OK. I’m stepping on a soapbox. Apologies in advanced. My friend Miguel, an African-American man, posted this. I met him through work. We did the work thing together. And we wound up hanging a number of times at local watering holes. We struck up a great relationship. I realized he is a good guy; a person I am very glad to call ‘friend.’ I grew up in a lily white neighborhood. But, I was blessed with a unique perspective for a guy who grew up in a lily white neighborhood. I got to play high school basketball at a storied high school program, that rarely featured a white guy on their team. I was the only white guy on that team. Consequently, because of convenience, far more than enlightenment, (and I realize how this sounds as I type it), most of my high school buddies grew up in neighborhoods that were something far from lily white. Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not claiming that I can understand what life is like to be black. At the end of the day, I always got to return to where I grew up. But I am saying that the experience that I had gave me an unusual perspective. And, because of that perspective, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. Of what, you ask? I am sick and tired of the way it makes me feel when things like Ferguson happen. You see, I am a guy whose politics are fiscally conservative, and socially progressive. I support gay marriage while I am an avid 2nd amendment supporter. I like smaller government while I believe that a woman ultimately has the right to control the function of her own body. Some would call me libertarian. I choose to call myself an objective thinker. So how does Ferguson play into this? Well, the line that gets drawn in the sand when these hot topics dominate the news negate thinking people from having meaningful discussion about these things, in lieu of lemming mentality aligning with side A or side B and arming themselves with vitriol and hatred that is neither moral or serving of progress. Why? It is because of distrust and misunderstanding when we speak of racism. It’s because of the divide that exists between those who want to claim racism is dead, and those who want to declare it as no different than in 1939, when Billy Holiday recorded, Strange Fruit. (If you don’t understand this reference, you owe it to the conversation to look it up). Here is the truth. We don’t see racism show itself today with Jim Crow law and lynchings. And because those things are gone, it doesn’t mean racism is behind us. And we should be able to have meaningful conversation about this. But then Ferguson type things happen. More truth. All of us talking about Ferguson don’t know what happened. But we are all affected by three types of thinking. There are those that want to trust the law. And there are those who have a lifetime of reasons to not. And the most insidious part of this entire situation is, there are those who want to spin the story for their own political expediency. And I ask, why is it that the latter group always owns the conversation? Which brings me right back to my good friend, Miguel. I know he is is thinking man. I think he knows that I am as well. I would bet my last dollar that he and I could sit down and have a meaningful conversation about Ferguson. I would bet we could even disagree about this thing or that, and still walk away from the situation, having learned, been enlightened, and made more understanding happen between us. Why? Because we are honest, open minded people. So I think this conversation would work because of two things that everyone in America needs to understand. First, racism today, is an absolute fact that hides in the shadows and creates an atmosphere of distrust on the part of those who feel it…no matter how subtle. And second, there are far more lily white Americans out there willing to engage in meaningful conversation about this than there are ignorant, racist red necks. It is far past time that thinking people take charge of the conversation.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 01:46:32 +0000
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