine line, maybe. I think what we published was satirical in nature. I really hate this double standard happening in our country. It pisses me off. Anyway, I'm going to have to exercise better judgement in the future and use more censorship. If we lived in any other country than America, these comments would be okay. At least I know where the line resides.

Besides dealing with this debacle, I'm also dealing with subzero temps. I seriously don't understand why I live in Chicago. I look out the window and all I see is frost and ten inches of snow. It's painful to walk down the street. This entire winter is bumming me out. The boyfriend and I are in the process of planning a Costa Rican vacation. Our travel agent hasn't found us the best deal yet. I need something to look forward to because right now everything seems a bit disappointing. I'd give anything to be lying on a beach right now. Grr. I also wish I had more money to take even more vacations. I need to figure out a way to do this. I'm trying to pitch article ideas and such, but everything is a bit sluggish right now. I guess I need to hang in there. Try to distract myself with movies and books and thoughts of palm trees.

Despite the chilly temps, I'm going to my first concert in almost a month tomorrow night. It'll be good to get back into the swing of things. Yesterday I interviewed a L.A band. Ah, L.A. I love talking to L.A people. My roommate has pretty much moved out, so the boyfriend and I have upgraded into a better bedroom. We actually have a bed to sleep in! I can't remember the last time I had a real bed to sleep in. I feel like such an adult. We have much more space, now. It's still quite frigid in the apt., though. At least the space heaters work. I'll just be glad when this miserable winter is over. What, three more months of this? Sigh.