A black guy in his mid-20's named Mike called into a radio show the other day, and he commented that "black people don't hear things the same way whites do." We blacks apparently "hear black."
So blacks don't hear the statement "Take me back to the good ol' days" the same way as whites. Blacks are not nostalgic at all about "the good ol' days", and believe this to be "code" for taking blacks back to the bondage of slavery.
To illustrate his point, Mike said that when he was in the second-grade, he and his classmates had listened to Reagan one evening, and Reagan commented that America should go back to its "glorious past." The next day at school all the black kids were crying, and asked their teacher, "Is Reagan was going to make black people slaves again?" Neither Mike nor his classmates had ever experienced slavery, so he seemed to go a long way back to consider the good ol' days. And why blame Reagan?
My upbringing was different. I never had learned to "hear black." So when I hear of going back to the good ol' days, I think of being a carefree kid and having the loving support of my family. I would get out of school, take the bus home (about 15 miles), where my grandfather was usually waiting to take me and my brother fishing. Read more here...
7 comments:
Kevin, I just received your book a few days ago, and I'm up to about page 50.
Pretty interesting so far, and I'm looking forward to finishing it. I even put aside Mark Levine's book to read yours!
Good job, I hope it sells well.
Jim
Very well said. Why is it we spend so much time focused on our differences and not on what we have in common? Our childhoods ran in parallel lines: carefree, strong families, and now another family has broken down.
@Rev - I agree. Bring back those days for me!
@DrJim - Smart man for pre-empting Levin! Just kidding! But thanks!
@Read - Ain't that the truth. What amazes me when people write to me is how different we are, yet how much they relate to me.
Recently discovered your site. You have class and are down to earth. Yep, i miss the good ol' days on bicycles, dodge ball, and skating. Oh yea, and not worrying about my future. Obama scares the dickens out of me, i worry now. I will be glad when they reveal his secrets, and throw him out of office.
@onceokie - Thanks for the comment. I hope you check out my book on Amazon, as it is much the same as the blog, just with a bit more satire and humor! http://www.amazon.com/BIG-Black-Lie-Learned-Democrat/dp/061530222X
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