Racism Is Like Ketchup. It Can Be Put On Anything.

It might be unwise to try to tackle racism in just my second entry. But here goes.

I do enjoy discussing issues like racism. Because they matter. We could talk about pretentious pop star who just did something ridiculous, or news pundit/politician who said something moronic or sports star who did something fantastic with his or her ball of choice and how the public’s reaction is … something. And I’m sure we’ll get to those types of issues. But Racism is on my mind for something that happened to me this week.

I’m involved with a group that works to promote a genre of music that is traditionally dominated by black artists. Now the people who attend the functions of this group are mostly from a certain era, the 1950s. And times were different for them. Certain words and actions were acceptable then that are not so much now. But, I want to say this up front: everyone I’ve met thru* this organization genuinely loves the music, the people and the culture that surrounds it. And I haven’t’ witnessed any overt racism in this mixed group of people.

However, at the last function a certain individual and I were talking about the previous event. I should say at this point I’m purposely trying to hide the identities of those involved because I’d hate to libel them. Again, everyone I’ve met here has been a wonderful person. But this individual and I were discussing the performer at a previous event. I marveled at the fact that the performer was about to turn 86 years-old. I said to my conversation partner that he looked no older that 60. And performed with a vitality of someone still in his 30s, if not younger. The man I was speaking with responded, “Well, black people age so well.”

Maybe your gut reaction was the same as mine when I heard the words come from his mouth. But I’ll reserve my thoughts for one more paragraph while I tell you what happened just after the show.

The same man was on stage with the performers from that evening’s function, most of whom were black. They were having a group picture taken. Afterward the man says …
Sorry, it just occurred to me that it will be much easier to speak about this man if we give him a nickname or pseudonym. Let’s see … How about Mike, Mike Check? That seems appropriate. … Oh wait! I just re-read this. No, this italicized part is me “saying” this as I’m typing right now. He didn’t say… hold on it’s about to be clear.

After the group photo, Mike says (see I told you it would get cleared up) he says, “I’ve got a joke for you.” Now I’m going to type the joke here. Not because I found it particularly funny or witty. But for two reasons. 1. We need to know exactly what we’re talking about and B. If you want to confront things that are offensive you can’t box them up and say, “no, no, this is too offensive, we have to talk around it.” Which is why I hate the phrase, “the N-word.” I digress. Mike’s joke wasn’t terribly offensive, just insensitive. Here it is:

How many cops does it take to change a light bulb? None. They just beat the room for being black.

Okay. I just realized I left out an important detail, one you probably assumed. And what does that say about you and me that this detail was omitted but assumed? Mike is a white guy.

The reaction to Mike’s joke was mixed. I didn’t speak to anyone about it after and I can’t speak to anyone’s actual feelings, I can only tell you what I read on people’s faces. It seemed to me that the older people on stage, (and I’m speaking about the black people on stage. I don’t care fuck-all what the white people thought of it.) seemed to politely laugh and swallow the hurt it may have stirred up. The younger people just turned and left, a gesture that neither condones the joke nor confronts Mike about it.

I want to point out Mike has had a long career in the music industry working with black musicians of several “black” genres. He has toured with them, played their music as a DJ, promoted their music, etc. I do not think he is a racist. I think nothing could be further from the truth. If anything he probably feels like a stranger in a foreign land. He is the outcast. At least that’s how I felt for the two years I lived in Japan. I had the weird bulbous face with the round eyes. Everyone else was normal.

Before we get too far into discussing Mike motives and attempt to try him in the court of public opinion, especially since he doesn’t even know I’m writing this. Let’s take a GIANT step back and take a look at exactly what he said and what it means to be racist.

Did Mike, in fact, say or do anything racist? He stated that black people age better than other races. And his joke was condemning the police more than anything. But it was a white man telling a joke that involved black people. Now, to me, someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, I’ve been trained to be much more sensitive to what I say regarding race. Whether his statements have any truth to them or not, I’m sure he meant the first as a compliment. Yes. He generalized a group of people based on their similar skin color. But don’t we all speak in generalities? Lying is bad. What if I have to lie to keep a surprise party a secret? I’m sure there are plenty of examples where a general statement is almost always true, but not always. For some reason when we are discussing race we can’t speak in generalities. It’s immediately labeled racism.

But are all general statements about race racism? I think they are not. I think there are comments that are racIST and some that are racIAL.

For me, while lumping a group of people together and saying *this * is generally true about this group is short-sighted and sometimes even dead wrong, unless it comes from a place of hate, it shouldn’t be stigmatized. It is only a racial comment. And even if it is truly racist, that is, it comes from a place of hate, we shouldn’t write off the racist as sub-human. I’ll address my thoughts on dealing with true racism in a later post.

But in the end, what do I know. I’m a white man. I grew up in a all-white, racist part of the country. I’ve seen true racism up close and personal. Maybe because this is a milder form of racism I’m not as offended by it. Maybe because the racism isn’t directed at me I’m not as sensitive to it. So I open it up to the readers. Was Mike being a racist? And is he deserving of our scorn because of his statements?

I have to ask you to trust my judgment. I believe the man is truly a good person. He genuinely loves the music and people of this community. He does not see himself as superior in any way regarding his lack of pigment. But, is he and his generation not sensitive enough, or is my generation too sensitive?

*I purposely misspell “through” as “thru” when I’m writing casually. I can be a bit of a grammar nazi but I believe language evolves. And so long as it is doing its primary function of transmitting thoughts between two people it may change to fit the needs of those who use it. While I will jump on correcting someone for using “your” when they meant “you’re” I purposely misspell thru and tho’ (though). Those words have unnecessary letters and their spelling should be revised to meet our current needs. We did it with “to-day”, “chuse”, and “armie.” I will stop here in my explanation. And perhaps I’ll revisit my thoughts on the English language in another entry.