06 September, 2018 | Jimmy Henks | 1183 views

It’s okay to scream, “wolf!” After all, we don’t need to fight the battles of life alone. Usually what happens when you do that is that you attract the attention of concerned neighbours, family, friends, and loved ones who will come brandishing the needed weapons to help you deal with the wolf so it does not hurt you. But in a situation where there is no wolf, these people will get mad at you for lying to them. Keep on screaming “wolf” when there is none and people will brand you a liar and eventually become apathetic towards you. So the next time a real wolf shows up to devour you, and you scream “wolf” no one will believe you. The same people who had earlier displayed empathy towards you will now display apathy towards you until the wolf devours you.

Sadly, this is where our generation has got to. These days, at the least provocation people of the black race are ready to scream “racism!” Racism is by no means a good thing. Racism involves prejudice and discrimination against someone of a different race with the notion that one’s race is superior. Racism has caused a lot of damage over the years and it still does. Racism has been the cause of emotional and physical pain to many and therefore needs to be dealt with. But how exactly do we do this when blacks these days go about screaming “racism” even when there is none?

We have become so polarized that everything is now black and white. These days black people easily take offense at just about anything, right from ads through movies, to social media interactions, and every day activities. My people have become overly sensitive and cannot take a simple joke. It’s so bad that if I said, “Hey! Look at the black cat” someone will take offense at my use of the adjective “black” to describe the noun “cat.” As a result, there is now so much tension between blacks and whites as the latter have to try to be extra careful and politically correct when dealing with the former lest they scream “racism” and get them branded racists. We are at a point in time when even white employers have become apprehensive about employing blacks because they will scream “racism” at any given chance even when there is none. To make matters worse, mainstream media are also stoking the fire of this racial tension in their selfish interest.

What we don’t realise is that in so doing, we make genuine racism cases seem fake. Racism is real, but the racism card is being over-played so much so that it will get to a time no one will believe it any more if anybody complains about real racism. This will, of course, impede the fight against racism. So if we really want to fight against racism, then the first step is to reorient ourselves on how we relate with people. Let’s just see people as people and relate with them as such – without racial lenses. Also, let’s stop overplaying the racism card. Doing so is definitely no way of fighting against racism. If anything, it rather makes the fight against it difficult.

So the next time you want to scream “wolf” think about it carefully before you do. Is there really a wolf? Is the wolf I see real or is it just my imagination or could it be that I am just seeking attention? If it is a real wolf, why yes, go ahead and call for help but if it isn’t then you need to advise yourself. You definitely do not want to be like the boy who cried wolf.