These are harsh times, but according to the current actuaries I’m just teed off on the 14th hole of my 18-hole life (and I shanked it into the woods). Could be worse: if I were an African American, I’d be further along the course, already in the green-side bunker on 14 (and probably getting nervous looks from nearby club members). For me, the issue of equality will be resolved soon enough, but for my children (and eventually, their children), my generation has done a fairly piss-poor job of making real progress in how we all manage to get along.
Some of this was blinders. After the Civil Rights movement of the sixties, I think that most white Americans were ready to proclaim racism dead. Heck, we even had a black family on our block, right? And I heard a Latino family just bought the house down the street. Progress!
But technology (social media, smartphones with cameras, etc.) has exposed to white America how far we still have to go (I say to white America, because I don’t think this comes as a news flash to people of color). In this regard, kudos to technology. But that comes with a disclaimer¦
Technology is easier to get your hands on than a gun, or even a fishing license. Anyone can get access, and anyone can attempt to mobilize. This means that on any given day we can hear from anyone and everyone. And there is a lot to parse.
Think of it in terms of your neighbors. Some you would be comfortable having them watch your kids or your dog or cat or fish. Others you attempt to make yourself invisible at the sight of them. Now remove their identities, give them all 100% freedom of speech with complete anonymity and no real threat of reciprocity, and what do you have? Social media! It all comes down to our conscience, both individually and collectively.
Add to this that many of our government leaders on both sides of the aisle have seized social media as a platform not for solution, but for promotion. I don’t know if the days of looking to our leaders is dead, but it is at least comatose in the here and now.
And the cherry on top are the extremists on both the left and the right, attempting to utilize protests to forward their own respective agendas.
In other words, we really need to vet what we see and read, and force ourselves to slow the conversation down to a pace where we can not only speak, but LISTEN as well..
As an example, I serve up last night’s Grant Napear twitter fiasco, in which DeMarcus Cousins asked Napear a simple question: Do Black Lives Matter? Napear was way too quick to answer All Live Matters and it was game on. Let’s unpack this a little bit.
Cousins does not ask Napear this question if he does not have a pretty good idea what the answer is going to be. It’s a bit of a troll job by Cousins, but one that dies on the vine if Napear isn’t¦well¦Napear. A simple response of Black Lives Do Matter, and we need to put an end to these senseless deaths may or may not have satisfied Cousins, but it is an answer that any reasonable person would agree with, and it would, under reasonable circumstances, springboard into HOW to enact change.
Napear’s tone-deafness is amazing given his standing in the community, his two employers, and his long career of working side-by-side for and with people of color. All Lives Matter was born as a racially-tinged response to Black Lives Matter, created to diminish the Black Lives Matter movement. If one were to venture down that path at all, it would need to be along the lives of Yes, Black Lives Matter. And while I believe that all lives matter, right now people of color in this country, and especially African Americans are facing risks to life and limb that is far over and above their white counterparts.
Additionally, Napear has enough baggage in his past (a defense of Donald Sterling, calling out Bobby Jackson and Kevin Martin as soft) that he needs to be better than average here. Understand, I don’t think that Grant Napear is racist. I think that Grant Napear is a person of white privilege that does not understand the plight of people of color. And what is more disconcerting is that he apparently does not care enough to try to understand. And in that regard, Grant Napear is a perfect, albeit unfortunate example of the people that are driving this country right now (not a political statement neither party gets a passing grade when it comes to real change to attain real equality right now).
As I venture off into the woods in search of my golf ball, and while the gentleman in the foursome in front of me shows his ID to a 3-iron wielding course Marshall, I ponder what it is that we can do to stem this tide and enact some sort of real, impactful, lasting change. And I really have no ideas. I’m really the last person to take direction from, a white kid that grew up in the bottom of the middle class but never lacked for food, clothing, a roof over my head, or an education. A kid that has always been given a chance, an opportunity. But this is what I have told my kids. I hope that it helps them and what is to be their world:
- Be Involved: Simply voting is not enough anymore. Find a cause that you believe in and invest your time and your heart and your soul in it. As you are striving for a better life for yourself, always remember that a better world around you makes for a better life for yourself. Invest in your community, your world.
- Listen and Share: This one is where I do a lousy job of leading by example. I was a former debate team member. In Civics class I once got Adolph Eichmann cleared of his Nazi crimes (and I’m Jewish mom didn’t talk to me for a week!). For much of my life it was about winning arguments. I never lost an argument in my first marriage, right up to the moment where my ex-wife said she wanted a divorce. I am the poster child for my generation when it comes to give and (no) take, and although I don’t participate on Twitter or other social media platforms (TKH is it for me), my style can be found everywhere. Win at all costs, out-talk the other person, don’t bother to listen. I am now attempting to convince my 16 and 18-year-old children that no one knows everything. They are half-convinced, as they agree that I know nothing. Progress. My 26-year-old daughter has lived just enough real life to agree that you never know everything, and that there is always something to be learned and gained through listening and sharing. Not to be a sheep, but to be open to new and alternative perspectives, and to be confident enough in yourself to know that just because you don’t agree with someone, that does not make them wrong, and it certainly does not make you right. Living life through one set of eyes and experiences is the sound of one hand clapping. Experience life through the eyes of others, and grow from that. And no cherry-picking, experience the full gamut.
- See the World Through Non-Judgmental Eyes: You are no better or worse than anyone else. You will always be special to me, and you have a gift, but that does not make you better or worse. You are a human being, and it is your mission to live and thrive with all other human beings.
- Negate the Hate: Years ago, I wrote of my old baseball coach, Al Simas. Al said the opposite of love was not hate, but apathy. Al said to ignore your opponent, not hate them. It worked. We never bought into engaging with our opponents during a game we would instead take that energy and re-channel it back into our collective selves, and it made us even tougher to beat. You can’t just ignore hate, lest it go unchecked and fester. However, no one ever said you have to take on hate head-on. Because when you fight hate with hate, they win. When you fight hate with love, you’re wasting your time. When you faced that hate, hand them apathy, and then take that energy and apply it where it can make a difference.
- Love Life: Find the love, even in the darkest moments. As far as we know, it’s the only life you get.
- Understand: I saved the biggest one for last. There is such a gulf when it comes to the lack of understanding of what people with different backgrounds and upbringings and socio-economic standing are faced with on a daily basis. Take the time to do a deep dive into the real issues that face our country and the world. Don’t get de-railed by troll tweets of voter fraud or name-calling. Don’t buy into the fifteen minute news cycle. Find the things that are truly important and spend time researching that, and speak with people on the front lines of those issues. Hell, become one of the people on the front lines of those issues.
To be clear, I’m not trying to preach that this is what all of you should do. This is what I am telling my kids, as well as my wife and myself. And under the umbrella of these bullet points, I look forward to a thread where I can listen, share, be non-judgmental, love and understand. And maybe, just maybe we figure out a way to make a difference individually and/or collectively along the way.
I do not say this cavalierly: I love you all for being here, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to have this self-induced therapy session with you. Better days lie ahead if we determine it to be so. Keep your heads up, and don’t succumb to Team Racism, ever. Ever.
Yikes–Rob, you’ve still got of life left to live!
Seems like something Larry would do on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm!
………
We rewatched DO THE RIGHT THING last night. First time watching it since around 1989-90.
I recommend folks watch it if they haven’t seen it. It has an amazing cast/the BEST acting (this is for practically all of Spike Lee’s films), great script, and a story that really gets you to think about race in America and our relationships with our and others’ communities.
We also watched Malcolm X, but that’s over 3 hours long so if you only have 2 hours go for the former recommendation.
Also, anyone who calls Bobby Jackson “soft” is a numbskull and probably shouldn’t have a radio show.
Rob, this is excellent.
This post fills me with hope. Plus some other emotions which are weird and deeply confusing.
Well, I do know one piece of clothing you lacked…
Now I’ve got a picture stuck in my head…
I’m really the last person to take direction from, a white kid that grew up in the bottom of the middle class but never lacked for food, clothing
I had pants back then. They were “You’ll grow into them!” brand.
(True story: When I was 17 (1976!) my mom bought me a pair of clearance rack Zeppelin jeans, white bell-bottoms with raised stitching below the knee to the ground. They were way too big for me, but my mom assured me that “you’ll grow into them!”
Fast forward five and a half(!) years, and my dad has just passed and my mom needs her oil changed (these are back in the days when vehicles and local laws made such nonsense very easy to execute). I grabbed the white Zeppelins, now several years out of style but they fit like a dream, and headed over to mom’s, changing her oil while rolling around on the garage floor in the now very un-white jeans. “You were right mom – I grew into them, alright!” The lady had not lost her touch – she still wielded a mean fly swatter. I finally healed up last week.
My goodness, what a stroke of good fortune it was to have those crazy people as my parents.
I hope she didn’t swat your fly with that fly swatter!
TLDR
While this topic isn’t one I’m especially keen on discussing, it’s nice to see there is thoughtful takes out there on a complex topic that simply is the most complex of all the things we deal with.
Well done Rob.
Rob is the awesome grandpa of
StRKH who fills our goodie bags every now and then.And ElRon is the awesome Great-great-great-great grandpa of the Big Bang.
Cause – effect. Action – consequence.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>KHTK announces radio host and Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear "has been placed on administrative leave while we are investigating the statement that was made on twitter."</p>— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) <a href=”https://twitter.com/JandersonSacBee/status/1267577497345912832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 1, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
2020 has “mostly” sucked.
All radio host jobs matter!
Wow. This is great.
“I don’t think that Grant Napear is racist.” Sorry, but I can’t let that be spoken here and not respond. Racism is the very system of privilege that is baked into the fabric of society that many white people can’t see because they haven’t done the work to access and unpack it or because it’s an uncomfortable and painful reality to confront it.
Napear’s very ignorance of his own privilege is by definition what makes him racist. In order not be racist, it requires awareness of your privilege and actively working as a white ally to push back against it. This very definition of racism makes many white people uncomfortable too.
If I had to venture a guess, is the color of your skin is also white? You have a lot to learn as well Rob. Posting out of love so that you and others can learn and grow.
I am white, and I have certainly had more privilege growing up than the average person of color, even though we were on the lower end of the economic scale in the area I grew up in (Del Campo area circa 60s-80’s).
I think that there is a difference between ignorance and racism. I think that Grant Napear is ignorant. In fact, if he were a racist I think that he would have handled the situation much more deftly, given the potential cost to him here. And his clumsy attempt to walk it back and his self-pity amplifies his ignorance, in my opinion.
The fact a person has not walked in an African American’s shoes does not make one a racist. It makes them ignorant to their plight. And it makes them privileged. The willingness to learn and grow and be involved in a solution is what will benefit all of us, not finger pointing and name calling.
I again could not disagree with you more, and here’s why: If we define racism so narrowly as including only explicit acts that are actively racist, we ignore all of the passive racism that contributes to the system of oppression. If white ignorance is continually excused, no progress is made, and we remain exactly where we are right now. By being passively ignorant everyone is implicitly allowing the system of oppression to happen and the status quo to continue. Your definition of racism is too narrow, and does not take enough responsibility in that to defeat racism it requires active work against it in order to defeat it. I fear that you are not hearing what I have to say and are talking past me – this is a common experience for me when I talk to a white person about racism.
And I do not believe that ignorance is the equivalent of racism. If it were, then every person that has never been tread upon would have to be labeled a racist. And I think that is incorrect.
And when you determine to label people as racists simply for their ignorance or lack of personal experience, I think that you potentially add to the problem and turn away potential allies. To educate and not denigrate is the key, I believe.
I agree with Rob here, but I also agree with swipa. Ignorance to racial inequality does not equal racism, but IT IS a pillar onto which racism stands. From that, education and awareness to racial inequality and treatment is fundamental to the greater treatment of which racism is.
Now, if someone makes an uninformed statement that is completely tone def to the current situation, I’d hope as a society we’d strive to inform them, rather than lay blame. I cannot hate those of which who grew uniformed. It is my place to inform then rather than fight them. (All that being said, Grant is still a dick who attacks those who think outside his narrative.)
To swipa’s point, white privilege is also a pillar that leads to a lack on empathy and a path to a possible unintended racism. In the end is it is still racism, but a kind of racism that should be defined as different than the willfully educated racism that infects so many parts of this country. The white privilege racism that is reachable and curable form. That should be our goal to correct. It is curable.
From a historical standpoint, the card carrying Nazi’s are a lost cause, but the passive bystanders of 1930’s Germany, if reached, could have prevented an atrocity. We may be at that precipice. Reach out to your Pottery Barn shopping and chai tea drinking friends. Wake them.
In the end, there is no easy definition of racism just as there is no easy cure to racism. Please educate the ones you love and hate. That’s all I’ve got…
My apologies if I offended anyone with this rant. These are trying times. Hug.
Thanks for this. Great take.
All good points. One thing I struggle with is this:
If people aren’t awake by now, then what could possibly be said to them that will wake them at this point?
Maybe some times it is not a quick result, but a gradual process.
Certainly some people seem to be dead-set locked into a way of thinking and maybe it is not worth your time or energy to spend discussing with them.
But I know someone personally who voted a certain way and gradually became aware of certain things and will be voting a different way in November.
So yes, I understand that some people might not change. But some people, over time, can change.
Getting back to my recommendations of Spike Lee movies, in Malcolm X you can see how strongly he leans philosophically for most of the movie, but his mind changed after expanding his horizons and coming into contact with people outside of his home community.
Rob, Grant’s ignorance, 7 years after the founding of BLM, is willful. Willful ignorance in this context, makes him a racist. In this I have no doubt. Fuck Grant.
I’m not ready to go there, but not as a defense of Grant – I just think that he simply not a smart man. I base this off of listening to his show for a time years and years ago, and the short time of listening to him during the games without Jerry to lean on. I mean, he’s not that smart when it comes to Kings basketball, and he’s way worse when he tries to take on anything else. So I don’t think that Napear hates or even dislikes people of color – I think that he is just completely unaware. And that is the line that I draw between ignorance and racism.
All of that said, the result is the same. A white man of privilege and power saying hurtful, divisive things. As it pertains to Napear, the motivation means little at this point, as I think he has to go. Whether he is truly racist or truly stupid matters little in his case at this point in time. On the grander scale, it hopefully enlightens other people of ignorance that “ALM” is a politically and racially charged word, and it really should be mothballed, with time taken to understand the genesis of it and why it is so hurtful to those that seek equality for all, and why it is absolutely devastating to those that have been victimized due to the color of their skin.
Maybe Napear is a racist. Maybe he’s just plain stupid. In the position that he holds at both KHTK and the Kings, it really doesn’t matter, because it is hurtful and destructive regardless of his intent.
Swipa, I hesitated answering, but I want to make a tiny contribution. Just my opinion, perhaps completely redundant. I hope it does not come over as condescending, that is not my intent.
I agree with most of what you say. Specifically these two quotes:
I want to give a few thoughts on how to make a small step towards fighting white ignorance. I am not an expert on many things, but I have been busy professionally over 20 years on how to persuade people in considering and accepting a different perspective.
If you wish to decrease white ignorance (I am afraid a frightfully large group of people will never listen), it may be worthwhile to think on how to approach people who may be susceptible.
If you approach an ignorant white person and say he/she is racist, in my experience most people will immediately become defensive and will (at least initially) not continue to listen to your message. As a consequence there’s a significant chance that you will not be able to take away some of that ignorance.
If you approach an ignorant white person and say that you do not think that they are racists, but they are perhaps not entirely aware of certain things which may contribute to inequality or racial insensitivity, I think you have a better chance to find some people more perceptive to your message. (Again, some; not all). Once there is a mutual understanding and honest discussion going on, it is easier to bring on the more loaded terms.
I can imagine you and others have tried all that, to no or little avail, and I can understand that you may be sick and tired of treading carefully while a significant portion of the other side is trampling all over everything. I can’t tell and I can’t judge.
TL;DR: your broad definition of racism may very well be correct. But will proclaiming it towards the target audience (ignorant white people) achieve the objective of decreasing white ignorance?
Last comment for me on this.
Here’s the thing: I understand you but still disagree. In the dominant position as a white person, your expectation is to be racially comfortable and thus you’ve learned that your whiteness is unchallenged. A person of color doesn’t get that choice: the lived experience is often one of not feeling at ease in predominantly white spaces by default (this blog for me), like an imposter. The very fact that this definition of racism feels uncomfortable is proof of your comfort.
So to tie this back to your point, I’m going to call out racism where I see fit even if it’s uncomfortable for others. I’m not going to do this hard work on people who can’t be reasoned with – it’s reserved for people whose minds I think I can influence. It’s a sign of respect.
Napear is racist.
Okay, thank you for responding.
I subscribe to your “racially comfortable” comment and know that I am guilty of that. I am trying to be more conscious of it.
Your commenting here helps me, for what it is worth (not much, I suppose).
If I had to guess swipa, I’d say Napear is racist. And that’s the one part of Rob’s article I struggled with – but I’m not going to criticize him too heavily, I simply think he has a more optimistic view of human behavior than I.
Adam said almost everything I was thinking, but I’d add that it would be a damn miracle if you grow up in this country and aren’t prejudiced/biased/racist to some extent. It’s learned behavior, built into the media we consume, to the media our parents consumed which influenced how we were raised, and to the societal influences that impacted the views of their parents before them. As a child of the 70’s, there’s no question in my mind that television and film, and hell, the nightly news, affected my thinking about minorities at an early age.
So do I think that, at my core, I have thoughts about minorities that, if exposed to the world, would be considered racist? Absolutely.
I do feel I’ve been lucky in my adult years to have acquaintances who have sort of woken me to the impact of subtle/covert racism and sexism, so understanding how my actions in that area affect others is something I think about a lot. I slip at times (man do I slip at times), but I’m a far better person in that area than I was as a young adult. Still much work to be done.
To bring this full circle, I think people like Napear have likely done very little self-analysis, which reflexively makes them defensive about being labeled. Let’s hope his mea culpa isn’t just an attempt to save his job, but an honest attempt to understand how the things he says impact the experiences of others, especially as his words have a fairly broad reach.
Well said.
I was fortunate growing up here in that I had the opportunity to play ball and make friends with a very diverse* group of people. I dated with no regard to race or religion.
*Check that. They may have been racially diverse, but socio-economically was a different story. I had really no friends from what we disdainfully called the “white trash” portion of Rio Linda, and I had no friends that lived in Meadowview. I was very comfortable hanging out with my friend and his family and Ebony Fashion Fair (with everyone dressed to the hilt at the Community Center), but less comfortable at one of my ball playing buddie’s parties in Del Paso Heights. And that is shameful, and it has likely gotten worse as I have gotten older.
Yep, you are correct, Otis. No matter how hard we try, we have biases. All of us. And as white men, we have the option not to suffer at the hands of our bias. And in this country, after almost 250 years, that is a God Damned Shame.
That’s a great post Otis
I think this is common with people who honestly think they know everything, there isn’t much incentive for them to grow. Does this sound like Grant? Calling people idiots when they disagree is what children do, so to me this is really a discussion about maturity.
You’ve heard me say many times I am not afraid of tough conversations, and this is exactly why. I know the person I am today needs to keep growing and reaching, and the most effective way to do that is to have tough conversations and to let go of trying to make the world think like you, which leads to the inevitable isolation and loneliness, at least spiritually.
People aren’t rising to his defense, and there is a reason for that. It will be interesting to see when these “investigations” end, did they search for more examples of this type of behavior from others, or are they sticking to these isolated tweets?
I’d like for Swipa to go on Bradley’s podcast, and (reiterating earlier proposal) if we could get Jason Jones and Kimani Okearah as well that would be helpful.
One thing Grant said that is good (even if he was just regurgitating talking points he’s heard to get people off his back) is that he was doing more listening than talking lately.
And the people we need to listen to are the people being directly affected.
Just became aware of Damien Barling’s tweets. I propose Bradley asks him to be a guest as well. He’s got a really good take on Marcos Breton’s Bee Op-Ed.
Thanks Rob, great article, I love you too.
Unimportant question: How long does it take for the badges to show up?
Depends on when police chiefs order their department to put them back on, as prescribed by law.
That is both troubling and humourous…
I should be clearer I suppose, I was referring to the patreon badges.
Anyone else glad we now have the Kings Herald? I am.
It was worth waiting a month for. I’m glad I have this community to interact with and read the articles, especially during these difficult times we are living in.
Me too man. I know you’re in San Jose as well Klam and it’s been pretty wild the last couple days. Stay safe out there dude.
Thanks! You too!
It’s unbelievable, what they’ve built. It looks so good.
HEY MODS!
How are the other CA blogs doing who broke from the man? Any updates on our NBA step-brothers?
You can check them out at 213hoops.com and also letsgowarriors.com!
I’m glad to see them, they look fine. But, like always…
…y’all have hit it out of the park, by a mile. Much more going on here. Soon enough you’ll be in the consultant business. 🙂
We’re very fortunate to have Blake who has spent so much hard time and work in getting this site built and looking awesome and more importantly functional. I know we still have some kinks to work through but I’m really happy with our progress so far.
Cool man. Can we cross promote the other NBA sites from this site?
I’m super thrilled with the site. Kudos to Blake and everyone at the KH team.
BLAKE RULES!
Now if only Aykis would stop mis-prouncing his name.
Well done Rob. Well done.
I’m probably just being insensitive. I’ll say it anyway. We have many problems in 2020. Perhaps it is just cursed. Triage and solve one problem at a time. Let’s get through the pandemic problem first. Too many problems are piling up. I’m here, I am willing to fix them one at a time. I don’t know the expectations that others put on me. I can only be happy with myself and try and do the right things. We can be constructive and offer opinions on how to make things better as a community. Then get back to being a King fan and a member of that community. Lets heal, be good people and hope for the best of us all.
.
I’ve heard this one before. Maybe it was when Kaepernick took a knee? or when NBA players wore “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts for warmups after the cops choked out a different man? or when BLM blocked Golden one? or or or.
What I want to know is why I’m not hearing from elected people on police reform proposals being developed. What our police nationwide are doing is wrong. it is biased. it is unacceptable. The ongoing protests, and the inappropriate police responses prove this easily. There’s video everywhere.
Time for our institutions to try to fix this, not time for them to hope it just goes away.
hey admins, I really don’t like how the preview (read more) makes the quote at the front of my comment look like I wrote it. “Now’s not the time to Protest” is intended to be in quote format, and is once the comment is fully opened.
We’ll look into it
Thanks! I’m always uncertain about voicing ‘complaints’ or suggestions on the site. I know you guys are hustling.
No problem. It looks like the only solution we have right now is to simply remove the “read more” option so we’re going with that for now at least.
As someone who has written a few long posts, the “READ MORE” option is a welcome removal!
I feel like many people might not press the read more button and miss some good comments. Ok–not mine, but like Rob’s for instance.
Agreed, noticed the same thing
Yeah, if anything, these protests have pretty much exposed that police abusing power isn’t just concentrated to a few departments….it’s literally happening all over the country in every city, whether that city is Red or Blue. The whole system is broken and needs fixing. We are past the point of trying to hope things will change by themselves.
We need to take some time before making rash judgments – and when we’re a few weeks or months down the road, we’ll say something like “how can we move forward when we’re obsessing about the past?” or “it’s easy to say in retrospect” or something similar.
It’s foolproof!
Given the massive racial disparities in health outcomes in this country and how many more black and brown people are dying from the pandemic compared to white people, if anything there has never been a more appropriate time to challenge the insidious and institutionalized racism in this country.
For reference:
NPR analyzed COVID-19 demographic data collected by the COVID Racial Tracker, a joint project of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center and the COVID Tracking Project. This analysis compares each racial or ethnic group’s share of infections or deaths where race and ethnicity is known with their share of population. Here’s what it shows:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/05/30/865413079/what-do-coronavirus-racial-disparities-look-like-state-by-state
I’m good with venting. I get people are frustrated and impatient. Things should have been taken care of yesterday. You’d think we fixed everything in the 60’s. I am disappointed. I need to get back to my lane. Be good people.
I’m also getting out of this discussion. Sorry, Carry on.
You’re right they should have been – with our elected officials speaking out about what they are going to do to fix this injustice. From the federal government (both executive and legislative), to the state government, to the city council – action needs to be discussed. And I’m not seeing it happen.
But instead – we get silence.
Off topic ramblings:
The ad that pops up for this page for me has a giant RED HAT and some things about “…ending Obama Era Programs…” Is anyone else getting this, too? Or am I under some kind of Russian attack to my phone?
Curious: What is the curfew in Sacramento? Yesterday here in Mordor it was 5pm without much notice.
THANK YOU to Aykis and the TKH team for allowing discussions like these to happen on your site. So far people have been very civil, so thank you for everyone participating as well.
I get ads for Walgreens, Carmax, and chummy tees.’ Apparently I’m of poor health, drive a beater car, and need to up my fashion game.
To piggyback on the thank you; I found this article inspiring, and made me proud to be part of this community. I will go find the patreon button.
Well if we’re being really honest, I’m also getting Shake Weight ads…
Mine are all bike parts.
Student loans & gefilte fish (which is coincidentally the name of the worst thrash metal band of all time).
I haven’t heard Gefilte Fish yet, but I HAVE heard Gefilte Phish. They are not my jam.
Oh, and thanks to Rob for writing this piece and starting the discussion!
Random story..
As a kid I was bused from the suburbs outside Newark, DE to a po-dunk rural HS fifteen miles away, and suddenly found myself in HS with a pretty big redneck population. I’m far from a redneck.
I played football and would often drive kids home after practice since I was a middle class kid with a VW Rabbit. Lots of my friends were black, to me that was just life. My parents didn’t teach us much beyond be nice to everybody or else.
One day I was driving three of my teammates home after a summer practice who all lived in the same neighborhood. They were all black. I was stopped at a major intersection in that rotten town, and a city cop was on the opposite side of the intersection, facing us. One white face in the car, three black faces. Some girls we knew drove by and we beeped and waved at them.
When the light turned green, I went through the intersection, and so did the cop. But he made a quick U-turn behind me, and pulled me over. When he approached the car, he stuck his head all the way in my car to take a big old sniff. Nothing. I got a ticket for using my horn in a non-emergency situation.
My dad owned his own surveying business. He did a lot of work for attorneys, and mentioned to one of his attorney friends who practiced in that hillbilly town about my ticket. Norman said, “I’ll represent him for free.” It was a $50 ticket.
Norman went up before the judge and raked that officer over the coals, about the REAL reason I was pulled over. “If those kids were white, do you really think your honor Marty gets pulled over for honking his horn?” Norman lived, worked, and practiced in that small racist town. He would have known the judge and the cop personally. He took a stand. My ticket was thrown out.
Norman died last year, I went to school with his daughter so we’re connected. When he died it was like a celebrity died in that small town. I have no idea what his practice was like, but he felt the need to make an example out of someone when he heard about my ticket. His death was major news in that small little corner.
None of this means I am or am not a racist. I gladly choose to be judged by my actions, so I don’t really favor proclamations. But as far as being pulled over with three black friends in the car as a naive teenager, and what the lesson was for me, in my head I keep hearing a quote from Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in the film, No Country for Old Men;
“He’s seen the same things I’ve seen, and it’s certainly made an impression on me.”
Holy shit, Grant’s been fired!!!
Wow, Boogie got it done. Amazing!
RIP Grant Napear’s Administrative Leave
June 1, 2020 – June 2, 2020
Thanks for the memories, Grant! Anyone who is celebrating your exit makes me ashamed to be a Kings fan!
If you think what he said wasn’t a problem, then I’m ashamed you are a Kings fan.
Late to this because I’m busy and just in general try to stay away from the internet as much as possible.
I still wanted to say that I’m usually not a big fan of social media/internet “activism” but this is the kinda thing that has the potential to inspire people to actually do something. Love the wise words and respect you for writing this.
As someone with a background in public health research, I have seen firsthand the health disparities that are prevalent in minority and/or impoverished communities. The numbers don’t lie and they paint an ugly picture even in areas that we consider liberal where racism is no longer an issue (LOL). These patterns of inequality exist in our own communities and they exist across the world.
I also don’t want to be annoying/preachy but it is up to us to step away from the computer occasionally and make lasting change in whatever way we are able to. It starts with examining our own behavior and evaluating how we can do better as individuals. And hopefully many of us will be inspired to go out into our communities and contribute to a more equal world.
Badge Legend