Paris Jackson's Debut A Beautiful Thing For The Blended Family

One more thing about Michael Jackson I promise. Despite the fact that his kids are clearly not his biological kids, seeing his daughter, Paris, really for the first time unmasked and speaking, was so so wonderful considering she and the family were broadcast to the entire world as a family that was certainly not mono-racial. Even if adopted, they are still his kids and still a good example of a blended or Mixed family.

I loved seeing her and look forward to seeing more of the kids. I just hope they get a shot at a normal life, at least as far as normal can be considering.

Richard Nixon on “Interracial” Babies

O.K. we already knew Richard Nixon was a complete crook and liar. But now we can add to his legacy, complete idiot.

As you may have heard, the Nixon library released last week more recordings of this crazy man. Which by the way, I don’t understand why they keep doing this since they exist to honor the man, and yet the more we know about him; the more history will see him for what he was, a person totally unfit to run this country. Anyway, one of the things Nixon can be heard expounding on in this most recent batch, is his opinion about exceptions for abortion. In a nutshell he said that while he was against abortion generally, he felt that there were two exceptions that should be allowed, in the case of rape and in the case of Mixed, black and white, babies.

Yep.

That’s what the idiot said.

Need I say more?

What a fool he was.

Forever A Fan of Michael Jackson

Wow I’m still in a state of shock about Michael Jackson passing away. It just doesn’t feel real. I was, no I am, one of his biggest fans and supporters. There will never be another entertainer like Michael, with that kind of longevity and fan base worldwide. What a loss. We all have to go sometime, but this was definitely too soon for him.

I still remember how cool that he sang proudly the lyrics “if you wanna be my baby, it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white.” That was great. That song and its lyrics didn’t change the world, but coming from someone as big as him, it certainly put forth the concept of inter-ethnic harmony and love in a big way.

Of course there was the irony of such words coming from a guy who seemed to want to deny his own ethnicity and become another. But I don’t really care about that. Michael had issues no doubt. Don’t we all. In the end, he was a flawed human but a great one no less. What he gave to the world was a supreme gift, and music, the world for that matter, will not be the same without him.

The irony for me was that as a kid I was so connected to Michael partly because I was his mirror image (when he was a kid with the afro and brown skin). Literally everywhere I went, strangers would stop me and my parents and say how much I looked like Michael Jackson. So I felt a special connection. How odd then that he died on my birthday, June 25.

I guess we will continue to be connected, because that date will now have even more meaning to me.

Sports As The Example

My wife very often wonders why, and most men, are so into sports. And frankly I have no idea. Maybe it’s just that old male testosterone thing needing an outlet.

But one thing I love about the sports world is that if you look at most teams in most major sports you will see a world that is ideal, at least in terms of how different ethnicities can get together, work together and bond, with no concern for skin color.

Look at the Lakers team that won recently. A Chinese star, a Spanish star, a star from Eastern Europe, a White American, and several Black American stars. All bonded together and celebrating on a stage the other day. And in a stadium made up of people from all backgrounds coming together in harmony.

That is one reason I love sports. On the field, or court, players don’t really care about skin color. And neither do the fans that root for their teams.

So are sports unimportant? On the contrary they are very important. There is no better example of what we can be than sports. (Of course this is no excuse for me to watch every game on television though so I can’t push this notion too far with my wife, she won’t buy it as an excuse every time.)

A Virtual Fist Bump

I don’t know what’s going on but much to my delight in the last few days I have been seeing a large number of Mixed couples. Is something going on that I don’t know about? Has there been a meeting in Burbank I didn’t get invited to?

Whatever it is, I love it. Seriously, I must have seen at least 10 couples in the last 3 days, plus seeing at least 4 mothers with kids who were clearly Mixed. And the mixtures I’ve seen have run the gamut from Asian-White, Asian-Black, to Hispanic-Black, White-Black.

And it’s funny, when I see these couple I have to resist the urge to run up to them and give them high fives or something. Ironic, huh, since the point of all this is to get to that place where seeing such couples and families is not considered out of the ordinary. So I try to notice without noticing. But inside I am giving them a virtual fist bump.

Love that knows no boundaries. What a concept.

I Remember Why I Left Texas

I don’t want to make it out that Texas is the worst place in the world for ethnic relations, since no place including California is immune from problems, but it certainly ranks up there.

Last week I had to fly to Texas and though the trip overall was a good one, believe me I am very glad to be home. As I told my wife when I got back it was just so strange that it seemed nothing has changed there in terms of ethnic relations. I spent most of my time in the North Dallas area, which if you don’t know Dallas, is mostly white. And everywhere I went – restaurants, music spots, stores, you name it – there were few blacks and Mexicans, or any other ethnic groups besides Whites, mingling around. I saw no intermingling at all. And needless to say, as the only Black in most of the establishments I went to with my friend, who happened to be White, I got that look of curiosity – oh look there’s a Black guy in here.

But having been raised in Texas for the most part it didn’t really make me uncomfortable to be honest. But it sure was a reminder that it wasn’t the place I wanted to live my life. Again I want to say I know there are good people in Dallas and throughout Texas. I know many. It’s just that there is also more of an acceptance there of a separation of groups that I am not personally comfortable with. Some people can live that way, prefer it even. Not me, I’m not that person.

A Baby In A Coffee Shop

My wife and I were sitting in a local coffee shop here in Burbank the other night and had the pleasure of sitting across from a table of Japanese people who had a month and a half old baby with them. The baby was so cute and did that baby thing much of the time, which was to stare at people, in this case Dianna and I. Well what hit me, besides the perpetual wonder at new life and the life cycle, was that the baby was already living in a world of no more race. To her we weren’t anything but something to stare at, to try to figure out. It was a reminder that the silliness of race is absolutely a learned notion and though it will be impossible to stop that baby from learning the concept, we can at least hope for and work towards, making it less of a real issue.

Thank God for babies and the chance again to get it right.