Braking Bad

I have discovered when I'm trying to get things done that the problem
is that there is only one of me.
Which is strange, because that's what most people consider to be my
best feature.

But where are all the characters?
Where have they all gone?
Where are the people who are daring to be different, claiming to be
original, flamboyant even?

I can tell you this.
They are not wearing hipster beards with moustaches looped up at the ends
They are not the students so bewilderingly keen to "free the nipple"
from some sort of presumed anti-nipple tyranny.
They are not the people from different races telling us that we are
all racist, instead of learning how to celebrate our differences in a
country which is largely colourblind.

The racepeddlers will still be able to argue in 100 years time that
Britain is racist, if they want. And it seems as though they do want.
Or we can just jolly-well let it go.
In a great many sub-societies of the UK, race isn't an issue. You
cannot blame the other 1%, and you cannot convert them.
I live in a major city and I haven't seen a single racist act in the
cities I've lived in in my entire life and I have spent years in the
seamier quarters of the city.
That isn't coincidence. It is reality.

Our differences are what makes us strong and unique. It would be time
to celebrate them had they not been all but erased by modern
lifestyles.
What happened to ...Vive la difference.
For a difference to vive, it has to exist first.
Character isn't homogeny.

Black subculture brings a huge artistic contribution to the world
(despite basing so much of its hip-hop on violence and sexism).
America has an entertainment channel exclusively for Black
entertainment. Awards for blacks only. Is that racist? Well of course
it is. But we don't worry about it.
Black comedians do largely race related material. But they're not
breaking any taboos. It is 2016.
It's just boring. Let the racial stuff go guys. We don't need your
trite stereotypies. Turn an examining eye to character and culture
instead. There is a rich seam of differences which exist in different
proportions in different subcultures, backgrounds and origins.

But this obsession with skin colour....it's ridiculous.
Not all white people are bad. Not all black people are good. Get over it.
I don't like Lenny Henry because he hasn't been funny in 30 years.
I do like George Alagiah and I never miss a Denzel Washington movie.
That doesn't make me a 33% racist.

Worse...we have got to the stage now where these regurgitations are
now teaching racism, teaching it to a bunch of people living in a
cosmopolitan, inclusive country to whom it simply would not have
occurred.
And that means it's gone too far. It's as gutless as it is witless. It
isn't brave or unique.
Stop already.
Stop teaching our children bad things and instead inspire them to grow
some unique qualities and celebrate their differences.
We need them to develop their own identities before they end up on the
psychologist's couch. They'll need to be brave to find their voice,
pick up the conch and start communicating.

The future is about character and culture.
Colour is a red herring.