Ever since that glorious day I came out of my mother’s womb, I have been taught, told and trained by a powerful man who holds dominion over all other things on this planet. He has taught me who to love and who to loathe, what to lust and what to behold. He claims that the Lord is the conductor of his empirical symphony and that manifest destiny is the beat that the world dances to.
His suits are now different, his face has changed and he goes by numerous names but the one thing that remains the same is the colour of his skin. He is as white as the sugar that the masses insert in their morning coffees. He is all powerful, all knowing; he is the 50 year old White Man.
His main accessories include a blackberry, chequebook and power tie while his Just for Men hair product and his vial of Viagra pills are tucked neatly away in a pocket in the dark recesses of his leather briefcase. He rivals Edgar Allen Poe in his ability to scare his audience into submission with his tall tales. He tells me that it is a good idea to purchase his alarm system as there are burglars prowling the neighbourhood looking to steal the products subsequently bought from his other company’s. He fails to mention that he can take my whole house by signing the foreclosure papers. He warns me that I must watch out for gangs of nomadic teenagers looking to steal the accessories from my car yet fails to mention he can confiscate the whole car by signing the repossession papers.
The front pages of his major dailies scream about gangs gone wild, armed with automatic weapons terrorizing our cities, yet nothing is mentioned of the 50 year old white man and his three cohorts on the back nine, armed with golf clubs who have inflicted far more damage on the citizens of this country than any street thug has. He tells me to be wary of the foreigner with the dark skin and thick accent yet when we speak we find that we have the same dreams, ambitions and worries. We also share a common bond with our mutual distrust of the 50 year old White Man.
He has dropped the atomic bomb twice on innocent civilians, pampered his portfolio as Africa was and continues to be raped and ravaged of all of its rich resources. He has stolen millions of dollars from his own shareholders on numerous occasions yet his power is still virtually unrivaled on this planet. Is it because he owns all of the television and radio stations that beam his code of conduct for the rest of us to adhere to? When we come out of our mothers womb, we know nothing of greed, avarice and fame. His message is heard by millions and the institutions that he administers drill conformity into our minds at a young age. Is that why we always see the 50 year old White Man campaigning at election time giving kisses to all of those babies?
Max De Luca is a freelance writer who lives in London, Ontario Canada. His short stories and articles have appeared in such publications as the Istanbul Literature Review, Inscribed Magazine and Mobius: A Journal for Social Change. He is influenced by the work of Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Hunter S Thompson and Howard Zinn. Read other posts by Max De Luca.
