When Peter Griffin from Family Guy impersonates the first settlements who come to America, he states that America will land of “equal rights for all… except blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Jews, gays, women, Muslims… everybody who is not a white man, and I mean white, so no Italians, no Polish, just people from Ireland, England, and Scotland… but only certain parts of Scotland and Ireland… just full-blooded whites… no you know what, not even whites, nobody gets any rights… ahhhhh, America!” (Season 7 Episode 16)
This joke is funny just because it offends everyone. If even one group of people wouldn’t be excluded it surely would be offensive… more offensive than it already is… but then again, what did you expect of shows like Family Guy?
Personally, I am a white straight man, which is arguably, currently, the best personal characteristic according to some socio-economic views that predominate today. However, I don’t necessarily feel special, gifted, or otherwise privileged because of my gender and ethnicity. In fact, I recently learned how much more baggage I have to deal with because I was put in this position of ignorance, forced sense of superiority, and inequality.
Even given the fact that I’m writing this, I believe that somehow it makes it better, I’m doing self-therapy, by giving away all this false sense of ownership that I never had. Of course, just stating this isn’t enough. We need to break down all the walls.
To do this, we need to create a truly egalitarian world. Everyone should be treated the same, no matter if you are black, Asian, Hispanic, etc. And while the world may not be ready for this type of change and while we may still hold a lot of prejudice against some types of people, we need to bring down the forces that keep everyone separate and unequal.
I’m referring to creating a world without borders, money, and social classes, where people wouldn’t have to have a reason to hate each other, and there is only unconditional love towards our neighbors and strangers.
This is a true social equality, which will lead to a world where we will have the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
