Thursday, March 28, 2024

Racism and our over-sensitive society

Posted

Our current over the top sensitive society is harming the brotherhood of man instead of embracing it. When people grow up in a multicultural neighborhood they become friends with all people, regardless of skin color, religious beliefs or ethnicity. When people grow up in a place without diversity, fear of others not like yourself is common.

When I worked for the postal service in the 90s, in a mega-processing center the size of a Walmart, in Sarasota, Florida, with 500 employees, I was best friends with two huge Black guys.

I used to stand between them and then joke I was “the crème in the middle of an Oreo cookie” and we would all laugh hysterically.  Yes, they had their “cracker” jokes too and I laughed heartedly at them.

I once took a History of Florida course when I was attending the University of South Florida. The professor told us how the term “cracker” came to be. It was the cracking sound made by the Florida cowboys with their whips as they herded cattle around. Little known fact that Florida was at one time the state with the most cattle next to Texas. Right now, there are more than 886,000 head of cattle and 15,000 beef producers throughout Florida. Currently, Florida ranks 13th in overall cattle numbers nationwide.

So, cracker has become nationwide for a way to racially insult White folks. Maybe most of us think of the white saltine cracker and so the color (or lack of it) matches better than picturing a bunch of Angus (Red or Black) hangin’ at the local feed lot.

What do we do now, change everything?  Is it no longer Chinese Checkers or should it be Eastern Asian game with marbles?

Is it “Indian Giver” or Native American who regifts what was given and taken back? Do we “Jew” a price down or is it that we are merely negotiating a sales price in a Middle Eastern fashion?

People think I’m a Jew because of my New York accent, big nose and last name – the same last name as the former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Begin was a member of the Polish underground during World War Two fighting Nazis before he immigrated to Israel. At that time, Israel didn’t exist and was known as British Palestine. He was once on the British 10 Most Wanted list after he helped bomb the King David Hotel as an Israeli freedom fighter. Seems to be a theme in his life. Oy Vey!

Back to me, I’m French-Canadian by birth, New Yorker by adoption, certifiable by genetics and always guilty of something since I’m a lapsed Roman Catholic, just ask any nun.

When we feel we are on the receiving end of a bad deal are we being “Gypped?”

The word gyp is short for Gypsy, an insensitive label that has been used as a disparaging slur for the traditionally nomadic group whose preferred name is Roma. Gyp, meaning “to swindle” is also insulting to the Roma, since it stereotypes them as cheats and frauds. Unfortunately, many people, unfamiliar with the term, are still using it, even among speakers trying to avoid using offensive language.

Is an Oreo cookie inherently racist? I say just add rainbow sprinkles and voila! An inclusive treat that can’t be beat. And … it doesn’t necessarily have to be dunked into white milk either. Try it in chocolate milk.  With the rainbows, it will also be acceptable to the Gay community, or should I say the LGBTQ+ community? Must alphabet soup named organizations declare sexual preference anyway? TMI, TMI.

When something is stolen, is it a five-finger discount? Maybe criminals are offended by that term? Let’s just call it theft and leave the anatomy out of it. Can’t be racist if you don’t talk finger colors, eh?

On a personal note, I have more coats than most everyone in the Sahara Desert combined. Does that make me; A) Wealthy, B) Immodest, C) A hoarder, or D) Captain Obvious in overdrive?

It is all of the above, plus one can say I’m as dumb as a bag of rocks. This type of comparison is non-sequitur. Unlike my column title, it is not “Apples to Apples.”

Coats in the desert, a porcupine at a balloon factory, no, no, no.

The balloons aren’t blown up at the factory. Coats as in the Western sense, are not used in the desert. The natives use various head coverings and military veterans have names for these fashion accoutrements of the Bedouin, but I can’t use it here as I don’t want to offend any “camel jockeys” out there.

BTW, if you are the type of woman who thinks a certain man is stalking you just because you have seen him about town more than once, get over yourself. Maybe you are a walking, talking Freudian slip-speaking, self-deluded, monochromatically-living, shallow as a guttersnipe, who just enjoys thinking others actually include you in their daily thoughts enough to be stalking you?

If that is the case, it is time to reinvent your karmic Chi.

I recommend drinking and drugs. In America, thank God, this could mean aspirin and water or other combinations. It is a free country – and just remember to genuflect every time you encounter a woman, even if you are one yourself. After all, it is Women’s History Month.

Signing off as just another old White guy who never qualified for the Affirmative Action Program, so I just keep on keepin’ on.  The bottom line is simple – many of us take ourselves too seriously. As the saying goes, we are all brothers and sisters under the skin. Indeed, we all bleed red blood and not a single one of Earth’s 7+ billion people can help when or where they were born or into what religion or culture.

Do the world of statistics and deceptive racial practices a favor, next time you are asked your race, put in the “other” column, 400-yard low hurdles.

Gary Bégin, self-identifies as a “self-indulgent dwarf-pig”, which means he is a little man with a big lust for life, i.e., a man without a category, but breathing the same air as the master race nonetheless. To put your comment on the record for future NCW Media publications, email: Gary@ncwmedia.net.
 

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here