I would like to hear some comments on the remarks of Mark Cuban. Please refrain from expressing your personal feelings about him. It is not about him. It is about the need for people to be able to express the common sense that none of us (especially the journalists who write about it like they are) are pure from phobias, biases, and other eccentricities based on our upbringing or education or anything else.
To illustrate my feelings on race, let me tell a story about my family. In the 50's in Illinois, the state Basketball championship had never been won by an all black school. One such school, Chicago Dusable, (sp) had a team with 3 future collegians and globetrotters on it that was very special and caught the attention of the state. My brother was privileged to attend the State Tourney that year. His seat was right dab smack in the middle of the Dusable fans. He came home frustrated with their rowdy behavior, bad smell, etc. All his complaints would fill the answer to nearly any test of racism. To this day, my brother has never treated another human being poorly, black, white, yellow, etc. He is not a racist and really never was one. Why? Let me relate another story and then answer that.
My Father often used the N word to describe blacks as I grew up in the '40's and 50's and yet when I explained the difference in the only black man in town and us to my sister when we were 5 and 6 years old, my father kicked me in the rear end and lift me off the ground when he heard me use the N word to describe one Harry Smith, a friend of his. Why?
As I then grew into teen age years and adult hood, I began to meet and become acquainted with black people as I moved to urban areas instead of the cornfields of home. I soon learned why my brother spoke racist words about blacks in general that he did not know and why my Father used the N word about the general race but not about his friend Harry Smith.
The answer is my brother, Father and I have all come to actually know the black people we have met in life and soon realized they have the same hearts and minds we do. There are good black people and bad black people and the same is true of whites and all other races. We only learn that when we take the time to know people and soon we begin to judge people by what they do and not by some slip of the tongue that has history still lingering on it.
I could go on and on about this subject, but let me hear your thoughts. I thought Cuban, who is so well known might be able to open a door of discussion that would be civil and productive.
To illustrate my feelings on race, let me tell a story about my family. In the 50's in Illinois, the state Basketball championship had never been won by an all black school. One such school, Chicago Dusable, (sp) had a team with 3 future collegians and globetrotters on it that was very special and caught the attention of the state. My brother was privileged to attend the State Tourney that year. His seat was right dab smack in the middle of the Dusable fans. He came home frustrated with their rowdy behavior, bad smell, etc. All his complaints would fill the answer to nearly any test of racism. To this day, my brother has never treated another human being poorly, black, white, yellow, etc. He is not a racist and really never was one. Why? Let me relate another story and then answer that.
My Father often used the N word to describe blacks as I grew up in the '40's and 50's and yet when I explained the difference in the only black man in town and us to my sister when we were 5 and 6 years old, my father kicked me in the rear end and lift me off the ground when he heard me use the N word to describe one Harry Smith, a friend of his. Why?
As I then grew into teen age years and adult hood, I began to meet and become acquainted with black people as I moved to urban areas instead of the cornfields of home. I soon learned why my brother spoke racist words about blacks in general that he did not know and why my Father used the N word about the general race but not about his friend Harry Smith.
The answer is my brother, Father and I have all come to actually know the black people we have met in life and soon realized they have the same hearts and minds we do. There are good black people and bad black people and the same is true of whites and all other races. We only learn that when we take the time to know people and soon we begin to judge people by what they do and not by some slip of the tongue that has history still lingering on it.
I could go on and on about this subject, but let me hear your thoughts. I thought Cuban, who is so well known might be able to open a door of discussion that would be civil and productive.
