The Masses.

"I'm not black, I'm O.J.........OK"

The song: The Story of O.J.

By: Jay-Z

The reference: An interview O.J. Simpson gave when he was attending college as USC amidst racism and violence, he was to choose a side. He chose to be O.J. Simpson.

The masses are often wrong. Looking back over history, for which I am not a buff, and you can see the devastation and corruption lining all accounts. In Elementary school stories of "non-fiction" are retold with a sort of softness, lacking any true conviction. For many of us, what we learned in our public school was the extent of our American history knowledge. After all, Americans can talk about injustice in other countries, I mean, that was them, we aren't like that. Tell that to the Native Americans who continue to suffer today. Tell that to the African Americans wretched with problems from earlier wrong-doings by those in power at the time.Tell that to any other skin color outside of white or religion outside of Christianity.

Hot topic sure, but the focus here isn't on what America has done wrong, but more so what we as individuals can do about it. See, mass consumption, supply and demand, pop. culture, the foods available, the music listened to, all depends on an individual's decision. A thought, a preference, a wanting to get along or fit-in. Maybe you don't stand for anything and whatever presented is what you adopt. After all, the strongest argument against the masses is that we are products of our environment, how else could we determine what we like? Well, maybe that part takes time. It took me time. It takes me a minute to step back from a social media post or biased news story to determine what I think and feel about it.

We become consumed by the mass opinion of those around us. Look at our current President and the #notmypresident response. Is he not literally the President of the United States? A place in which you reside, pay taxes, and receive benefits from the roads you drive on to the progression of things you enjoy? This is a Democratic state, an electoral college is what we agreed upon as a majority. Things become popular, resilience lacks an organic appeal and instead turns into something "unique" or "different" to gain attention. Be true to yourself and take a minute to assess a situation prior to going all postal on your Facebook wall or reposting some other page's agenda on your IG account.

All things I have been guilty of also.

To me, Jay-Z's song "The Story of O.J." is about money and other cultural biases. Even the "OK" as if to say O.J. not being black was literal and therefore delusional to say otherwise. When I saw the line on the documentary about O.J. Simpson, I thought it made sense. I mean, he wasn't saying black is his identity but that his skin was black, he was O.J. I liked it. I am not white, I am Luke. Yes, my skin color is white, but does that mean I have to agree with and fit all the stereotypes of a typical white man, the masses of white Americans, and their agenda.

This last part is up to you in what you want to believe. Without minimizing or belittling anybody's struggles or feelings on something, I guess what is important here is what do you believe and what are you willing to sacrifice to do something about it? In college, O.J. Simpson wasn't willing to sacrifice all the notoriety he had acquired to be "black" and all the stereotypes that went with it. At least he was being honest. A quality someone who acts without thinking or consumes anything in front of them lacks.