Scapegoat: "One who bears the blame for mistakes of others"
by Kevin Cooper, San Quentin State Prison
Who of you is going into the year, the New Year, as a "Scapegoat"? Or as a victim? I don't mean a victim of crime, but a victim of other people's negativity or other people's mistakes: A Scapegoat.
America is the only country in the world where being homeless is a crime. For the most part, those that are homeless are homeless because of the mistakes of others in one way or another. Very few are homeless because of themselves, yet they are blamed for
being homeless. They are in a large part the "Scapegoats of Society"! Of Politicians and of ignorance.
As great as this country is, it will never be as great as it can become because of the scapegoating that goes on at every level of life in this country. This country called the United States is not United, and may never be United because of the scapegoati
ng that goes on. This is not a colorblind society, it's a color rich society, but whenever you stand up and say "Hey, I'm not like you, I'm this, or I'm that", you are automatically called militant, or anti-social, or anti-white, or anything els
e that they wish to label you. But they won't call you what it is you want to be called, what you really are! Instead they blame you; they make you their scapegoat by saying it's your fault that you're not like them!
Being a scapegoat can cover every part of life from A to Z. I have even seen it, and experienced it, here on Death Row, where humans are living a very basic life and dealing with each other on a very basic level of life. Certain, people are always looking
to blame, or scapegoat, other people, even in a game of basketball, where as long as you do good no one says anything to you, nothing positive or anything to let you know that you are playing good ball. But mess up, make a mistake, make a bad pass, or an
ything that they can look at as a mistake, and you are in trouble. You are yelled at, called names, talked to like you are stupid, and all the rest that can go with it. You are made their scapegoat. But when these same people mess up, make a mistake, or a
bad pass, it's alright!!
Not only do I see it in here, I feel it in my heart as I sit here on Death Row an innocent man. I was blamed for the mistakes of others, and now I stand a scapegoat of society. A scapegoat of a country that is looking for, searching for, and making it eas
ier for the State to kill people legally through executions. In this country you don't even have to kill someone to find yourself on Death Row waiting to be killed.
Once you become a scapegoat, whether it be by a person or a society, your life will never be the same. This country was built, among other things, by the scapegoating of others, and a great deal of people who are in power have used other people as scapego
ats in order to fulfill their own agendas. Just look at Pete Wilson and his attack on affirmative action, or his fight for Prop. 187.
This way of life in America call "Scapegoating" reaches from the church to the State, from North to South, from East to West, from Republican to Democrat, from rich to poor, and the thing that gets me is that no one talks about it. "It just
is"! The rich blame the poor for being poor and for all the ills in this country, but if the rich shared their wealth, then maybe there wouldn't be so many poor. But you can't tell them that; they would rather blame the poor that help the poor.
Racists blame the Blacks, and Latinos, or anyone else of color, for crime and drugs, and all the other negative things that go on in this country, despite the fact that it has been proven time and time again that the biggest criminals, the biggest users o
f drugs in this country, are not Black or Latino. Still they are blamed, they are scapegoated. As for Politicians, they scapegoat whoever is the most unpopular at the time in order to win elections, because here in America there is always a group of peopl
e who are easily made into scapegoats. It doesn't matter who you are, or where you live or how much you have, or don't have, you can be a scapegoat by just being who you are, or how you were born. And none of us ask to be born!
Did those women that ex-Senator Packwood sexually harassed ask to be born? Did they ask to be harassed? Did they ask to be mentally and emotionally abused? Hell No! But they were, and still would be if they hadn't decided to put an end to it once and for
all. Senator Packwood made those women his scapegoats on every level he could. He even said that it was his Christian duty to make love to these women, and then when he was busted he tried as hard as he could to blame them for his mistakes.
On those few occasions that people like Packwood are busted for doing wrong, what do they do? They still blame others and won't take responsibility for their own actions, or they say "No comment", or "I'll get back to you", but they ne
ver do. The bottom line is, what can they really say? It is rare in this country for people to take responsibility for their actions; it's too easy to blame others. They won't start doing it until you make them, just as those women made Packwood take resp
onsibility for his actions. Not only did they do that, but they made him resign as well, but the most important thing that they did was stop being his victim, his scapegoat! They fought back, and won, and they found out that they could only be a victim, a
scapegoat, to him as long as they let themselves stay in that position.
Only you can stop yourself from being someone else's victim, or scapegoat. You must take a stand, and you must understand that once you take that stand, your life, and outlook on yourself, will be forever better.
Why do you think the Million Man March was such a great idea and success? It was because those Million Black Men were tired of being the scapegoat for a larger society. They took a stand that day. A lot of us took a stand that day. Brothers like me who co
uldn't go physically, went spiritually, because we were and are also tired. If you get nothing else out of this article, please understand that only you can stop yourself from becoming, and remaining someone else's scapegoat, or victim, or doormat. If you
leave it up to the others, things will never change. They won't like you for doing it, for standing up for yourself, but do you really want to be liked by the very people who put you down? I'd rather be unliked and happy, proud, and self respected, than
be liked, put down, and scapegoated upon!!
If you would like to communicate more on this or any other issue please write:
Kevin Cooper
C-65304
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin, CA 94974