Understanding

 

White Privilege? 

I, like many other white folks, bristle when accused of “white privilege” I did not grow up rich. I had to work if I wanted anything. I did not see the privilege. Then I got to know some black friends and witnessed that they were treated differently.  They were good people. Our only difference seemed to be their color.

As I considered this, I realized that it was not so much that white people shouldn’t be treated well, but that my black friends should get the same “privilege”. Some of us don’t consider it a privilege but fairness, basic human rights.

I have been blessed with friends of different colors and ethnic groups. They are people who work hard, people who care, who love their families and their country.

I have been a soldier wearing my uniform who was refused service because the soldier I was with was not white. Thank God much has changed. But bias persists.

Each generation must fight against bias, whether by the majority or the minority. But understanding only comes if we get to know one another as people, not categories. We can’t live in the past but we can be informed by it.

Now for a Lighter Note

I want to share with you information about a very good, but unusual music CD.  It’s called Rythm Country & Blues. It has R&B and Country artists teaming up. Following are a list of the pairings.

• Vince Gill and Gladys Knight
• Al Green and Lyle Lovett
• Aaron Neville and Trisha Yearwood
• Little Richard and Tanya Tucker
• Patti LaBelle and Travis Tritt
• Sam Moore and Conway Twitty
• Clint Black and the Pointer Sisters
• Natalie Cole and Reba McEntire
• Chet Atkins and Allan Toussant
• The Staple Singers and Marty Stuart
• George Jones and B.B.King

If you are curious some of those duets are on YouTube. I enjoyed the music myself.

Humor

• Logic- the ability to be wrong with confidence.
• How do you get down from an elephant? You don’t get down from an elephant’ You get down from a duck.
• A survey has revealed that cigarettes are the most significant cause of statistics in the world today.
• Never answer an anonymous letter. Yogi Berra
• What’s the definition of minor surgery? An operation performed on somebody else.
• Time is said to heal all wounds, so is the bellybutton a notable exception?

Have a great weekend and following week.