February 01, 2007
Thursday PM

So college kids, mostly fraternity "brothers" dressed up in baggy pants, drank malt liquor, carried toy guns and generally made fun of the hip hop gansta' life style and are now being called "RACIST"? Come on! First of all 99.9% of African Americans are not "gangstas" they are mostly middle class working people like the rest of us but they themselves celebrate the urban hip hoppers and yes, gangstas' through the ubiquitous music, rap songs and dancing we all see and especially the college kids see and hear on MTV, on the radio and in movies. Why is this different than all of us Anglo folks drinking Margaritas, swatting pinata and having fun on Cinco de Mayo? Certainly this is not any worse than the St Patrick Day's shenanigans which include drinking green beer, an obvious reference to the Irish supposed group vice of a little too much tippling? Right?

African Americans have accomplished an incredible amount of progress in the past few decades. I am not ancient, not all that ancient anyway but I remember when there were virtually no Black football players, then no Black quarterbacks but now most of the teams vying for football championships seem to have Black head coaches and many have Black quarterbacks too. We see so many African American doctors and lawyers and CEOs and leaders in all fields including possible presidential candidates that it often seems that race has become inconsequential .... Until some ultra sensitive people and the media begin convulsing about a college kids' spoof of popular culture reminding us that African Americans are supposed to act like they were still being materialized somehow.

I think everybody should just relax about all this. St Patrick's Day is coming next month. Have a drink and CHILL!

Mark Neckameyer
Irvine, CA


Received February 01, 2007 - Published February 01, 2006

 

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