Words for thought...

For class this evening I went to hear a guest lecturer on the topic of 'critical race theory.' I have never heard much on this topic so I was interested.  Instead of taking you through the majority of the lecture I'll share with you the question that he posed to us.

Imagine that aliens made contact with the united states. They came down and told the united states government that they,(the aliens) would solve all the problems the United States is facing today if in exchange they would give them, (the aliens) all the black Americans. Would you say yes?

In 1994 HBO created a 3 part mini series called 'Cosmic Slop.' This is the first of the three parts called "Space Traders." So this short film highlights this issue.  Before agreeing, the U.S. Government asks to see proof from the aliens.  The aliens in turn change the statue of liberty into pure gold, not to be pretty but to provide money.  They then get all the pollution out of the lakes.  It's all very cheesy with the special effects but you get the point.

So what do you think they decided to do?  They put it to a vote whether or not they should agree to this.  Everyone in the country was supposed to call one of two numbers. One for yes, and another for no. The vote was a landslide "yes." The short film ends with the black Americans being tractor-beamed up into space ships.

Crazy right? Well, what if we really did have to make that decision.  Many would say or hope to think that they would not agree to it and think of humanity first.  But sadly, seeing the world as it is today I have a hard time believing that this piece of fiction would not become a piece of non-fiction. 

But then I thought.  So what if Americans did agree to this?  Sure the aliens would deliver on their word, but I imagine that the clean water would get dirty quite quickly.  And that debt that would be paid would probably accumulate after too long.

I don't know where superiority started.  It's been around throughout the history of this planet.  But it sure does produce some pretty sad and disgusting results. 

p.s. Sorry. Not a fun post like last time. But I'm realizing very quickly that being a good history teacher is going to be really hard.