A really good round of Golf

Some days just feel bad. You're tired, sore, probably overworked. You just want to sit home and relax.

But you promised you'd play golf. A charity event no less. So you have to go. Even though you have no clubs and need to borrow your brothers clubs.

Sore wrist = $65 doctor visit
day off of work = up to $500 from paycheck
playing a 150 yard tee shot with your brother's 9-iron =



For thos wondering, Mark Eaton is a retired basketball player, formerly with the Utah Jazz. He stands 7'4" tall, and the big guy in the photo with the check. He created the Mark Eaton Standing Tall for Youth organization, which provided sports activities for at-risk kids in Utah.

Racism in America

Recently some of my readers may have noticed a bit of a back and forth I had with Christy in Utah. Christy is a racist, which it only took 3 back and forth comments for her to admit. Christy initially responded to my post The most dangerous people in America - 11.4.2007.1, seen at Black & White Blog – where I am a co-author.

You can read the commentary there or look at my post Reader comment: Christy in Utah to see what was said.

I want to point out Christy for a reason. It’s not to embarrass her, or to point out her lack of reading skills, illogical thought, repressed thought processes, or her complete lack of knowledge on history and historical fact. At the same time my comments are not to claim that all Whites are equivalent to the pitiful life that Christy lives. But there are bigger issues to be seen.

Christy, and those like her, live in a small world. They avoid fact or events present around them. They feed off of negative stereotypes kept alive by the news and major media. They cling to half-truths and misconceived ideas like manna from heaven. Their insistence on anyone not like them being inferior and subordinated is cult-like.

I have read how many believe that racism does not exist anymore in America or the world. I recall how Nick, the son in Ice Cube’s groundbreaking television show Black.White., states that racism is a problem of the past – something he believes wholeheartedly. I can remember too many discussions with 20-somethings across America that share his view, and believe that the use of 1 hateful word can be changed because they have no understanding of the actual meaning of the word.

But the comments of the bile spewing Christy prove my case more than anything I can say. It is people like her who will not see the lack of existence of people of color on television programs, in movies. It is these people that strive to create problems or allow other problems to fester.

Christy believes that what one group of Americans does have no effect on her. Imagine that. Imagine if the 60% of the military that is non-White just stopped protecting the nation. Imagine if AIDS was never investigated because some thought it only killed gays or the non-religious. Imagine if the over 1/3 of the nation that is non-White just stopped working or buying goods – as racists like to believe. The effect on Christy, other racists, and every single person in America would be enough to destroy this nation in days.

Christy has issues, and I’m sure she would be loved by the KKK – except that she is Jewish and they believe her to be as vile and non-White as she believes Blacks to be. But what can be done about such stupidity? What can we do to help backwards individuals that think in the 17th Century but live in the 21st?

I touch on difficult topics in my blogs and posts. I address the realities in America that the media and daily social interaction try to shield some Americans from. Sometimes that means placing the sordid past of America in front of my readers so that we can see that the old wounds have never healed. Sometimes it means I take to task the Black community for glorifying base behavior. And more often it means that I will highlight the venom in the actions and inactions of the media, whether that is in movies, video games, music videos, books, television shows, the news, the internet and/or other blogs and blog posts.

Why am I mentioning this? Because I made a mistake. I allowed myself to succumb to the pestilence that Christy represents and delve into the slime she habitats. It’s one thing to correctly put a stupid petulant racist in their place, providing them knowledge and facts that they must either deal with or consciously avoid. It is another to devolve that conversation into a personal commentary that is anything but the purpose of this blog.

You my readers are accustomed to better. I strive to provide better, even in the face of racists – Black, White, American, international, religious or whatever.

I am not ashamed or repentant of what I said about Christy and any racist like her. I stand by my words and their meanings, even if those kinds of minds are incapable of comprehending them. But I’m not here to commit flame wars.

And there is a lesson to he had in all of this. Read the comments I wrote and the response by Christy. Note the lack of comprehension, the refusal to understand fact (actually the direct statement by Christy that she throws out facts that dispute her thoughts). See the real enemy of America, racism in its less obvious face. Because it is this kind of undercurrent of thought that permeates our society and poisons our future.

Christy is weak, like most racists. They hide themselves in shadows and corners, only brave in large numbers or when they are protected by the ambiguity of the internet. They cannot fathom a world shared with anyone but themselves and those that look like themselves. They are cowards, afraid of the world filled with people that aren’t like them at all.

Racists are not that far from radical fanatics. They too live in a world they cannot fathom. They to would destroy anything not akin to their beliefs. They too poison the very ground they stand on.

So if my comments and posts dealing with Christy say anything I hope it points out that. Racism, and all forms of irrational hate, not only exists in America it festers. It has not died but waits for a time when we are distracted, seeking to attack us like vultures and carrion feeders. Like a parasitic mold they hold onto society, weakening it, decaying its life essence.

Knowledge and patience are the keys to defeating such stupidity and fanaticism. Great men like Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi had both. I am merely a man and my reserves of both are far more limited. But I can hope that my blogs and posts can help. That is the intent.

But I want to ask you my readers, what do you think? What is the best way to deal with a racist and/or fanatic? What words would you choose what course of action? And how might we Americans use moments like this to unify in greatness, rather than the scum that is the breathe of Christy and her ilk?

Reader comment: Christy in Utah

I had to stop and catch my breath after reading the comment made by Christy about my post The most dangerous people in America - 11.4.2007.1 (and part 2 - 4.9.2008.1). By this point I would have thought that I was used to these kinds of comments, but sometimes I’m still taken for a loss.

The full comment can be seen at Black & White Blog, where I an a co-author. I am reproducing it here verbatim.

Christy

Perhaps Mike the reason why you always hear of black youth being killed by the police is because they are the violent ones. I live in Utah, which is predominatly white. They dont go around and shoot at eachother, or attack eachother. Yes, they act like boys and yell and tease people. That is hardly killing people or carrying guns.

I think you are in a bit of denial there Mike. Use the recent floods as an example. People are pulling together and working their own way out. They help thier neighbors and help themselves.\\

Then look at New Orleans, when there was flooding they all fell apart, started to rape eachother and shoot eachother. They were shooting at the helicopters trying to help them for hell sake.

It is the mentality that is the problem here. Whites for the most part have the opinion that we need to take care of ourselves and take responsiblity. Blacks, however are of the opinion that they are somehow owed something, and cant pull thier heads out of thier butts long enough to figure out how to take care of themselves.

That is what makes blacks more dangerous then whites. Their inablity to take any kind of responsiblity.

The amount of ignorance being spewed in these few words is enormous. I can say that the friends I have in Salt Lake City, and my experiences in Utah have never reflected the thoughts of Christy. But it reminds me that when any group of people in America is isolated from everyone else ignorance and blatant stupidity is rampant – like Eugene Oregon.

First of all Christy, you ignored all the facts I provided in the post and follow-up comments. Either that is because you chose to ignore factual data provided by the Government, or you could not allow yourself to understand the data’s meaning as it would invalidate your views.

And what views they are. Talk about simplistic racist denial. I am aware that New Orleans had issues after Hurricane Katrina. That is after the flood was over and the streets continued to hold bodies of the dead, and the Government failed to provide the populace with enough food and shelter. I am also aware that the issues that were occurring after the flood were not restricted to a single race, though the major news media had a great time inferring that it was a Black issue only. Had you looked for the full news stories, and not relied on the 15 second news video clips, you would have easily seen that Christy.

And don’t forget the fact that often the media, during the New Orleans floods, showed pictures of Whites and Blacks in the flood waters. The difference was only that when Blacks were shown they were referred to as looters, and Whites were said to be foraging for survival. The bias was blatant if you could look with clear eyes and an open mind.

Still I am unaware of helicopters coming to aid civilians that were being shot at. I’d love to see a link to that news report, provide it if it exists as I never found such a story in all my coverage or following of the story.

Christy, you are as ignorant of history as you are of using a spell check program. You state that Whites take responsibility and care of themselves. Let’s walk through a bit of history. Modern math, which enables Mankind to walk on the moon and have the internet, is all based on the number 0, created and used by the Middle East and Africa. The cradle of civilization, the beginnings of trade, and formal written language, all created in Africa.

Let’s move forward in time. The major wars of the Ancients were virtually all started by White countries needing to dominate the rest of the world. Roman, Greeks, Huns, Prussians, Saxons, ect. It’s a huge list. And how civilized were these hordes? They proliferated the single greatest plague known to humanity, the Bubonic Plague. Who found the cure for the Plague, the Moors – who were African.

The mentality that has created some of the worst conditions and history in Mankind can be summed up as such – European Whites believe themselves to be elite and superior, thus they fought near continuous wars across every part of the world they found. In each part of the world they brought disease, and with their barbarism forced their system of life onto every other culture they encountered. They stole nearly ever advance they could understand and militarized it. The effects are still reverberating across the world.

That is history.

In more modern times we have seen a slow progression towards understanding other cultures. America lags many nations in this effort. Our separation form the rest of the world has allowed us to be isolated and retard our interactions with other cultures. Thus we have never fully unified as a nation of multiple cultures.

Where, Christy, is the responsibility of Whites for the enslavement of Africans? The Government has never offered an apology – and the mere mention of such an act enrages millions. One of the greatest peacemakers ever known was Dr. Martin Luther King and it took over 20 years to provide him with a holiday, which was fought severely against by politicians in office right now like Senator McCain. It’s still a holiday that is not fully observed throughout the nation. Is that responsible?

Christy, you seem to think that the stereotypes of African Americans are true. Yet you ignore the great actions that African Americans have made throughout the existence of America. It was Blacks who learned how to provide blood transfusions that save millions of lives a year. It was Blacks that created the stoplight ensuring safe travel for tens of millions on our roads each day. The list of inventions and advancements is to long to list, and I bet you can’t name 2 of them.

And I again present you further facts.

“So we get this realization, Whites committed 4,297,146 acts of violent crime against a single person, and 759,079 acts against multiple victims that were White. Including the 40,249 multiple Black victims we get a total of 5,096,474. Thus once we move away from percentages and look at real numbers we learn that Whites are far more likely to commit a crime of violence against anyone, especially other Whites.

...

Crimes of violence 2,010,170 Under age 12 - 0.3% Ages 12-20 - 46.9% Ages 21-29 - 13.9% All over 30 - 5.7% Mixed ages - 25.9% Unknown - 7.2%

Thus 61.1% of all violent multiple crimes are committed by those at or under age 29...“

That says nothing of high school shootings – never committed by a Black or Hispanic child even in inner cities where guns and drugs are easily available – or acts of terrorism by fringe groups – like those that lead to the Oklahoma City bombings.

Christy, you don’t see the truth because you chose not to. You allow the major news media to deceive you. You cannot accept the responsibility in front of you because you are too busy heaping blame on others that aren’t exactly like you.

Christy, I accept that there are some African Americans that are not upstanding citizens of America. I accept that there are some that are not nice. Just as I accept that this is true of every race and culture. Yet I also accept that Whites in America overwhelmingly have more issues with people of color and are more violent –even against themselves – than ANY other group in America.

And the fact is that when given facts and examples of how lopsided the landscape is people like you, Christy, chose to wrap themselves in a blanket of old half-truths and misconceptions rather than deal with the situation.

I’m glad to say that most of the Whites I know are not like you Christy. They are good people that give respect to anyone that deserves it. They do not have rules or criteria for each color of person they meet. They deal with all people in the same manner, and can admit that some people are just trash – even if they are White. You are not among those people Christy.

I have lived or traveled through about 1/3 of this nation, I have lived overseas. I love this nation with every problem we have because it is the greatest in the world. But I am not in denial that through all those travels and experiences in my 40 years on this planet, there are some that dislike me just because of the color of my skin. I have had those experiences up to this year, and in reading your comment I am sure that my nephews will have them as well, sadly.

Christy, the point is not that all Whites are bad. It’s not that Whites have a history of barbarism and violence. It’s not that America seethes with an undercurrent of racism. But it is the point that reality is warped by the media in an effort to disguise the issues facing the nation, and to allow those with a mentality like yourself, a mentality that is better suited for the 9th century than the 21st, to be able to sleep at night.

I sleep well at night knowing the truth. I have no fear of people because I see and know the truth. I have friends of ever nationality and color found on the earth because I accept the truth. I have a full life and success because I do not deny the truth. Can you say the same, Christy?