My Dad is a bit of a redneck. All my life I've heard racist jokes, sexist jokes, and rather un-p.c. language. Although, when he was a postal supervisor, he was one of the first who would hire women, gays and minorities. When co-workers would complain about this("What are you hiring that homo for?"), he would tell them that, well, they're the best person for the job, so suck it up.
This is one of the reasons that a bleeding-heart liberal like me doesn't bristle at racist jokes the same way that some of my comrades do. If you hear a joke that offends you, you can 1) Not laugh, and 2) Challenge them on it. If someone doesn't hire someone due to race or gender, you have to 1) Take them to court, and 2) Prove it. There's a difference between saying and doing.
Anyway, tonight I went to the folks' for dinner, and to avail myself of their cable t.v, which I lack. I wanted to watch some U.S. election coverage. We were watching MSNBC, and amid all of the crazy bottom-screen news scrolls and flashing info side-bars(which drive me insane), they were talking to an older African-American man whose title or occupation I didn't catch. Maybe a university professor? Anyway, he was talking about how he remembered marching from Selma to Montgomery, integrating schools amid violence in the 60's, Dr. King's murder, and now watching(you could see the astonishment in his eyes) the election of a black man to the highest office in the land.
He spoke so elegantly and with such gratefulness that I of course, had tears running down my face. As I reached for a tissue, I noticed that my old man was crying too.
Yeah Dad, you're such a bad-ass racist.
What an honour it is to witness history in the making, and I love seeing shitloads of people taking full advantage of their right to vote.
1 comment:
Awesome. Your dad is a secret softie. I like that about him.
Crap. I can't figure out how to post my url. I fail Internet.
Liz
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