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On Race, Can We All Lighten Up?
Townhall.com ^ | July 1, 2021 | Larry Elder

Posted on 07/01/2021 3:49:56 AM PDT by Kaslin

On a beautiful Sunday morning, I was out of town for a business meeting in the city of Santa Barbara, California, an affluent area where the rich and famous live. Demographically, it isn't exactly Wakanda. Before getting on the 101 Freeway for the long drive back to Los Angeles, I pulled into a gas station to fill up.

Just as I got out of my car, I heard a booming male voice shout, "Hey, want a banana?" My head jerked up to locate the racist. Turns out the man who bellowed was standing next to his SUV, tailgate open, where I saw a big bag of bananas. The man was talking to a homeless guy picking through trash in a nearby garbage can. Both the SUV driver and the homeless man were white.

Once I put all this together, I smiled and said to the driver: "Hey, I thought you were talking to me! I was about to accuse you of systemic racism." The driver started laughing. Then I said: "I think I'm still going to accuse you of systemic racism. How come the only person you offered a banana to is white? What about me?" Now the homeless man started laughing. Then I said, "And I don't even like bananas." Both were now laughing, and the homeless guy said, "Man, you are so funny." I responded: "Thanks. I'm here all week. Two drink minimum. Don't forget to throw something in my tip jar." At this point, both practically doubled over in laughter. As I drove away, I said to myself: "Did I just ask a homeless man to leave me a tip? Elder, you're going to burn in hell."

How wrong my immediate assumption had turned out to be.

This incident reminded me of something that happened years ago. For several years, I ran a small business, based in Cleveland, where we recruited experienced lawyers for big law firms and large corporations. To the best of my knowledge, I was one of the first, if not the first, "headhunting" firms in the Midwest to specialize in recruiting lawyers. Starting in 1980, I ran the company for 14 years before selling it to go into television and talk radio full time. During that time, I could count on one hand the number of Black lawyers I placed with my clients.

One of my clients was a Fortune 500 energy company seeking a general counsel. It was a major position with a big salary.

To fill the position like this, the ideal candidate is an assistant or associate general counsel who wants to move up and for whom this represents a major increase in money, clout and stature. I found an ideal candidate with an excellent academic background and the right experience, who was willing to relocate and, most importantly, whose family was willing to relocate.

Before submitting his resume to my client, I wanted to meet this candidate, and we arranged to get together at a Philadelphia hotel. I was to be there for other business, and he worked nearby. This was pre-internet and pre-Zoom call, and we had only spoken several times on the phone. We agreed to an 8 a.m. breakfast and that I would meet him in the hotel lobby.

When I got to the lobby at 7:50, there were at least 15 other men all waiting for people to come down and out of the elevators for their meetings. The minutes ticked by, and many people got off the elevators and left for breakfast. After a few more minutes, no more than three or four people were still in the lobby, all glancing at our watches and looking up from time to time as the lobby continued to thin out.

Finally, I walked over to a man who was constantly glancing at his watch and looking up. I said, "Excuse me, are you John?" He said, "Are you Larry?" We both laughed. He was Black, but I expected a white man. I am Black, and he expected his head hunter to be a white man.

We both made incorrect assumptions.

He laughingly said, "So, what's the lesson here?" I said, "I'm not sure, but I really want some bacon and eggs. Let's go."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: identitypolitics; race; woke
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1 posted on 07/01/2021 3:49:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

You don’t have to be white to be bright and you don’t have to be black to be slack.


2 posted on 07/01/2021 4:02:55 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: equaviator
There was another way to take the query.


3 posted on 07/01/2021 4:24:31 AM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s^2)
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To: Kaslin

4 posted on 07/01/2021 4:27:28 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: Kaslin

That happens in the IT world a lot. The problem with that assumption is how accurate it is: very few blacks or hispanics go into software engineering.


5 posted on 07/01/2021 4:28:12 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: Kaslin

Elder is the only talk show I listen to anymore,when I can pick it up. Since Rush passed away it’s hard to hear talk radio without looking forward to him. I wish they had put Larry in Rush’s spot nationwide.


6 posted on 07/01/2021 4:31:43 AM PDT by HighSierra5 (The only way you know a commie is lying is when they open their pieholes.)
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To: Kaslin

Al Sharpton wants to know why the phrase “LIGHTEN up” was selected?


7 posted on 07/01/2021 4:34:08 AM PDT by lee martell
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To: Kaslin
A number of years ago (50, to be exact) I was hiking in the canyons of Southern california, waiting for a fellow Vietnam Vet buddy to show up. I had my usual .22 caliber AR-7 with me and he and I often used the weekends to explore the canyons, fish a bit, and pop some .22 rounds at the canyon walls while we hiked. Great therapy for those of us who had recently returned.

My buddy was late, so I cooled a six-pack of sodas in the stream and waited some more.

From down canyon, I spotted 5 men coming towards me, heavily armed - most with large afros and bandoleers of ammunition across their bodies. This was during the Black Panther era and all these guys fit the description, right down to the hard looks and deadly carriage of their weapons. I was vastly outgunned: an 8-shot .22 versus 12 gauges, .45s and ARs, so I watched them carefully as they got closer and prepared for what fight I could give before I was killed. As they came alongside, they eyed me and I eyed them - and the last guy in their column asked me if I brought anything to drink - they hadn't. I told him that I had some sodas and pulled them from the stream.

We spent that whole day together, shooting at cans, telling stories, firing each other's weapons - and exchanging names and phone numbers. Every one of those guys were NRA members and businessmen who dressed up like Panthers on the weekend and went shooting for fun, like we did.

Walking back with them on our way to our cars, one of them told me that they "were really worried about me when they first saw me - I looked dangerous". I loved that!

8 posted on 07/01/2021 4:34:22 AM PDT by Chainmail (Remember - that half the people you meet are below average intelligence)
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To: HighSierra5
I don't listen to any talk show. I used to listen years ago to Rush, but gave it up, because the station that carried him often delate him and played the Highschool football game from it's town.
9 posted on 07/01/2021 4:38:12 AM PDT by Kaslin (Joe Biden will never be my President, and neither will Kamala Harris)
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To: Kaslin

Just love when government is going to force those who are racist not to be


10 posted on 07/01/2021 4:41:14 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: Kaslin

Why not?

Scientifically speaking, there is no such thing as race.


11 posted on 07/01/2021 4:45:53 AM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: mewzilla

There is the Human race.


12 posted on 07/01/2021 4:48:06 AM PDT by Kaslin (Joe Biden will never be my President, and neither will Kamala Harris)
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To: mewzilla

What drivel

Of course there is race. Even in wild flowers there are variations that are considered as racial


13 posted on 07/01/2021 4:48:21 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Like BLM, Joe Biden is a Domestic Enemy )
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To: Kaslin

Yet the article capitalizes black, and lowercases White.


14 posted on 07/01/2021 4:49:17 AM PDT by I want the USA back (The government under democrats is a criminal enterprise.)
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To: Kaslin

We’re a species. :-)


15 posted on 07/01/2021 4:54:58 AM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: bert

Race is not subjective, not scientific.

Genetically speaking, there is no such thing as race.


16 posted on 07/01/2021 4:57:13 AM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: bert
From SA, believe it or not, and a couple of years ago...

The Concept of “Race” Is a Lie

17 posted on 07/01/2021 4:59:25 AM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: Kaslin

So from this article if you offered Elder a banana his first thought would be you were a racist.


18 posted on 07/01/2021 5:00:03 AM PDT by Brooklyn Attitude (I went to bed on November 3rd 2020 and woke up in 1984.)
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To: Brooklyn Attitude

You are obviously misreading him.


19 posted on 07/01/2021 5:04:35 AM PDT by Kaslin (Joe Biden will never be my President, and neither will Kamala Harris)
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To: Kaslin

I found it ironic that the local station here allowed the listeners to vote on whether Dana Loesch should replace Rush Limbaugh. The left found out about it and soon Dana was replacing Rush on the number one talk radio station in the city. Dana Loesch’s show is three hours long but started one hour later than Rush’s live show which started at noon on the east coast.

Before this happened, Dana’s show was aired for one hour between the 3PM and 4PM spot and then the afternoon rush hour duo would come on at 4PM. The remainder of Dana’s show would be regulated to the late evening. This is important to know.

Now along comes a new morning guy and some change ups in the line up because one of the station’s major on air personalities decides to retire. The station adds new programming, gives the new guy the 11AM to 1PM slot, in addition to his 6AM to 9AM slot. The new guy starts appearing on Fox News as a guest pundit because the Trump’s VP is from this area and used to be on the station as an on air host. The new guy gets greedy and wants a national syndicated show.

Dana Loesch’s 3 hour show that was from 1PM to 4PM gets cut down to 2 hours during the afternoon and the rush hour duo picks up the 3PM to 4PM slot. So now, Dana’s show lost listeners because the remaining hour was relegated to some evening time slot when not too many people listen to any radio.

Eventually the new local guy picks up the 2 hours when Dana’s show is currently airing. And now Dana Loesch’s show who mounted a campaign to oust Limbaugh on the number one station in this metropolitan area has been relegated to the time slot that gets the least listeners for her show and that is generous due to contract obligations.

When Rush passed away the station mounted a mourning show and they raised their praises onto Limbaugh’s life and legacy. I sent them a very harsh letter on how dare they do this because of how they kicked him off the air during the remaining time of his life. Some will say the radio group pout him on another station and the answer to that was yes they did. They put him on an AM sports station in which was hard to get even in the city much less outside of the city on a boosted car radio.

To this day I do not listen to Loesch as I cannot stand her immature ranting, screaming, and shrill voice. She might look good and might be a 2A advocate, to which I will support, but the way she campaigned to kick Rush from the radio in multiple cities was an unforgivable offense I cannot get over.


20 posted on 07/01/2021 5:06:21 AM PDT by zaxtres (`)
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