Some actors are either boycotting the Oscars or have come out with scathing remarks about its alleged lack of diversity. Diversity is, of course, just another politically correct excuse to hide what the objectors really mean but just cannot bring themselves to say -- there are no blacks among the nominees for this year's awards.
Hypocrisy, not racism, is eating up America. It is gnawing at the very core of that once great nation. Diversity, my ass. I can still remember distinctly how Filipino actress and singer Lea Salonga had a very hard time getting the role of Kim in Miss Saigon because the actors union was not about to give away roles that can be filled by Americans to non-Americans.
Now that may have nothing to do with the Oscars. But it says a lot about the smoldering way of thinking that lies just underneath the thin veneer of political correctness and I admire the few Americans like Donald Trump and Charles Barkley who can summon the guts to say what they feel regardless of how risky doing so can be for their careers.
On the matter of blacks and violence in America, Barkley said in the program Open Court that it is not the cops who are instigating the killings -- "it is us," in reference to himself as a black person. Barkley said there is a need for blacks and black communities to look inwardly and what they can do to help make their own communities safe by engaging everyone in productive undertakings.
As to Donald Trump, I do not have to repeat what he has been saying. And frankly I do not agree with many of the things he said. But for God's sake, the man is just speaking his mind and it ought to be the duty of every democratic American to defend his democratic right to say it. If they cannot stomach Trump, all they need do is reject him in the polls. But for God's sake let the man speak. Democracy ought to be as simple as that.
But no, the Americans who would even go to war in defense of democracy are not about to let a certified true American enjoy his right to free speech. Worse, the Brits have jumped in on the bandwagon, seeking to ban Trump from entering the UK for saying the things he did. Hypocrisy has truly become democracy's fast-rising export.
After the Brits come the rest of Europe. Trump has been warning about going too easy on refugees because of the possibility that trouble-makers could be hiding in their ranks. As expected, everybody else called Trump a bigot and a racist for simply speaking out on what was a clear and legitimate concern. Even prudence and due diligence are no match for hypocrisy.
The problem with hypocrisy is that it is all about appearances. As it turned out, there are now a lot of red faces in Europe, especially in Germany, which had been the most adamant about accepting refugees even after other European countries started to see the folly of an open-door policy. Some refugees have started causing trouble and gotten involved in violent incidents, prompting even Germany to start imposing restrictions.
And now even the Oscars has been contaminated. I have always looked up to the Oscars as a matter of rewarding excellence. All things being equal, I can accept the fact that some choices of winners here and there may have been less than perfect. But I still believed it was all about craft. Now some actors are saying it is about skin color. But they have to couch their words for political correctness and so settled on diversity, giving such a beautiful word a new foul meaning.