Racial Blue Shift

I find this article very encouraging. Or, more precisely, I find the attitude of the students involved very encouraging. The mother who complained is a product of the pack of idiots who've been selfishly and shamelessly aggrandizing power to themselves for years. But how they've done it--by playing the race card both inappropriately and endlessly--is even more infuriating than why they've done it. That deck, however, is nearly played out--a point these kids make very clear with their attitudes toward the entire incident.

I believe Mr. Richards, who obviously possesses a higher degree of intelligence and social awareness than his mother, sums it up quite nicely:

"Kunta Kinte--— that was over 300 years ago."

It looks like the current generation may have actually learned the lesson of true racial egalitarianism; it's obvious his mother's has not, in spite of--or perhaps because of--all their public blustering and sputtering. It is long past time for the likes of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Louis Farrakan to become a forgotten part of history. Their selfish actions and grandstanding over the last three decades are, in many ways, even more shameful than the discredited practice of human slavery.

And that's exactly what these kids are telling them: Go away. This is our millennium.

UPDATE:

In one of those wry twists of fate that the universe seems to relish, actor Frank Gorshin has died. Most people will remember him most prominently as The Riddler on the '60's television series Batman. I, however, remember him for a much different role, that of Commissioner Bele on the Star Trek episode, "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield."

If you're not familiar with the episode, Gorshin's was one of the very few Star Trek guest roles that ever earned an Emmy nomination, but more importantly, it bears directly and appropriately on the original subject of this entry. It was, in fact, one of Roddenberry's favorite episodes, as it was a spectacular example of the reason he created the show in the first place--as a metaphor for social issues of the day. In this case, the issue was racism--specifically, black versus white racism--and it made the point in a very effective manner.

I realize that thread of similarity is obscure to say the least, and that it makes James Burke's Connections series seem positively obtuse by comparison, but it struck me as fitting to include it as a footnote to the original post.