Saturday, February 15, 2014

"Same Love"

The new hip-hop song "Same Love", by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, is about how homosexuals fit into American society. They point out to listeners how unfairly homosexuals are treated by society as they show viewers of the music video the journey of one gay man trying to find his place in society. This song contains so many examples of unjust treatment of homosexuals.

One example of the way homosexuals are treated by society pointed out in the song is the use of derogatory names. "Faggot" is just one of these examples that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis sing about. They also sing about how people use terms like this publicly, such as on the internet. Using derogatory names is not ethically right or just. The people that use them are not being justifiable. There is no reason to call people such a harsh name and the people using them probably know that. Where is the justice in calling homosexuals "faggots"? There are so many people that use this term on the internet, which is easily recorded. Isn't it our job as Americans to make all people feel equal and bring justice to our fellow citizens? Getting people into trouble who victimize homosexuals on the internet would be relatively easy with proof from the internet. The problem, though, is this: people are too afraid to make a stand and fight for the justice of someone that is NOT themselves. This problem is also pointed out in "Same Love" in the lines "When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen". If a person is witnessing unjustifiable acts, such as using derogatory names in order to hurt an individual, and that person does nothing to stand up for the victim, are they behaving in a justifiable manner? Are they being any better than the perpetrator themselves? Although it is not in our nature as human beings to go out of our way to help an individual in situations like this, it will continue being a problem if people don't stand up for each other. The justice system has no strict laws, if any laws, on protecting humans against vulgar and demoralizing language. But serving justice means so much more than doing what is lawfully right; it is doing things that are also ethically right. That being said, I think a bystander would be unjustifiable in letting actions such as this happen. This specific statement can be applied to a variety of situations, such as witnessing a hit-and-run car wreck, or watching someone being murdered, and never reporting what you saw or carrying out justice for the sometimes defenseless victim. Using derogatory names is simply a less extreme version of those incidents. America will probably never become welcoming of homosexuals until perpetrators of abuse like this are stood up against by everyone.