A New World Indeed

Wow I just noticed how long it's been since I last posted on here. My apologies to my two readers. :-) Life's been crazy. I hope all is well with you.

I came across an interesting piece you may or may not have seen on Yahoo. Check it out, it is about the rise of "bi-racial" Americans and how important the 2010 Census will be for documenting just how much our society has become more Mixed. Worth the read.

Here it is.

"Interracial Couple" Denied Marriage License in Louisiana

This story really speaks for itself. No comment necessary. This from the Associated Press as I saw it on Yahoo News. And yes this just happened, in 2009.

NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."

If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

Bardwell estimates that he has refused to marry about four couples during his career, all in the past 2 1/2 years.

Beth Humphrey, 30, and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.

Humphrey, an account manager for a marketing firm, said she and McKay, a welder, just returned to Louisiana. She is white and he is black. She plans to enroll in the University of New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in minority politics.

"That was one thing that made this so unbelievable," she said. "It's not something you expect in this day and age."

Humphrey said she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples. Bardwell suggested the couple go to another justice of the peace in the parish who agreed to marry them.

"We are looking forward to having children," Humphrey said. "And all our friends and co-workers have been very supportive. Except for this, we're typical happy newlyweds."

"It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzmann. She said the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 "that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry."

The ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and recommending "the most severe sanctions available, because such blatant bigotry poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the administration of justice."

"He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it," Schwartzmann said.

According to the clerk of court's office, application for a marriage license must be made three days before the ceremony because there is a 72-hour waiting period. The applicants are asked if they have previously been married. If so, they must show how the marriage ended, such as divorce.

Other than that, all they need is a birth certificate and Social Security card.

The license fee is $35, and the license must be signed by a Louisiana minister, justice of the peace or judge. The original is returned to the clerk's office.

"I've been a justice of the peace for 34 years and I don't think I've mistreated anybody," Bardwell said. "I've made some mistakes, but you have too. I didn't tell this couple they couldn't get married. I just told them I wouldn't do it."

A Bright Future

I'm just thinking how the saying goes that sometimes things have to get bad before they get worse. On race relations right now I am hoping all this tension in the country over Obama and all, is just a sign that a new dawn is coming. And you know what, deep down I really do believe this is what is going to happen.

As Jesse Jackson would say (can't believe I'm quoting Jesse) "Keep hope alive."

People Have Simply Dispensed With All Pretense

I just had my latest Huffington Post piece published today. You can see it directly here. But here it is as well.
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SOME WHITE PEOPLE HAVE SIMPLY LOST THEIR MINDS

There is no other way to say this but to put it all on the table. Some white people have simply lost their minds because they are besides themselves trying to figure out how in the world they slipped up and let an African-American man in the White House, as President of these not so United States.

While thankfully there are a few whites who have been willing to speak up about what is really bubbling up, or more like, spewing forth lately, people like former President Jimmy Carter, Tim Wise and some other bloggers here on The Huffington Post, most people simply have tiptoed around the huge white elephant in the room. The outrageous incidents, which seem to be increasing in frequency -- Glenn Beck's obvious racial appeals by saying Obama hates white people, Sen. Joe Wilson's unprecedented outburst before the world yelling at the President, the birther's refusal to accept the truth, the almost mob like town hall meetings where some people openly carried signs that were perfect for a Klan rally, Rep. Lynn Jenkins' "White Hope" remark, 'tea party" leader Mark Williams referring to President Obama as "an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief," the uproar over the President of The United States daring to give an inspirational speech to America's school kids -- I could go on but you get the point -- these are nothing more than the ugliest of racism that has simply boiled over the sides of our famed and mythical melting pot.

Right-wing whites have simply reached the point where they cannot take it any more. And the message seems to be that they will say and do whatever it takes to de-legitimize this President. And they seem to be certainly saying "never again." The saddest part about all of this is that it was just a few moths ago that many of us in the multi-ethnic coalition that banded together to usher in the Obama era were celebrating what looked like the start of a new seemingly post racial America. But just nine months later, I have to say I don't think I have seen a time when the bitterness and seeming us against them mentality was more evident. And by "us against them," I mean whites against the flood of people of color that are seeming to challenge the idea of what it means to be America and American. All you had to do was look at the faces of some of the Congressman in the crowd at President Obama's speech to see the venom that was only thinly veiled. It almost matched what we saw and heard from some of the people in the crowds at the recent town hall meetings.

The irony in all this is the challenge the Rep. Wilson's, Glen Beck's, Sean Hannity's and Rush Limbaugh's throw down by trying to intimidate the rest of us by daring us to call out this racism and to call them what they are -- silly men, and some women, who have seen the future and realize that the future is one where white men are not the only ones with a seat at the table anymore. And this scares the hell out of them. So they spew this crap and dare us to stand up to it and speak the truth. But we have to let them know that we will not back down, that we will not go away, that we will indeed call them out, no matter how many times they target a Van Jones, or whoever is next since they can't get to Obama. This country is changing, for the better, whether they like it or not, so they might as well accept it and find something else to do. The Republican Party can only make a fool of itself for so long before it completely implodes. And no attempt to put a Black mouthpiece like Michael Steele in front can disguise the fact that the Party is losing control of itself and some of these formerly disguised racists that pretend they are not anti-Black. No just anti anything from an African-American who dares actually have the gumption to call himself President and dare to do what he promised he would do when the country duly and fairly elected him.

I know President Obama is in a tough place and he can't really call these people out. He has to be "Presidential." But we can speak up. The issue is not health care reform or President Obama being too far left, because we have had people on the left run this country before. And we have had battles over health care, social security and other issues before. What we have never witnessed, at least when it came to the respect afforded our country's leader, whether it was former Presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, is this level of disrespect and overt vitriol directed at a President. All Presidents have had their opponents. But when you think through what has been directed at Obama, and his family for that matter with some of the truly low things that have 'slipped out" of people's mouths, like the South Carolina Republican activist, Rusty DePass, who said an escaped gorilla was probably Michelle Obama's ancestor, there is no denying this is beyond civil disagreement.

But I for one am not going to be intimidated into silence and I will call these racists what they are. I can accept and respect differing viewpoints, but what President Obama, and the rest of us, don't have to accept is racism disguised as patriotism. Let's call it what it is, racism born out of a fear that those darker skinned people have taken over. This is just not the America they expected, at least not so soon.

Is this the 60's Again?

What is going on in "post racial America'? Between Rep. Wilson yelling at the President, Kanye West and Taylor Swift, Glen Beck and Van Jones, Rush Limbaugh and anybody darker than him, Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, birthers, truthers, town hall mobs, black kids beating up a white kid on a bus, a white man beating up a black mother in Atlanta while yelling racial slurs, and numerous other incidents, I can't tell if we have moved ahead or backwards in terms of ethnic relations in this country, not to mention just plain ole civility.

Who's at fault for all this and why have we moved backwards? Some on the Right blame President Obama for ushering in this free for all. The left (and I include myself in this group) blame Republicans and other right wingers for doing everything they can to disrupt the Obama administration in hopes that it fails.

Whatever the reason, any hope of moving into a post race focused world following Obama's election has evaporated. At least for now. I do think this craziness will pass, but not until certain people finally recognize that the door that has been opened to people of color is not going to close, so they might as well give up. But that realization will not come easily or soon I am afraid. And in fact I suspect things will get a bit crazier before they get better.

Damn I've Been Tagged

Well it looks like I've been challenged. My friend over at Zen's Sekai I tagged me with this and I must now return the favor and pass on the challenge. So here goes.

The meme works as follows. You post five things about yourself. Four are untrue. One is true. All are so outlandish, implausible or ridiculous that no one would be inclined to believe that any of them are true. And despite the pleas from your readers, you never divulge which is true and which are fabrications. You then tag five other people (four seriously and one person you are pretty sure would never participate).

Here are my five:

1. I was arrested and spent some time in jail.
2. On a dare, I ran naked through the quad in college.
3. I witnessed a murder.
4. I interviewed the then President of the United States.
5. I have an artificial finger.

The five lucky victims who are hereby tagged are: Shirl,Rashaan, Laura, Squeaksdaddy,and MilePerHour.

Barack Obama Is Not Black

Re-posted from my blog on The Huffington Post.

In this supposed "Post Racial" age of Obama you would think that the silly concept of race would simply ease its way into obscurity. And I am not even talking about the stupidity of racism that has in some ways gotten worse as so many on the far right have simply lost their minds at seeing an African-American family in The White House.

No, I'm talking about our concept of race itself. The fact is that we have what some see as the first black president (sorry Bill Clinton) and what others rightfully recognize as our first bi-ethnic president, since Obama is undeniably not all or mostly black, he is half. Now I know to some, both blacks and whites, as silly and erroneous as it is to say it, half black simply means all black. This notion is the result of the concept of white ethnic purity which lead to the age-old but still going strong "one drop rule" that states, quite simply, no matter how stupid and wrong, that one drop of black blood makes you black. Frankly, I am still amazed that blacks accept this as much as whites do even though it means our blood is somehow tainted. But then again, I do know that for blacks, the acceptance is rooted in two things, one being the need to keep our numbers up for statistics and the other that any mixed person who does not unequivocally state that they are black is somehow ashamed of being black. So one is based on choosing to be inaccurate and the other based on self-esteem issues.

Ironically, the concept of race, which is a pseudo-scientific concoction anyway, has gotten more muddled of late than it has gotten better. I remember years ago people of mixed background had no choice on what to check off on demographic surveys that forced them to pick sides. Then came the "Other" category. An improvement in a way, but who wants to be "Other?" Well, thanks to a number of groups making sure the U.S. Census made more effort to be accurate in our rapidly changing society, one that is decidedly more mixed than it was just a few years ago, the choices increased. So we made progress. Right?

Well, just a couple of weeks ago I got my middle school kids' registration papers and, of course, there was the obligatory demographic survey for us to fill out. Much to my surprise and chagrin, the form proved that whoever is responsible for determining our governmental concept of that term "race" has gotten even more confused.

The form was simple enough in design, being a simple one pager. The top section asked you to fill out your "Ethnicity," for which you had but two choices. Ethnically, you were either Hispanic or non-Hispanic. That was the extent of all the world's ethnicities. Mind you, our kids go to a school that has over 30 languages spoken in it -- from Russian to Japanese to Armenian to Spanish to English and much more. But ethnically you were simply Hispanic or non-Hispanic.
Now the second and last section was even more interesting. In the infinite wisdom of the powers that be who try to define "race," the second section offered many choices. In this section, you were to pick your "race." Oh, oh, there is that pseudo-scientific word again. So much to my surprise, "race" now was defined by choices like these -- Japanese, Philippino, Chinese, Indian, etc., and of course there was black and white. White was seemingly the catch all for the Persian, Armenian, Iranian and other Middle Eastern kids who did not have categories of boxes for their "race." Why Asian's had countries for race and others didn't I had no idea.
I was flabbergasted. What used to be ethnicities and cultures were now separate races. And if you think I was confused my wife, who is Mexican American, was really thrown off. Of course, on the top of the form she could check 'Hispanic." But on the bottom there were no categories for "Mexican American" or "Mexican" or anything that related to a country of origin, though there was such for many Asian countries. Was she supposed to check "white," which she is certainly not?
And for our kids, who are half Hispanic and half non-Hispanic, which box should they have checked on the top of the form? And on the bottom they only had "black" but nothing to represent their mother.

Oh boy, this sure didn't seem like progress. It was pure unadulterated silliness. Many, many people, and the numbers are growing, cannot simply be defined by these stupid boxes. When will we let go of the concept of "race" that does nothing but continue to entrap us all in believing that that which is not real is way more than it needs to be?
Barack Obama is both black and white and he is neither black nor white, and he is mixed and he is half. He is all of those things and he is none of those things. They are simply labels that we use to make life supposedly simpler even though in the end, they make it much more complicated. It is stupid and I don't choose to participate in the silliness.

By the way we checked both boxes, Hispanic and non-Hispanic and we checked black and added a box for Mexican-American for the bottom.

The Wide Wide World of Cultures

I got an email from a gentleman the other day who contacted me because we share the same first and last name and he came across me while Googling his name. When he introduced himself he gave me a bit of his history and among other things pointed out that as a former Air Force man he spent a lot of time over in Japan many years ago. He also remarked about how much he really likes Japan and misses it very much.

Now that got me to thinking how two other good friends I have come to know thanks to the Internet are both African-American men married to Japanese women and both are great lovers of Japan and the Japanese culture as well. And I couldn’t help but wonder about inter-ethnic dating or marriage and which cultures seemed to be the most common, least common, etc. I am sure there are statistics out there that answer this and I’ll probably look it up. And I am excluding for the sake of this curiosity, American White and American Black, since we can already guess that would be the most dominant combo since those two are the most obvious.

My guess is Asian and Black would be the smallest group, despite my personal connections to those couples. And I would guess that Black and some Hispanic culture, say Mexican-American or Puerto Rican, would likely be the next largest to White-Black. And I say that based on population size and proximity, as well as shared economics and issues.

However it goes, it is so interesting to see the world coming together like that. And to come across so many people who have been brave enough to step outside of their familiar zone. The world is so big and so full with so much to gain from. Thank God people do see the choices are as wide as the field.

Which Box Should I Check?

I came face to face with the insanity of race the other day as I looked over my kids' school registration papers. Among the usual papers was an "ethnicity survey" that I presume is used for federal reporting or funding or something. I've got no problem with that.

But here is what we had to fill out.

The first section for "Ethnicity" gives you two choices - Hispanic/Latino or non-Hispanic.

What the...?

So now ethnicity is either Hispanic or non-Hispanic. That is it? And you can only check one box. So since my kids are half Hispanic and half non-Hispanic, which one box should they check?

Then comes the second section where you check your "Race." Here they say you can check as many as needed. Which of course is a big improvement over many years ago where even here you used to be able to check only one box.

The choices included many Asian categories of "race." Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, you get the picture. So now these are supposedly different races and not just different countries of origin or cultures?

And of course there was the standard "White" or "Black." But interestingly no Brown category for race. I guess that was covered under ethnicity in the first section which means Mexican, Honduran and Brazilian people or simply Hispanic but Asians can have countries which makes them have races.

I am confused.

Now I get that Hispanics can be black, white and brown. But so too are there Asian Hispanics. And if my wife is Hispanic thus checking that box under the ethnicity section for example, what is she supposed to check in the "race" section where there is nothing available for her that is a "Brown" category. She is not White nor Black nor any of the Asian categories. Which also means what are my kids supposed to mark on this form? I am truly not getting this.

Race is so untrue that even when they tried to fix these forms, they have only served to make them even more useless and confusing.

You Tell "Em Rachel!

You gotta love this from Rachel Maddow. If you haven't seen this, her rebuke of Pat Buchanan who made the statement that "white people built and made this country" you should watch it.

I love Rachel Maddow.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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.

A Very Special Day in Honor of a Very Special Couple

If you are Mixed or are in a Mixed, or I prefer to say, blended relationship, then you probably know about the Lovings. It is to the Lovings that we all owe a great debt because it was they who challenged our nation’s laws on what was referred to as miscegenation, or people marrying outside of their “race.”

The Lovings did not set out to change our country, or specifically 1958 Virginia since that is where their challenge began, but change the country they did when the case of the black woman and white man who simply wanted to have the right for their marriage to be legally recognized in their state, and everywhere, went to the Supreme Court and they won.

So out of that, to commemorate and celebrate what their love and efforts did for all inter-ethnic couples and their kids, a special day came to be recognized, at least by many Mixed people, and that day is Loving Day, which is appropriately titled as both the name of the couple and also of what they were simply trying to do. People all over America will be celebrating this special day in ways large and small, like my friend Zen, from the blog Zen’s Sekai I – by Land... who is having a special gathering of friends this weekend, most of whom are in Mixed relationships, at his home in The Bay Area. Many people don’t know about Loving Day, but we should all do our best to spread the word, so people of all kinds, not just Mixed people and couples, come to know what a special day this is and so no one forgets the special couple that made it all possible, by striking down laws that prevented interracial marriages.

So Happy Loving Day to you.

For more on The Lovings check out this site.

The Choice of Who We Love Is Not Based on Ethnicity

I saw the silliest thing on Facebook the other day. If you are into Facebook, then you know there are all these snapshot polls and personality quizzes people like to pass around. I think you can make up your own, which is kind of cool actually. But one the other day was likely a good intention gone bad.

The quiz was “Which ethnicity should you be dating?” Frankly I did not click on the link or participate in it so I don’t know where it goes or how it makes the conclusion. And at first blush it seems to me that the designer of the quiz probably meant well since even the notion that people should consider dating someone of a different ethnicity is a good one to put forth.

But my problem with the premise of the quiz is that it makes it seem like we should date someone based on their ethnicity – “what ethnicity should you be dating?” That flies in the face of what most of us who are in inter-ethnic relationships believe. We simply believe that we should be allowed to date anyone we choose regardless of their ethnicity, not because of it. Secondarily I don’t even want to know how they make the determination in this poll or quiz, because I am afraid it has to be based in part on stereotypes of the ethnic groups to make such a determination, since how can it take into account that people are individuals regardless of ethnicity.

Anything that makes it seem like we are choosing our partners for any other reason than love based on a personal connection is, in the long run, detrimental to getting us past an ethnic or race based way of seeing the world. The point is to love based on no boundaries, not because of distinctions.

Are Police Officers More Racist Than the General Population?

I read an article this week in the local paper here in Burbank about a major discrimination lawsuit against the Burbank Police Department being filed this week. The lawsuit is being brought by about five officers, three Hispanics, two males and one female, as well as an Armenian man and I believe one Black man. They allege that over the years they have been subject to numerous cases of ugly racial statements, discrimination, retaliation and general mistreatment. I don’t even want to repeat some of the stupid things that were supposedly said to them and that they had to listen to. Just suffice it to say that they were often the typical slurs and ethnic innuendos. If what they are saying is true, and frankly it is hard to imagine five people deciding to come forward with this kind of lawsuit if they weren’t sure of their case considering how hard it would be for them to keep their jobs otherwise, that I believe it must be true.

One of my initial thoughts upon reading this, is wow, can this be in my town, Burbank, in California? But it is a reminder that racism doesn’t stop at the borders of certain cities and towns. Look at the cops in New York City that viciously beat up that black man a few years ago, think about Rodney King and Mark Furman. So little Burbank is not immune and I should not be surprised.

My second thoughts were what is up with cops? Is there a certain breed of person that chooses to be a cop? Does it attract bullies and small minded people? I don’t think that is true overall, because I have met some really cool police officers and I do believe what these people do on a daily basis for all of us is indeed heroic and remarkable. But somehow these incidents happen, from one side of the country to the other and in police departments large and small. For the most part I’m going to stand by the belief that police departments only reflect the larger society. That a small percentage of them are racists, reflective of the society at large. But equally so, many are fine people.

But there is no getting around the fact that it is incredibly scary to think that in the case of a racist police officer, they are licensed to carry a gun and can legally mess with you whenever they feel like it. It is not harmless bigotry. So if the facts of this lawsuit are true, I hope the Burbank Police Department is made to pay a high price and as a result forced to make some serious adjustments to the force and in the mindset of its leadership and officers. Only then can all the people feel safe.

How To Decide If You're Black

An interesting article is highlighted in the sidebar to the right, which I am providing the link to right here. A very interesting, short read about how the writer is tired of people who wish Obama were identified as Mixed or "bi-racial" instead of black. He details in his piece the criteria he uses to determine if a person is black.

In a nutshell, though you should read the piece, he thinks if you are perceived as black then you are black. A very simplistic notion, but nevertheless, one that many people use.

Let me say again, as I have before on that argument, the only problem with that is that it would also mean it is o.k. to call yourself anything you want if you look a certain way, say Mariah Carey, can say she's white since she looks white for the most part. And that thinking is also problematic because it means others will decide for us who we are and why in the world would anybody give up that kind of power to strangers?

I don't get it. But read his piece here.

A Very Good Week So Far

This has been a great week for me as a writer. First I must say I am proud to announce that I was selected by Shirl Whitfield to receive the "Shades of Black and White Award," which was created in honor of her outstanding blog of the same name. It is given, I am told "to deserving bloggers who are comitted to bridge the gap of racism due to their passionate writing, their excellent communication skills, their courage to "put it out there" and because they truly care about the only race that matters, the human race."

I am deeply honored. One request for those who receive the award is to pass it on, so I will be doing that in the next week. I definitely know there are many deserving writers out there.

I also wanted to pass on that I made my debut today as a new featured writer for TheLoop21.com, an online community, a place for conversation, about the progress of people of color. I will be writing twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays, a blog called Hollywood and Vine:The Intersection of Entertainment and Black Culture. My first piece is called "Tyler Perry As The Chosen One." Check it out.

Thanks for reading this and caring about the issues of what most call "race."

A Real ‘Inter-Racial” Relationship

I went and saw the new Star Trek movie last weekend with the family. We all loved it. Even the kids who don’t really know Star Trek. My wife and I of course were raised watching Star Trek so it was wonderful to see this updated version of the story.

But the best part of the story was the new relationship that was portrayed of Uhura, played by the beautiful Zoe Saldana, and the young Spock, played by that guy from Heroes, whose name I cannot recall. The fact that this was a relationship that none of the original series ever hinted at, it was surprising and a bit of a stretch since die-hards know Spock as having absolutely no, or certainly very little emotion. So a love relationship seems not likely. But nonetheless it was a nice addition to the story. And the best part about it was that their affair certainly showcased a real “interracial” relationship for all to see and enjoy.

So I loved it and salute the film’s writers and makers for doing it and allowing a beautiful black female to get such an important romantic relationship on the silver screen. Though it just occurred to me that this is not Zoe Saldana’s first time playing a character involved in an interracial or inter-ethnic relationship. She also starred opposite Ashton Kutcher in the comedy remake a few years ago of “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?” So maybe she has an affinity for these relationships and situations. If so, good for her.

So if you haven’t seen it, you should. It is fun on many levels and this special relationship, which does not spoil any of the story with my telling you this since it is alluded to in the trailers and whatnot, makes it even more interesting. I think when we do think on a galactic scale, our petty cultural differences become really small.

Seal and Heidi Klum in Us Magazine

I haven't read the article yet myself, but apparently Heidi Klum talks a bit about her Mixed family in the latest issue of US Magazine. And she and her hubby, Seal, are on the cover of the issue. That's nice. I'm sure there are quite a few people not happy to see that cover staring at them in store checkout lines - the Supermodel and her black husband, superstar singer. I of course love that it is there for all to see and deal with. It is a new world people.

Standing Up To Your Own Family's Racism

If you don't already read the blog, "Shades of Black and White," I strongly encourage you to do so. The writer is really good and she is so honest and unflinching in what she shares. This particular posting, which I link below, is incredible. As you will see it is about what she has experienced and dealt with since her parents have shunned her and her family, including their own grandchild, because she dared to marry a black man.

I have recounted before here how my wife and I share a somewhat similar experience, though not quite as drastic. My wife grew up with a Mom who regularly used the "N word" and who made it clear that blacks were considered less than Mexicans (or Mexican-Americans), which she is. Somehow my wife was able to grow up with that and still find a way to fall in love with whomever she chose, which happened to be me, a black man. I totally tip my hat to her and anyone who can overcome that kind of upbringing to make this kind of choice. What strength.

I was a bit luckier. I grew up mostly around only blacks, but my family did not openly exhibit any racism. I don't recall ever hearing anything that was negatively directed at whites or others. And frankly, thinking back, now I think how strange and wonderful that was of my parents, particularly considering I grew up in a small town in Southeast Texas in the 60's and 70's. So I was very lucky. And to this day, no one in my family has ever said anything about my choice nor have they treated Dianna any differently than anyone else from what I can see.

Now I don't say this to say my family was better, only to make the point that I am really amazed at people like Shirl and my wife, Dianna, who can deal with what they did growing up and be so amazing as adults in going against their parents. I wonder if I could be so strong were I to have that kind of situation as a child. Most people simply accept and become their parents when they grow up. It is just the way the world is.

So kudos to these two particular women, and anybody else who stands up to their families and racism. I am in total awe and truly do thank you for having that kind of courage.

Here is the link to Shirl's posting.

An Apology For Being Racist

If you haven't read this article that I found on Yahoo you really should read it. It's the story of an old white gentleman who though he was notorious for hating blacks when he was younger, and even viciously beat a few in his life during the Civil Rights Movement, now is going about apologizing to everyone he can find who he wronged.

It is an interesting read and makes you think a lot about the root of hatred. One of the more interesting things I found in the piece though was the fact that even during the height of his hatred, he would bring his young wife to a "black speakeasy" to show off his dance moves to her. How odd. To hate blacks so much and yet have no problem going into a black club and dancing with them. O.k. that confuses me a bit. But I guess it is about the fact that as long as blacks are in their own place they are o.k. It is when they wanted to integrate that he had to beat them down.

As far as the apology to blacks, frankly I accept it. I understand it is sort of a death-bed apology but still the public nature of what he is doing can be a great lesson for a lot of people so I think it is a good thing.

Check out the article here.

A Lack Of Ethnic Concern

I was doing my thing at the mall last night here in Burbank while waiting for Dianna, sitting on a bench just watching the flow of people go by. People watching is one of my favorite things to do. People are so interesting - styles, sizes, personalities, etc.

As I remarked once before, I am just thrilled to see the cultural diversity that passes by here. I heard numerous languages as I sat there - Russian, Armenian, English, Spanish, and some I could not place. Reminded me that in my daughter's nearby elementary school, there are over 50 languages spoken in the homes of the students.

But again what I noticed equally was the absolute lack of any seeming concern about ethnic or racial differences. This is especially evident obviously in all the teens strolling through. Even when they were not hanging together, the groups seemed to flow as if all this diversity was normal, as it is to them I guess. How wonderful. And of course there were a few mixed teen couples thrown in. And again, no one seemed to care.

Thank God for this generation. I am not silly enough to think there is no racial or ethnic animosity among any of this younger generation. But I can tell they are mostly coming from a place that is eons beyond where most of us adults started from.

Did my heart good watching the scene.

Party Like It's 1979

Man, I've got to be better about writing regularly. My apologies to anyone who reads this on a regular basis. I have thoroughly chastised myself and will do better. I promise.

What sparked me to write on this day, though, is that in the last couple of weeks I have gotten notices that the 30 year reunion for my high school class in Southeast Texas is coming up this summer. (O.K. so I just dated myself badly. But oh well.) Anyway, the main reunion is this summer. Not sure if I will be going as frankly I'm not really into traveling halfway across the country to see some of these people who I have not talked to or seen in that long a time. My philosophy is that if we wanted to be in each others' lives we would probably have been in communication without such an event. There are a couple of friends from my graduating class I still stay in touch with, and we do so without a planned, once in a while, event.

But here is how this whole thing relates to "No More Race." There is a second 30 year reunion planned for the fall, this one for the "Ebony Class," i.e. the blacks who were in this particular class. A separate event altogether. Mind you, the Ebony Reunion does not mean that black alumni will not be going to the main event this summer. But I am sure Whites and others will not be invited to the Ebony Reunion. You have to understand, first that this kind of separateness happened way back when I was in school with these folks. I believe there were separate parties and graduation events back in 1979. And I do remember there being an Ebony Club. But frankly I am just amazed that here we are in 2009 and we're now talking about people who are in their mid-40's, and we're still talking about the idea of blacks organizing a separate event for blacks.

I remember that back then I was opposed to such separateness and didn't partake in any event that excluded any group. And obviously I haven't changed in that regard. I mean what would that mean for my family for example and my Mexican-American wife? Would she be welcome? I know people think differently in Texas than they do in some other places, but I am still amazed. And don't get me wrong, certainly there is a place for black organizations, say an NAACP or a 100 Black Men type group. I am not denouncing such things. But the difference is, those are organizations committed to social change and the betterment of a group of people. That is wholly different than saying we just want to be with people like us for our social event. Clearly in the case of the Ebony Reunion, it is based on a feeling that blacks need or want an event that excludes anyone but them, an event I guess where they can let their hair down without whites or others around.

Wow.

The more things change in some ways, the more they stay the same in others, and this is particularly true in certain places where 2009 is just like 1979.

A White Perspective On Racism In The Age of Obama

My friend over at the blog, Zen's Sekai I - By Land, sent me this article. It is very interesting and tackles head on the issue of racism, from the perspective of a white American. Here it is:

By the way, Andrew M. Manis, the author, is associate professor of history at Macon State College in Georgia and wrote this for an editorial in the Macon Telegraph.

Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?

For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are African Americans finally going to get over it? Now I want to ask: "When are we White Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?
Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes" should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in "Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."
Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.
We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years, conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment, perhaps. But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.
But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven what conservatives are always saying -- that in America anything is possible, EVEN electing a black man as president. But instead we now hear that school children from Maine to California are talking about wanting to "assassinate Obama."
Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?" How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us? How long until we white people can - once and for all - get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?
How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations?
I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?
How long before we starting "living out the true meaning" of our creeds, both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that "red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?
Until this past November 4, I didn't believe this country would ever elect an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long enough to see us white people get over our racism problem. But here's my three-point plan: First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House that Black Slaves Built, I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service) will protect him and his family from us white people.
Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying, in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President Obama. Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of our damnable color prejudice, "We HAVE overcome."
**************************************

It takes a Village to protect our President!!!

Not Half or a Part

This is a very interesting article and perspective from a woman who is part Japanese and part Afican-American. I like that she considers herself not half and half but all and all. I hadn't thought of it that way. Makes me rethink a bit. Check it out here.

Life's Lessons

Forgive me, but I’m going to go off topic for this entry. With my wife and I moving the family a couple of weeks ago to a new home, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the struggling and hard times so many of us have been and still are going through. Though we have made steps in some ways, like finding a wonderful house for us, we are by no means out of the woods when it comes to struggling to make things happen and to give the kids a sense of normalcy in a time when normal is not at all the norm.

Dianna and I often say we were in a recession before most people even knew there was a recession, or at least before the government would admit that we were in one. Needless to say it has been a long year or so of trying to maintain, and improve, our finances. Moving into a new house isn’t so much a fact of things getting better financially, as it is a fact of circumstances conspiring simply to make this choice the right one at this time. We have no illusion that we are better off, though others on the outside might think so. In fact we know that some would think that we are crazy to move up in house size and house payment at a time when the economy is so bad and money so hard to come by for us and so many people. And yet that is also a lesson of these times. Sometimes the right decision is not about money, but about options and opportunity. When you don’t have a lot of choices presented to you, sometimes you have to choose things you wouldn’t normally. And as I said before, these are not normal times.

And yet as I reflect on our situation, and hear so, so many stories from friends and others about how much financial, job, and family stress there is, I also think about the fact that no matter the situation, if we do not die from it, there is something to learn, to gain, to make us better. The only question is how am I better as a result of all this monetary craziness and struggling to make ends meet?

Part of me thinks that whole “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” stuff is just something made up by someone who was an overseer of men to make those who toiled for him feel better about putting up with his crap. But having been through many ups and downs in my life, I have come to realize that actually there is indeed truth in those words. Don’t get me wrong, I have had times when I was making money hand over fist and I have had times where I had no idea where the next dollar was coming from, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I prefer those times when money is easy. But I can also say that I have indeed learned a lot – about myself, my family, my friends, other people and life in general from these down times.

Here are some of the things I learned in no particular order:

-that laughter is free
-that being optimistic, though hard sometimes, makes a big difference
-that my wife is a real trooper and can hang in there no matter what
-that my kids are as happy and full with food off the $1 menu as they are at a
regular restaurant
-that meditation works
-that nature is beautiful and free and all around
-that there are some really really good people out there
-that there are some real sour pusses out there who will enjoy your down moments and
that you have to learn who they are so you can avoid them even in good times
-that my kids have “gotten it” when it comes to learning that the most important
thing is that we are all together
-that my parents were a lot smarter and resilient than I ever gave them credit for
as a kid
-that having lots of money doesn’t make you better than someone else
-that having little money doesn’t make you less than someone else
-and that where you live, and the size of the house, have absolutely nothing to do
with who you are

I could go on, but these are some of the most important. In the end, I have to be grateful for having the opportunity to be a better person. I have often said the best way or time to measure a person in terms of who they really are is how they behave and respond to things going poorly. Most everyone is good and decent when things are going the way they want. It is how you handle the bad that separates you. So I’ll say this about these times, we’re all getting a chance to see not only how we personally handle it, but how those around us do too.

I try to look at every day as a new opportunity to not only make things better financially for my family, but to also see if I can become better at being. The financial thing is not always easy and I some days, many days lately, don’t do so well on that one. But the second daily goal is always in my power and doesn’t cost me anything. And though I can’t say I get better every single day, I do make progress. And the irony is not doing so hot on the first goal is the perfect opportunity and tool for me to do better on the second.

In that sense I guess I should be thankful for these hard times. But believe me, that doesn’t stop me from wishing this particular opportunity would finally pass. Hey I can also learn a lot, I am sure, from being on the upside, you know, things like humility and what not. So I’ll definitely be glad when I get the opportunity to be a better well-off person. The proverbial valley we’ve been in may not be that deep compared to what some others are experiencing, but boy it sure is wide. Guess for now, I’ll just have to keep on keeping on.

Skin Color Is A Useless Way To Define Who We Are

Oh Man I want to see this movie. Check out the trailer below. The movie, called "Skin," is based on a true story about a white woman, in that she was born to two white parents in South Africa, though she had brown skin and African features. Here is what was written about the film on The Loop website:

It's an odd story really, a black girl born to white parents in apartheid South Africa in the 1950s. It may be odd, but it's the real life of Sandra Laing.

She was at the premiere of the film based on her life, Skin, at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles Wednesday night to prove it.

The film synopsis calls Sandra's brown skin and coarse hair texture "a genetic abnormality."

Well, that "genetic abnormality" is otherwise known as a throwback gene. Someone in the Laing clan was passing (for white) and those genes popped back up in Sandra.

The film drew parallels to America's own segregation history and how absolute the racial lines were. Just one little drop of black blood could dramatically alter the course of your life.

The apartheid was indeed more severe, and lasted a good 30 years beyond segregation laws in America. Still, Sandra Laing's experience was the same as countless other mulattos in America — eventually you have to choose a race. And choose she did.

Sandra Laing was beaten, ridiculed and then disowned by her parents after she became pregnant by a black man. After that, she didn't see her mother for 20 years and never saw her father again.

Interestingly enough, the film has sparked conversation and an opportunity to learn from South Africa's grim history. The film's director, Anthony Fabian, showed the film to the South African parliament, and they immediately requested another viewing and are making showing the film mandatory in all schools. (Read about how black history is taught in America.)

How wonderful that a country with such an extreme racial history is so willing to remember and learn from the mistakes of the past. Talk about a push toward post-racism.

Seems like the United States is behind. We're still debating whether we should continue Black History Month now that we have a black president and refusing to talk about our own racist past.

Go figure.

If ever there was an example of the stupidity of our racial classifications this story is it.

Congratulations Tiger and Elin

Congratulations to Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin on the birth of another child, a boy. The pic above is them with their first child and Tiger's mother. What a wonderful picture of the ideal of no more race.

What An Awesome Responsibility

I was just watching my kids, unbeknownst to them, the way parents do some times when we are amazed that we have brought these wonderful little people into the world, and was thinking, what will the world hold for them in the future?

Are we making the right choices on what we do with them, what we teach them?

Will they end up anything like we expect and hope them to be in terms of their morals and attitudes and behavior?

Thinking about it, you realize how little control over it you have as parents and yet how awesome the task is in trying to steer them to where we hope they end up. I can only hope that some of what we teach, both intentionally and unintentionally, since much of what they learn from us won't be things we thought we were teaching, gets through positively. And I certainly hope, and believe it will be the case, that their ethnic mix, will be something that gives them strength and a perspective that gives them a leg up on being the type of people that will do something, even in small ways, that make the world better than it was when they came into it.

Black Is The New Black

Boy it's something how things change, huh?

It seems that all of a sudden being Black is the new thing for 2009. With Barack Obama getting elected and living in the White House it seems like the Republicans have now decided that they had better get on board with the new "trend" and have selected their first ever African-American person to head the Republic Party, Michael Steele. I guess they figure the writings on the wall and they need to show that they are down with the times. And it looks like this year's winning Head Coach in the Super Bowl will also be a black man (not the first though since Tony Dungy already broke that barrier). So we black men had better recognize that this seems to be our year and get going before the clock runs out on us. We're the hot thing. Black is the new black. I even heard Larry King say that his young son told him one night recently that he wanted to Black, that he thought being Black was cool. Well there you go. We are the hot new toy.

I better get going while the goings good before the clock runs out.

We Are Not Post Racial Just Yet

I am cross posting this from my blog over at The Huffington Post (published on Jan. 20).

What a fantastic few days this has been. I am still on a natural high as John Denver would say. Now that President-Elect Obama has gloriously become President Obama we can finally turn our attention to the real work of getting this country back on track and into that famously promised "post racial America."

I, like most people, am realistic enough to know that President Obama cannot fix everything that is wrong with our economy and country. Sure there will be those who are looking for him to fail, waiting for those first missteps. But I think even they can't expect one man to fix in a few months or even a few years what has taken eight years to mess up. But I am indeed amazed at the number of people, in the media and that I know personally, who truly do expect America to be now and forever free of its ethnic, religious and racial differences. And this is not coming solely from White Americans who some might think are doing a bit of wishful thinking that minorities can now stop complaining about getting a fair shot. I have also come across some Black Americans who seem to believe that President Obama is going to make everything OK for everybody, or that all Black people's credit scores are now raised as one comedian joked... Doesn't Obama doesn't have enough on his shoulders?

But frankly I have to admit, I too used to think the success of one Black man (and I refer to him as Black since he himself chooses that descriptive) would mean that all Black people would rise with him, that when strangers looked at me from now on, they would think Obama and not Willie Horton or some other more recent negative association. I clearly remember the day after Obama's surprising win in the Iowa caucus, the win that caused most of us to believe that where we are today was possible, how when I was out in public I walked a bit taller, a bit prouder, feeling that everyone who saw me surely must be thinking positive thoughts about me and all Black people. After all, the Obamas proved that all of us were not bad, that some of us were even educated and people to be admired. But that feeling did not last long for me. As the campaign waged on and all the ugliness of the Jeremiah Wright affair, the rise of PUMA, the William Ayers mess, the Bill Clinton coded words after New Hampshire and in North Carolina, after all that, any notion that race was not going to play a factor in Obama's life, and mine as well, was washed away for the most part.

And still, like so many others, I couldn't help myself, there was still a bit of hope, of the belief that the oft-mentioned post-racial America Obama was supposed to usher in, was real. Is it real? Is it coming?

Well, I can definitely say that it is not here yet. But that doesn't mean that it's not on the way or that the inauguration of President Obama, and the multiracial coalition of people who helped him get to this day, are not signs that our nation is indeed moving on a path to that promised land. I do believe that we are undeniably closer to that ideal now than we have ever been in our country's history. And that is certainly worth celebrating.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Post racial we are not. Even President Obama has acknowledged that one man, one term of office, is not enough to change our history and the stain of race. The very fact that a whole new level of heated and passionate racial debate has arisen in the blogosphere related to whether Obama is America's first Black President or whether he is our first Mixed or Bi-Racial President is proof that race still matters to many people. To many the distinction is incredibly important, some believing the debate itself to be another example of those in the majority trying to take something away from Black people by denying that Obama is fully Black. But whatever one thinks about the debate, the fact that it is being waged is the key. And as I said before I have even encountered blacks who act like President Obama's swearing in and triumph means that they have the right to demand anything they want. I have seen examples of this on more than one occasion. The most recent involved a young Black man who was hawking his band's music CD to passersby on the street in downtown Burbank. When people, including me, wouldn't stop and heed his call to buy his CD, he actually invoked Obama to try to shame us into buying. He addressed me particularly, angrily actually, that times were different and Obama's election meant that I should feel obligated to support him as a sign of solidarity. The fact that he was being an ass or that I, and others passing, simply might not be interested in his music at that time weren't even considerations to him. All that mattered was his expectation that Obama's victory meant that we should all want to buy his album since he was, like Obama, Black.

It matters greatly that we now have, in The White House, a person and a family that has dark skin pigmentation, if only because it allow us to tell our kids that they too can be President some day and really mean it. We can now say America has indeed, at least in this case, in this ideal, lived up to its promise that anyone can ascend to the highest office. But incidents like the guy on the street and the recent police shootings of young black men in San Francisco, Houston and Philadelphia, are certainly proof that the mere existence of President Obama cannot lull us into believing that we have reached the pinnacle of racial progress in America. It is true that the only time we will surely know we have become post racial is when the election of a Black person, a Hispanic person, a Muslim, or a woman, is not really newsworthy by itself. Oh, do I look forward to that time.

But for now I am, like most of you, thrilled that we have at least gotten to where we are today, able to witness what we saw on Inauguration Day. We may not be post racial yet and Obama hasn't solved our economic crisis in his first days in office, but what we are witnessing every time we see him and Michelle and those darling girls actually living in The White House is a seismic shift that, at the very least, lets us know if we continue to work at it (and we all have to do our part as Obama said) that the America we want, that post racial America, will get here, and maybe even sooner than we expect.

"The View" Debates Mixed "Race"

I never really watch "The View" but every once in a while they do have interviews that are newsworthy and that get my attention. Conservative columnist and author Ann Coulter was on this week promoting her new book. While much of the post show media attention has relelated to Coulter's argument that single mothers are to blame for most of society's ills (certainly a ridiculous assertion), the part that peaked my interest the most was the discussion around Coulter's segment of her book where she apparently takes some prominent Mixed people - President-Elect Obama, Halle Berry, and Alicia Keyes - to task for what she says is their convenient labeling of themselves as Black because it benefited them, even, as she put it, while ignoring their white mothers, who in each of their cases, raised them when their Black fathers were not around. Needless to say it is an interesting argument.

Equally interesting was the lead in to the Coulter segment when the hosts of "The View", mainly Whoopie Goldberg, Barbara Walters, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck, gave their own opinions as to why these prominent individuals and other Mixed people rightfully chose to call themselves Black, mainly because, as Whoopie put it, the world will view them as such, so that is what they are.

Now while I am not a fan of Coulter, as I think her opinion on this is based simply on arguing against anything and anybody liberal or minority, I do have to say that I also don't completely agree with the women on "The View."

I do believe Mixed people have a right to make their own determination about which part of their identity they most identify with and feel comfortable claiming, but I also think the opinion of "the world" has nothing to do with it. The minute we give in to the idea that "the world" is the decision maker on who and what we are, is the time we might as well accept all kinds of silly and often racist notions. And I do think there is something a bit wrong in walking around calling oneself as simply one thing, Black, all the while standing next to mothers, in these cases white mothers or grandmothers, especially if that mother raised you in a "white environment." Don't get me wrong, I do get the point made on "The View" that if Obama or Berry or Keyes stood up and said "I'm White" they would be laughed off the stage because they certainly don't look the part.

But therein lies the rub. Halle Berry, Alicia Keyes. Barack Obama, and many others, have as much right to call themselves White as they do Black. It would be equally true. Or equally wrong. Regardless of what they look like. And what of all the other mixtures - Asian and White, Hispanic and Black, Indian and White? And all the others? Are they all supposed to wait for society to tell them what they are allowed to call themselves? Regardless of reality or how they feel or how they were raised?

As for Ann Coulter's view, I think she got one key part wrong. I don't think our society ever makes it "convenient" or "advantageous" as she insinuates, to identify as Black. I'm not sure which world she lives in on that one. Our society, and world, doesn't give out too many bonuses for dark pigmentation, at least not compared to the ways we have been, and in some ways continue to be, penalized for it. So the fact that the three people she mentioned chose to call themselves Black may have a lot to do with the one drop rule being all powerful in most people's eyes, but it certainly wasn't a choice made of political or career expediency.

Well, I've been saying this issue was going to get a lot more attention thanks to Obama's rise, and this brouhaha is just the beginning. As I've said before, I welcome the debate. It can only help us move forward. Below are two key segments of the show. If you haven't seen it, check 'em out. Very entertaining, and a precursor of more to come I'm sure.

The "N Word" Resurfaces

You know how you can be doing and feeling so good some times and then one seemingly little thing can bring you down?

I had one of those incidents not long ago. My wife and I were walking back from somewhere to our condo, down a fairly busy street in downtown Burbank. It was, as usual, a beautiful day in Southern California and my wife and I were enjoying the weather, our conversation and life in general.

As we neared one local movie rental shop, an older homeless woman, I think she is Anglo-American, a regular in this area and probably the only homeless person we ever see around Burbank, was camped out at a bus stop in front of the store. We didn't think anything about her as we'd seen her before and though we knew her to be a bit grumpy, we knew she was harmless. So we kept on talking and walking on our path that would take us past her seat at the corner stop. To our complete surprise, she looked up as we were about to pass her and proceeded to yell quite loudly, "GET OUT OF HERE NIGGER! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Now imagine our shock. I hadn't personally heard anyone call me that directly since I was in junior high in Texas during some racial strife at our school. The last thing I expected was to hear it on a street in Southern California, and from a homeless woman no less. It's something when even a homeless person thinks they are better than any black person. You just have to shake your head sometimes. And the funny thing is Dianna thought the woman was talking to her, and Dianna is Mexican-American. So I'm still trying to convince Dianna the words were not meant for her.

Needless to say, Dianna and I kept on walking and didn't stop to say anything to the woman. What would be the point? She is clearly a bit not right in the head and there would be nothng to gain. But I have to admit, hearing those words definitely shook us up a bit and its hard to get them out of your head. Dianna and I soon went back to our conversation but of course the incident has remained with us. In some ways, I think it was more upsetting to my wife than to me. I'm not sure Dianna has ever really heard the word used so forcefully and so negatively, and targeted so directly.

The old woman is still on the street and we have walked past her since, though we take a wide berth and avoid going directly in front of her if we can. Some might argue why let her get away with that, even causing us to alter our path in anyway. But I think this is one of those sitations where there is nothing to gain in dealing with a possibly mentally ill person. Were it a different individual and a different situation, no doubt we would take a different action.

But you know since that happened, I do ask myself, how whould I have responded if my kids had been present when the lady said something like that? In that case, I think I would have had no choice but to confront the lady directly, or a least say something back to her, not name calling of course, but some comment to let her know her words were stupid and uncalled for. And of course I would have had to have a conversation with the kids about her words and action. But since it was just me and Dianna...

But it does make me think that though we have warned our kids about the existence of stupid people out there, knowing that sooner or later, they will definitely hear something ignorant said about and to them, can it ever be enough to prepare you. Like I said, Dianna and I are older and wiser and we were still literally shocked to hear those words directed at us/me.

Oh well, I take the incident as a reminder that we have to stay aware that ignorance is still alive and well and that it exists everywhere. But it is still so disturbing to have something like that happen to you.

The Beauty of So Many Cultures

I was doing some people watching the other day at the mall here in Burbank and once again was struck by the wonderful mixture of cultures that we have here. It reminds me that we made the right choice of where to raise our children. And yet I still wonder if in a way they are getting a warped sense of what the rest of the country and world is like when it comes to the mixing of cultures in one area. Will they have a hard time if they decide at some point to move to an area or city that is more dominated by one culture? Will they then have a rude awakening?

Ultimately, I know I can't worry about all that. All we can do as parents, no matter where we live, is try to give our kids a strong sense of who they are, and a pride in their cultures. And at the same time I hope we are giving them a strong sense of appreciation for all the other cultures that exist around them. In that way, I hope they will always choose to live in an area with this kind of mixture because they too will come to love seeing so many people of so many hues and languages and experiences. Multiculturalism is such a beautiful thing.