Before I begin this post, I want to be clear: I am NOT a racist. Yes, I admit I'm a White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP), but I have friends in all ethnic groups, and once you get to know me, I tend to forget about skin color.
With that said, I was blown away by what I witnessed on a certain reality show the past two days.
In full disclosure, I did NOT watch the previous season, so when the Cookout Alliance was mentioned, I didn't know what it referenced, only that an alliance was formed based on race. So what? I've watched many seasons of this show, and others, and yes, people of a certain ethnic group will come together, based on race/things in common/other factors, such as competitive nature or winning streaks. It happens.
****Warming: If you are triggered by anything I've already said, please stop reading*****
Two weeks ago, a naive, sheltered individual mentioned he'd heard about how three people seemed to be in an alliance, and two others of the same ethnicity possibly could become two more numbers for that alliance, and possibly be in control of the house at some point, because one member had already been HOH a couple of times. In talking strategy with a member of his own alliance, he referenced the five people 'could possibly become' another cookout situation.
Then he had a similar conversation with another member, who was closely working with the 1st. In all fairness, #2 DID carefully try to say that his thought process was traveling a dangerous path, but K didn't pick up on it. The conversation/thought process never happened again, and K probably thought the matter was dropped.
Then a twist shook up the house, and the eight people were divided. K was outside of his alliance members and spilled the beans to the HOH about what was going on, and managed to target another member of his now-former alliance.
Inside the house, there were four members of the Leading Alliance, and they voted out the one member who was not in it.
Outside the house, there were three members of the Leading Alliance and two non-members....but one of the Nons was HOH. K didn't want his showmance to go (she was not a part of the alliance), so he turned his back on one member of his alliance, who hadn't won anything, and persuaded the HOH (and his NEW alliance) to get out J, who was closely alligned with another member inside the house.
So sorry if this is confusing, but I'm getting to my point.
Anyway, Leading Alliance Plan worked, and an annoying person was sent to jury. Non-Alliance Plan worked, and instead of K or his showmance A being voted out, it was the current target, who tried to save himself by spilling the already-spilled beans, making him look as if it was a last-ditch effort to shift the blame/
Once everyone was back together, the Leading Alliance was shocked to see Showmance A still there, and another member of the LA was in tears b/c her wannabe showmance was voted out.
It was at THIS POINT that the two members of the Leading Alliance decided to let everyone else know about the conversations which had taken place two weeks ago, and all hell broke loose.
Only ONE member questioned the TIMING of this disclosure, after his emotions died down, and he could think clearly again.
Yes, K was shocked to find his words coming back to haunt him, and didn't think he'd sounded racist at all; in his mind, he was making an OBSERVATION. But with the conversation being related in a carefully spun way, it painted a bad picture, and no amount of explanation was going to change the minds of the three minorities left in the house. Unfortunately for K, the person he'd initially had the conversation with had won the POV, and his close ally was on the block. He took her down, and K went up.
Members of the Leading Alliance: Member of the Non-Alliance:
Monte Allysa
Taylor (nominee) Terrance
Michael (POV winner) Turner HOH)
Brittany (nominee, taken down) Kyle (replacement nominee)
So what happened on Eviction Night?
5-0, Kyle voted out.
All because two people decided to break up the showmance, save both members of their own alliance and take one down, and get this naive kid out of the house.
Kyle is now left with a broken heart (Allysa broke up with him), a confused, guilty conscience, and a little more wiser about talking strategy.
Yes, the timing of this blowup sucked. Yes, I think if the three minorities had thought it through a little more, and other people were on the chopping block and had someone ELSE won the POV, it never would have come to light, or K might even still be in the house. Somewhere, in an alternate timeline, this happened.
But since we live in THIS timeline.....I still hope Alyssa wins HOH and puts up Brittany and Taylor, and either annoying T goes home, or is able to back door Michael.
But at this stage of the game, I see Terrance, Alyssa, and Turner being picked off, leaving Annoying Taylor, Hunk Monte, Strategic Brittany, and Comp Beast Michael left to battle it out. As long as Taylor doesn't win, I'm fine. Come on Monte!
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So why the title of this post?
I guess maybe it's just the evolved culture war of the past several years. It's as if we're back in the 60s, having these same conversations about integration, only now minorities have decided to separate themselves. I've heard of colleges having dorms were people of the same ethinc group, clubs of the same ethnic group, and I'm royally confused. Because if a WASP like me decided to have a 'WASP-only' group/dorm/club, we'd be tarred and feathered.
So help me out here: What the hell kind of existence are we living in today?
Certainly not Dr. MLK's vision.....which is what I thought we were working toward....
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