*Preface - This marks the glorious return of Buttugly-length posts. Last month, I posted at a breathtaking pace, but I couldn't afford the time to develop thoughts. I can't promise I'll deliver a post-per-day, but enjoy this ramble. Also, Alicia Keys is set to drop soon, and so far, the tracks I've heard have sounded awesome. Not aawesome, but simply soulful. You aren't ready.

This racially motivated hate-email was sent out back in 1996, by one Richard Machado, to 59 Asians enrolled in the University of California, Irvine. Mr.Macahdo, a minority himself (Mexican), was later criminally charged for his actions.

I already posted something along racial lines a couple posts back, and while it wasn't my original intent at all, I had a feeling it was leading up to something. Here's an edited version of the email to provide context for the following small discussion:

"I hate Asians, including you. If it weren’t for asias at UCI, it would be a much more popular campus. You are responsible for ALL the crimes that occur on campus. YOU are why I want you and your stupid ass comrades to get the f*** out of UCI. IF you don’t I will hunt you down and kill your stupid a****. Do you hear me? I personally will make it my life carreer to find and kill everyone one of you personally. OK?????? That’s how determined I am."

Obviously, this is absurd, and you'd be inclined to think that as a society, we've made social progress since 1996. But let me assure you that these things happen on a daily basis even in the year 2007, or as I like to call it, Willenium + 8. What a polarizing album. There were maybe two songs that didn't make you want to introduce your head to the closest baseball bat. But that's neither here nor there.

You'd figure people would be more secretive with their unreasonable hatred given the liberal society we live in, but dumb people prove me wrong all the time. Never count on dumb people. Unless, you're counting on them being dumb. Even that sometimes is a stretch.

It's not enough for us to stop there and just label dumb people as dumb, because that's not the root of the problem. This horrific expression of stupidity is an example of an extreme symptom of some deep-rooted values woven into the fabric of our society. While these expressions are usually subdued, for some, subtlety is not a strong suit.

And while I'd gather to say that most of the people reading this (or the people I am aware of) have been shielded from such ignorance in our privileged lives, just because it hasn't happened to you, doesn't mean it doesn't happen at all.

May I present to you, real life scenario A. I was purchasing steaks from a local deli shop, and while paying for my purchase, an elderly Caucasian gentlemen behind me made eye contact with me and then unleashed a string of Mandarin phrases before explaining that was one of the many languages he had picked up during the course of his life. I countered by informing him I had no knowledge of the Mandarin dialect whatsoever, and sincerely congratulated for being multilingual.

Upon walking out of the store, and out of his hearing range, my buddy, who was standing there beside me the whole time, exclaimed, "I'm glad it was you who dealt with him because if it was me, I would've pwn'd him because that was straight up ignorant."

Was it cute for the old man to approach me like he did? A little. Honestly innocent in his intentions? Most probably. Does it change the fact that it was indeed ignorant for him to jump to conclusions like that? Nope.

That's what I'm talking about. The way we generalize people is almost dehumanizing. Yes, it is a reflection of the culture we have been raised in, but that does not rule out individual responsibility. Let's learn to understand one another, setting aside personal preferences and taking into account factors that may not have been prominent in your upbringing, but important in the development of the other person. And even more importantly, let's look out for one another instead of focusing on ourselves.