Sometimes the truth is right in front of us. As the Nov. 3rd election approaches, Americans are once again searching for answers to the age-old question of race and racial division. Is it really as bad as the media leads us believe? Are the flames being fanned for a political agenda, overlooking individuals and their daily interactions with each other?
As our politics have fractured increasingly around race, there seems to be increased confusion about who’s discriminating against whom. A national survey reported that both blacks and whites believed that discrimination against blacks had declined over the past few decades, but whites believed that discrimination against whites was now more common than discrimination against blacks. Really?
For those of us Lampooners, some of us being the first to be integrated into the schools, we are reminded how stupid people were back then, and how we seem to be going backward now.
I remember our parents worrying about race riots in schools once we are thrown together. But we were like, “You know Mom, Frankie, and Slop, and Cocky live right behind us…we play football together every day.” Which was true. Frankie was our fullback, and I was a halfback on our Pee Wee football team….Frankie was first base, and I was the second baseman. We grew up together and eventually graduated high school together.
Maybe it was growing up in the 70s, knee deep in Viet Nam blood and social strife, and inheriting a terrible economy, but we developed a ‘don’t give a f*ck attitude’, and then Punk came along, articulating a one team, one fight based on the individual, not skin color–it was inherently anti-racist.
The hard part of trying to handle all the critical race theories, is that they don’t seem rooted in reality. It seems when different races get together at work, at games, or even church and picnics, we all get along. In many cases, we are best friends, even lovers, and married couples with families. At a base level, the connections we form are always deeper than race, at least, that has been my experience.
Of course, there are racists. Every race has its racist elements. But that’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. There is still more love than hate.
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