tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post7208535301453504525..comments2024-03-29T09:18:51.670-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Ravenswood Notes: Natty DreadlockNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-59614122596614282072022-01-09T16:45:07.905-06:002022-01-09T16:45:07.905-06:00I had a civics teacher in 1966 (11th grade) who pr...I had a civics teacher in 1966 (11th grade) who predicted a nation largely composed of mixed race people. My white daughter married a black Jamaican man. They are raising a most remarkable mixed race daughter. So I think my teacher was on the right track.Maidahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00695560604873128421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-73114560622027177652022-01-09T11:25:19.175-06:002022-01-09T11:25:19.175-06:00I used to have a friend. She had the same experien...I used to have a friend. She had the same experience you had, Caren, only about a decade earlier. In her early teens, she would ditch school and hang out in the Wrigley bleachers. That's where I first met her years later, in the mid-Eighties. Her Black friend, one of only a handful of Blacks at Cub games, made everybody laugh. He did song parodies. People in the bleachers would sing them. She brought him home to Rogers Park, when she was maybe thirteen or fourteen. Her mother wouldn't let him in.<br /><br />In the mid-Nineties, she moved to Cleveland, soon after I did. I thought my wife would hate her, because they were eleven years apart in age, and as different as night and day. But they soon became very close, and were the best of friends for almost 25 years. Go figure.<br /><br />Fast-forward to 2020. She was now living in Florida. My wife still flew down to see her, even though our friend was becoming more racist with every passing year--especially in the age of Trump. We called her on her birthday, and heard a lengthy tirade about the BLM protests. It seemed like every other word of that rant was the n-word. She claimed to be boycotting NASCAR, although her husband drove race cars. Even her Cub tattoos were being removed, because the ballplayers had worn BLM patches on their jerseys.<br /> <br />My 35-year friendship with her ended, about as quickly as a gulp of orange Kool-Aid. My wife sent her a brief, no-nonsense kiss-off note. And this was same lady who had brought home her Black friend in her teens, all those years ago. No, I take that back. She was not the same.<br /><br />Thanks, Donnie. Thanks. I really mean it.<br /><br />Like I said...I used to have a friend...<br />Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-70475384826765273872022-01-08T14:27:35.391-06:002022-01-08T14:27:35.391-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-9164342410927256442022-01-08T14:26:08.023-06:002022-01-08T14:26:08.023-06:00Thank you for pointing out this song to me! https...Thank you for pointing out this song to me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPF-duKQro. Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-61010965153384313932022-01-08T10:03:02.934-06:002022-01-08T10:03:02.934-06:00I am reminded of Janis Ian’s ‘Society’s Child’. U...I am reminded of Janis Ian’s ‘Society’s Child’. Unfortunately, Society still has a lot to learn about acceptance.John Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712600193130373091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-81911260757234942342022-01-08T10:00:38.956-06:002022-01-08T10:00:38.956-06:00‘Societiy’s Child’, by Janis Ian captured the worl...‘Societiy’s Child’, by Janis Ian captured the world of the sixties and seventies. Unfortunately, to many, it is still the mindset today. John Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712600193130373091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-28744007857862069432022-01-08T09:50:26.535-06:002022-01-08T09:50:26.535-06:00I am reminded of a discussion in an eighth grade c...I am reminded of a discussion in an eighth grade class. This would have been about 1960, I think. We were all white kids discussing race. I suggested that eventually the races would all meld into one as mixed couples became the norm. My opinion was roundly dismissed and laughed at by the class - too absurd to even consider. Over most of the ensuing sixty years I have been satisfied that history would prove me right eventually. How sad that here in 2022 my prediction looks even more naive now than it did back then.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481674986802987213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-24685344141505808822022-01-08T09:14:11.850-06:002022-01-08T09:14:11.850-06:00Interesting blog, Caren. I'm a Poitier fan, as...Interesting blog, Caren. I'm a Poitier fan, as well.privatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18413982311699012802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-17606580456438991692022-01-08T08:03:36.033-06:002022-01-08T08:03:36.033-06:00Bigotry is learned. It’s everywhere. Trump simply ...Bigotry is learned. It’s everywhere. Trump simply woke the sleeping giant and accelerated the rate of divisiveness.<br />My first seven years were spent in a very integrated, lower income section on the upper west side of Manhattan. Color, ethnicity, and foreign accents were non-issues.<br />We then moved to Miami and my parents had a hard time explaining why I had to make sure I drank out of water fountains that were labeled “white”. I also had to learn that being called a Jew wasn’t a compliment or an observation. It was supposed to be an insult. I didn’t get that either.<br />In a way, I was fortunate to learn early on about the human condition. <br />Like my son says, we’re going to be okay but it is hard to see so many good people oppressed and little we can do about it.<br />Once again, all I can do is accept it, be helpful when I can, and enjoy the good things out there. I won’t allow the hateful to burden my life.Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679840606511726447noreply@blogger.com