Jaw Dropping Racism - In Your Face Beotch!

I really have got to find more time to write but I guess when you grow up, your life gets so much more packed with stuff that you cannot find enough time in the day.



I was watching television yesterday morning and caught the latest episode of "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel". They did a story of racism in soccer called "Fields of Hate". My jaw hit the table when I saw the blatant racism being displayed by the fans of European soccer games.

There were fans who would make sounds like a monkey or would throw bananas on the field when a player of color would get the ball. There are instances when the fans have spit on players to the point where they jersey was soaked. There are parts of the stadium that are "controlled" by organized neo-fascists or neo-Nazi groups that would display the Nazi swastika openly. In this semi-politically correct world, you would think that racism such as that would not be present at an organized sporting event with a television audience. There are still pockets of racism in the US but you would never see anything such as that at an organized sporting event here.

Seeing this has partially changed my outlook on Europe. I have had the opportunity to live there twice - once as a adolescent and once as a young adult. I also got to travel a little bit while I was there and never experienced anything that would make me think that someone didn't like me for the color of my skin. I used to believe Europe practiced a more liberal society. How can such hatred go unchecked?



Why do those who scream hate so loudly truly believe that they are right? What makes one believe that the removal, extinction, or separation of a race other than theirs is what God intended? In a world were MOST people believe in racial harmony, why does this "minority" of people think they can change the minds of so many who do not believe in their rhetoric?

An example of this line of thinking was made by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840), a German physician, physiologist and anthropologist, who made the statement "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix." REALLY?

Everyone has a right to their opinion but the purpose of sport, in my opinion, has always been camaraderie, sportsmanship, and community pride. Why would someone let a bunch of idiots represent their community? Maybe there need to be some diversity on the governing body of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations. Maybe they need to walk in the shoes of soccer (football) players of color to see the effect that their "inaction" is taking on them.

Basically She Called Me an Uncle Tom...

I knew that there would be something that would fire me up to write something and something last night did it. I consider myself a people person. I love to talk to others and hear their stories and see what they have experienced in life. Sometimes I even take their life lessons and apply them to myself.

My job puts me in contact with ALL types of people - young and old; rich, financially stable, or living paycheck to paycheck; black, white, yellow, red, tan, olive (hope nobody takes offense, just trying to prove a point); male or female or someone that is "has a little of both". Nevertheless, I mostly enjoy the contact. Regardless of your ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, or religion, we are all connected and have encountered the SAME problems and adversities on a common level.

Last night, I had to deal with an issue at the job that required several different interactions with my team and myself. The point was not being driven home enough that it required the ejection of some people from the property. I do not expect anyone to take news like that happily but for the greater good it had to be done. To break it down - if you have 30 people and only 1 person is the problem, you don't cater to the 1 person that is a problem and inconvenience the other 29. Upon their ejection, one female in the group, who also happened to be black (and due to her attitude - a little ghetto fabulous), had a lot to say regarding her "treatment".

She basically said that we were not treating her group fairly. For those who truly know me, I have got to be one of the most fair minded people around. Race has never been thrown into most decisions that I make especially work. She said that I was picking on the black man and wasn't doing it to "the other man". Well for her information, "the other man" was not the problem. When "the other man" has been the cause of the exact same problem, "the other man" was dealt in the same fashion as she was last night. She also said in so many words that they had to send the "the black face" of the organization to deal with her and her party. Whoa! Hold up! Wait a minute! I am not any one's "token black". Everything I achieved is due to hard work and integrity. That is what broke the camel's back with me. And to correct her, I WAS IN CHARGE of the property, nobody had to send me anywhere.

Then the "N" word got dropped several times describing me. She was talking to other members of her party and NOT directly to me when she said it which showed me how much of a cowardly individual she was. She hates dealing with "niggas". Really!?! Do you now? Gave you three chances to straighten up and you can't comply - that all of a sudden makes me a "nigga"? I felt bad for my white team members who were witness to her rantings. I am sure it is the same across the board but when one person in your race does something stupid, then all the other people in the race are embarrassed by it.

Well, I put on my best "token black" face and even thanked them for choosing us when they were walking out of the door. I am no better than anyone else and don't claim to be. But I find myself thinking of how she was "raised" to label me, a black man that wears a suit to work everyday and has quite of bit of responsibility (and authority) at work, an Uncle Tom type. What is sad is that until she opened her mouth, she WAS an visually attractive woman. What do you think?

Oh, did I mention that the gentlemen were saggin' (which I don't do) and drinking alcohol at a children's function? Maybe that will give you more insight into her thought process.

White...The New Minority?

I grew up not truly thinking about race being isolated as a "military brat". I have said this to many people but there only class difference when my Dad was in the military were officers and non-commissioned officers. I dated (went steady, talked to) everyone under the rainbow as a kid. It didn't make any difference to me as long as you were pretty and had something positive about you.

As I got older, I noticed things were different outside of my military bubble especially in high school. I never experienced any racism firsthand but I noticed that there was a difference in perspective as far as race was concerned. Where you would see an abundance of interracial couples (of every kind of combination)on a military bases or in a military community, I only recall one interracial couple in high school. An example of a shift in my mindset even as a teenager, I always thought that there would be a white female as President of the United States before a black male was elected as Commander-in-Chief.

I also noticed that although black Americans had our own culture (i.e., music, fashion, vernacular) that some white Americans embraced the black culture. I don't know why. I joked to some close friends (black and white), "when did it become so cool to be black?"



Well in watching one of my favorite shows, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, there was a segment that pointed out that white Americans will no longer be the majority around the year 2050. I do not think that it is due to other races having more children but more of the fact that there are more and more interracial relationships and soon there will not be a "pure race" of any kind. Just a blend of cultures with small patches of an undiluted "family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock" (which is the Merriam-Webster meaning).

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
White in America - The Children
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The segment was funny with the one extremely bright kid and singer Robin Thicke, son of "ultra-white" Alan Thicke.

But I guess the question is how will the minority shift affect America? Will it truly become more of a melting pot? Will conflicts that involve racial undertones be substantially reduced? I am not militant by any means but will there be changes with the "shift of power"?