Grand Rapids, Michigan is trying hard.
Eh. Sure, it looks pretty, and it may be fun to play in, but I'm sorry, it's no contest: snow can not beat getting to drive down the highway with your arm out the window...
27 February 2007
How can you beat a lovely, 60 degrees, bright-blue-sky day in Feburary?
Grand Rapids, Michigan is trying hard.
Eh. Sure, it looks pretty, and it may be fun to play in, but I'm sorry, it's no contest: snow can not beat getting to drive down the highway with your arm out the window...
19 February 2007
Getting closer to the Dream
There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.--Senator Barack Obama (D-Il)
Dear readers, let my tell you a story; a story of how far America has come in resolving the sins of the past.
Recently, I grabbed lunch off-site of my job's campus. Not an unusual occurrence, mind you, but on that day I decided to grab lunch at a place I had only been to once before. It's doubtful that many of you will be familiar with Andy's Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers, but trust me, it's good eating. Beyond the delicious menu options, all of Andy's locales are done in the style of a 1950's malt shop. You know, the kind of place where Joe Quarterback and Cindy Cheerleader shared a strawberry milkshake right before they headed over to the Sadie Hawkins Dance?
Well, as you may know, an actual 1950's malt shop was also the kind of place where a black man would have been refused service at the counter, the kind of place where a black man would be required to drink from a "blacks only" water fountain--that is, if a black man was even allowed in the establishment in the first place. For all the lovely nostalgia recreated by a1950's malt shop replica, it also reminds me of how unjust America once was.
And it is here, in this malt shop replica, that I realized just how far America has come from those dark, unjust days.
You see, because of the odd time at which I eat lunch, I was the lone patron in the restaurant, and was being waited on by a white girl who was nary 17. Her constant desire to call me "hun" was Southern Hospitality at its best, and I was treated with nothing but respect by her and the white cooking staff. And then I left. And that was it. Nothing else happened.
I, a black man, walked into a white-run restaurant, in North Carolina, by myself, and proceeded to order food. I, a black man, was served food and treated with respect by white employees who worked in a restaurant, similar in decor to the kinds of restaurants few black people would have considered entering 50 years ago. I, a black man, left this restaurant without incident. And I, a black man, can't help but note that the absence of anything significant happening during this event, in fact, made the event significant.
It reminded me of another "non-event" a couple of summers ago, when I went swimming at my local gym's pool. The only other people in the pool that day were an elderly white couple, but neither they, nor gym staff, felt that I should not swim at the same time as white people. Nor did anyone propose that the pool needed to scrubbed and washed clean after I defiled it with my dark skin. No one thought anything about a black person in the same pool as a white person--it was a non-issue.
In both incidences--the malt shop, and the pool--it was the lack of a negative response that confirms that, slowly but surely, racial progress has been made in America.
Now, don't get me wrong, does racism still exist in America? Yes.
But, are we making progress, generation by generation, to erase and eradicate racism from America's heart and mind? Yes.
Are we getting closer to the dream of Dr. King, where "all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands"? Yes.
Want confirmation that there as been progress? Take note that the current presidential hopefuls range from a woman, to an African-American; from a Mormon, to a man who will be 72 years old by Election Day 2008. And note that all of these candidates have a legitimate chance of being their party's nominee, if not the next President of the United States.
No doubt, America has still got work to do; but my God, we've come a long way.
Dear readers, let my tell you a story; a story of how far America has come in resolving the sins of the past.
Recently, I grabbed lunch off-site of my job's campus. Not an unusual occurrence, mind you, but on that day I decided to grab lunch at a place I had only been to once before. It's doubtful that many of you will be familiar with Andy's Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers, but trust me, it's good eating. Beyond the delicious menu options, all of Andy's locales are done in the style of a 1950's malt shop. You know, the kind of place where Joe Quarterback and Cindy Cheerleader shared a strawberry milkshake right before they headed over to the Sadie Hawkins Dance?
Well, as you may know, an actual 1950's malt shop was also the kind of place where a black man would have been refused service at the counter, the kind of place where a black man would be required to drink from a "blacks only" water fountain--that is, if a black man was even allowed in the establishment in the first place. For all the lovely nostalgia recreated by a1950's malt shop replica, it also reminds me of how unjust America once was.
And it is here, in this malt shop replica, that I realized just how far America has come from those dark, unjust days.
You see, because of the odd time at which I eat lunch, I was the lone patron in the restaurant, and was being waited on by a white girl who was nary 17. Her constant desire to call me "hun" was Southern Hospitality at its best, and I was treated with nothing but respect by her and the white cooking staff. And then I left. And that was it. Nothing else happened.
I, a black man, walked into a white-run restaurant, in North Carolina, by myself, and proceeded to order food. I, a black man, was served food and treated with respect by white employees who worked in a restaurant, similar in decor to the kinds of restaurants few black people would have considered entering 50 years ago. I, a black man, left this restaurant without incident. And I, a black man, can't help but note that the absence of anything significant happening during this event, in fact, made the event significant.
It reminded me of another "non-event" a couple of summers ago, when I went swimming at my local gym's pool. The only other people in the pool that day were an elderly white couple, but neither they, nor gym staff, felt that I should not swim at the same time as white people. Nor did anyone propose that the pool needed to scrubbed and washed clean after I defiled it with my dark skin. No one thought anything about a black person in the same pool as a white person--it was a non-issue.
In both incidences--the malt shop, and the pool--it was the lack of a negative response that confirms that, slowly but surely, racial progress has been made in America.
Now, don't get me wrong, does racism still exist in America? Yes.
But, are we making progress, generation by generation, to erase and eradicate racism from America's heart and mind? Yes.
Are we getting closer to the dream of Dr. King, where "all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands"? Yes.
Want confirmation that there as been progress? Take note that the current presidential hopefuls range from a woman, to an African-American; from a Mormon, to a man who will be 72 years old by Election Day 2008. And note that all of these candidates have a legitimate chance of being their party's nominee, if not the next President of the United States.
No doubt, America has still got work to do; but my God, we've come a long way.
10 February 2007
Sometimes, I just don't understand Americans
Why are Americans so fascinated by the most trivial things, why are we transfixed by the inconsequential?
From people morning the death of a race horse (A HORSE!!), to Bostonians running scared from giant light brights (and Boston's subsequent legal action over the "scary" moonmen), Americans needlessly get themselves in a tizzy over nothing.
Oh, and I don't care that Anna Nicole Smith died. Sure, her death was weird and random, but Anna Nicole was weird and random. We've established that she died as she lived, can we move on?
And let's not forget Congress' outrage that Nancy Pelosi asked for an expensive military plane to provide her with non-stop, California-to-D.C., flights (despite the fact that Pelosi didn't request the plane, but rather it was requested by the House sergeant at arms). It seems that even American politicians focus on things that don't matter, even when those politicians should be governing.
I also don't understand the news media. Never mind that the U.S. Senate couldn't get its act together to debate Iraq, the Gulf Coast is still a cluster fuck, killing in Sudan continues, and Indonesia just had massive flooding. Nope, none of that beats the chance to report about the bat-shit crazy, diaper-wearing astronaut.
I love this country, but seriously, what is wrong with us?
From people morning the death of a race horse (A HORSE!!), to Bostonians running scared from giant light brights (and Boston's subsequent legal action over the "scary" moonmen), Americans needlessly get themselves in a tizzy over nothing.
Oh, and I don't care that Anna Nicole Smith died. Sure, her death was weird and random, but Anna Nicole was weird and random. We've established that she died as she lived, can we move on?
And let's not forget Congress' outrage that Nancy Pelosi asked for an expensive military plane to provide her with non-stop, California-to-D.C., flights (despite the fact that Pelosi didn't request the plane, but rather it was requested by the House sergeant at arms). It seems that even American politicians focus on things that don't matter, even when those politicians should be governing.
I also don't understand the news media. Never mind that the U.S. Senate couldn't get its act together to debate Iraq, the Gulf Coast is still a cluster fuck, killing in Sudan continues, and Indonesia just had massive flooding. Nope, none of that beats the chance to report about the bat-shit crazy, diaper-wearing astronaut.
I love this country, but seriously, what is wrong with us?
08 February 2007
I think I'm sick........IN THE HEAD
I realized it last night, as I watched the Carolina-Duke game.
And you see, in that simple statement, lies the symptom of my recent insanity. Did you catch it?
“Carolina”? “CAROLINA”?
Egads, I’ve actually begun to, voluntarily, willingly, and purposely refer to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as “Carolina.” As a South Carolina native, and a Gamecock fan, this is blasphemy.
Anyone know of a cure for this horrible disorder? I’ll pay any price…
And you see, in that simple statement, lies the symptom of my recent insanity. Did you catch it?
“Carolina”? “CAROLINA”?
Egads, I’ve actually begun to, voluntarily, willingly, and purposely refer to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as “Carolina.” As a South Carolina native, and a Gamecock fan, this is blasphemy.
Anyone know of a cure for this horrible disorder? I’ll pay any price…
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