You can imagine my chagrin when I roomed with a black Air Force Officer. A bunch of his friends came over to watch an NFL game. we swigged beer, ate chips and I fell off the couch in a major fit when these guys began shouting "Come on nigger! "Move the ball." and other such racial epithets.
I asked them howcum they used the "N" word and they said that between themselves it was okay, sorta.
I've come to the conclusion that the only way to eliminate race as a subject is to do what I did inthe 2000 census. the question asked "What race do you consider yourself?" there were several answers includng other.
I selected other and entered HUMAN!
Racism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder and, to the NAACP and the Rainbow Coalition crowd, there is beauty everywhere you look.
Good one.
Your post reminded me of my upbringing with an Italian mother with a wooden spoon. And not your store bought wooden spoon. No, this one was handmade by my grandfather and has lasted 70 years.
If the drawer containing the spoon was rattled by my mother, that meant, "Knock it off".
The second time, the spoon came out of the drawer. And when it came out, it did not ever return to its resting place without being used. Who knew a wooden spoon could be used like a boomerang? There was no outrunning the spoon. One way or the other, contact was going to be made.
A piece of dead tree can teach a lot of valuable lessons.