Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want, but I really do believe that there could very possible be a group of “higher ups”, powerful people, “them”, that are trying (and succeeding), in keeping the races divided. Who are “they” and what could they possibly have to gain in keeping “us” apart?

Just when you think we’re taking one step forward in race relations, we hear about the actor/comedian Michael Richards tirade and we are sent flying backwards about five steps.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the story by now. The ex-Seinfeld star was doing a comedy set in Los Angeles and he was being heckled when he went on a verbal attack of the guy by using the “N” word …a lot. Not only that, he made some very racial comments that don’t warrant repeating here.

Anyway, I’m not really sure at this point, what was worse. The offensive slurs being hurled by an actor whose claim to fame is a television sitcom that ended almost 10 years ago, or the media that gave this more press coverage than MOST Amber alerts.

Again, call me a conspiracy theorist if you want…But, I really do believe that there is a group of “powers that be”, that have decided that we as a Nation, are better left divided. You know the saying…”United we stand, Divided we… blame the other side” (or something like that). If we spend all our energy and our efforts pointing fingers at all the mistakes and differences, it leaves very little time to embrace and celebrate our similarities.

Now, I’m in no way dismissing the actions of Kramer. I’ll call him by his character’s name, because I do believe that he slipped and fell out of consciousness and into character on that stage. He must have thought that at the end of his “N” word dialogue, the director would yell “CUT”, the audience would applaud and the world would never think of him as a racist, just a great actor.

He is definitely responsible for his words and his actions, but who is responsible for taping it and playing back the audio and video over national television and all over the internet…over and over again? Big brother has the power and is not afraid to use it?! The power lies in “their” ability to guide our attention and focus on an out of work actor instead of on the industries that actually affect our education, finances, housing and overall opportunities while continuing to practice some form of racism, sexism or classism everyday.

The bottom line is that, I don’t really care what words some out of work actor uses in a fit of rage and loss of intelligence. His words don’t define me or anyone that I know. What I do care about is that there are some important and powerful people out there that don’t see anything wrong with what he said, they may even agree with his vernacular. And, today, they will be making decisions about who gets a loan for a house, who gets admitted into a college or university and who is able to have their freedom and the ability to support their families emotionally and financially.

This is Leticia, reminding you that sometimes the “them”…is US!

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