Thursday, August 13, 2009

Please don't judge all Alaskans Based on the behavior of one.

Please don't judge all Alaskans by the standards recently set forth by a certain ex-Gov lady.

Please don't paint all Alaskans with the same conservative paint brush.

We are a diverse community of human beings; a small community of humans occupying a very vast stretch of global real estate.

Alaskans deal with problems that run the gamut from urban decay and homelessness to rural subsistence cultures still attempting to live from the land and enjoy modern conveniences as well.

There are Sierra Club members that live next door to avid hunters and snowmachiners. There are people living in upscale neighborhoods that share their woods with homeless camps. There are Libertarians living down the street from Republicans and Democrats and Alaskan Independence Party members.

We 600,000+ Alaskans all share this 600,000+ square mile patch of land and for the most part we agree to disagree but all take pride in the fact that we are "Alaskans".

One would be hard pressed to find a city of 600,000 people that has the same diversity as our Alaskan population.

Alaskans are Yupik, Inuit, Inupiat, Inupiaq, Aleutiiq, Aleut, Ahtna, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Gwich'in, Athabascan, Eyak, White, Black, Latino, Phillipino, Pacific Islander, and more European cultures than one could imagine.

I apologize if I left anyone out of the list above, or messed up the spelling of your cultural identity, but what I'm trying to say is all of us here have one thing in common and that is we are Alaskans, and there is a certain amount of pride associated with that.

This is a melting pot of humanity and we all have something to offer.

And that's it folks, I will not address the crazy lady by name any longer because she has done more damage to the reputation of this fair state than, well, than anyone else ever in it's history.

I just wanted to make sure that people know that we are a vast and varied state full of a myriad of different cultures and races and we all seem to make it work because we take pride in being Alaskan and helping each other.

It doesn't always work and we have the same problems as any other state but we don't deserve to be judged based on the actions and words of one person who was given a national platform on which to share her views and spew hatred.

We're not all like that, in fact the majority aren't, so please don't judge us based on the Palin yardstick. Also, don't be afraid to travel here. It's beautiful and we are friendly and we love to share our state with visitors.

We are NOT all crazy.

5 comments:

  1. AKPetMom,
    BRAVO!
    You have stated very well what I feel so strongly.
    Very eloquent and passionate thank you.

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  2. Very well put. I'm thrilled to see you blogging! I always enjoy your comments on IM, Mudflats, etc...
    I appreciate finding out what's really going on so far away.

    peninparadise

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  3. so fun to read your blog, my friend. I was terribly excited to see you on the blog roll over at Immoral Minority. WooHooo! We hope to see you, yours and the furry ones soon. There are lots of berries to pick over the next few weeks and I will be out at Hatcher once the cranberries get ripe. We should take the puppies out and let them play.

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  4. I couldn't have written that better - and it's all true! I like standing in the middle of the teeter totter and just "listening" to everybody. Yep, Alaskans agree on our love for our state...our diversity is part of the uniqueness. If something happened to our family today, all of these diverse people would be reaching out to us. That's the Alaskan way.

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  5. Is there any way you can find out if the Palin children are attending school? People have begun to speculate on their whereabouts and their well-being. We're hoping all is well. Thanks.

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