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Opinion

Houston, we have too many problems

Joshua Delano
Opinion Columnist

Ah, wake up and smell the reality. Reality is just what we seek to get away from in this bastion of academia that is the "look at us, we're diverse" University of Houston. 

Don't get me wrong: This is a diverse campus where Asians, blacks, Hispanics and whites are represented with around 20 percent.

Though have the numbers, we don't possess the wisdom, knowledge, love or truth in our hearts because many of us stay in our respective comfort zones. It's easy for the media to brainwash the general population into the mindset predetermined by the powers that be.

Both Houston and the University have potential, but just as we played the role of the Good Samaritan by taking in my fellow Louisianans who've been left with so little from Hurricane Katrina, we scapegoat those same people as the very reason for crime as of late in Houston. It is no accident that the media focuses on crimes committed by black people while crimes committed by non-blacks do not receive the same coverage. 

Ken Lay is on the news, but look at the extent to which a white man's crimes must go to get on television. Regardless of what crime you commit, your face will be broadcast by the media if you are black. But for a white man to be on TV, he has to be accused of robbing the retirement funds of thousands of people. Even then, Lay's conviction seems unlikely.

Is there any hope for a society that allows justice to be bought by the wealthy? 

Will we truly ever meet, greet and know our fellow students? So many organizations separate students and bring together individuals with similar mentalities and culture. Because we fear what we don't understand, casting blame and being pessimistic is an easy habit. So shouldn't we engage with those who are different so that we can adopt the Apostle Paul's dual-edged sword and "become all things to all men" so that we might save some?

Can you really love your brother and understand him without having walked first in his or her shoes? The world of academia is a kaleidoscope of understanding, and its supposed enlightenment pales in comparison to the ugliness of the real world where people are judged not by their merit but by looks, race, gender, vocabulary and their cultural and religious differences. 

UH and other universities are not immune to these judgments, but it can be a catalyst of change to show that we do it here and get the job done. Can all of us ever truly come together as one while steadily pointing out who is different?

There are larger issues that are at hand that need to be addressed by large social reform. Meanwhile, the current administration is too busy feeding the war machine to realize that change starts at home by taking care of Americans in need.

Future generations need to be the direct offspring of our true progress, not the political spin and catchword of supposed progressives of the past. The true change of thought, mind, spirit and heart to embrace all who touch our lives, not allowing cultural differences to bring ignorant deference to "our own," is essential.

Instead, all of us must embrace one another as brethren, neighbors and a family of citizens who become a united nation. We cannot rest or be at peace until we heed the words of the late great Malcolm X: "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has freedom."

We must free ourselves from the oppression of our past, both those victimizing as well as those being victimized. We must follow peace with all men, without which we can never come together in love and wisdom.

Delano, an opinion columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at louisianacoastalpreservationpac@yahoo.com.