It’s the tangent that won’t die …

Years ago, before the nationwide ebonics craze, a guy with a swastika inked onto the back of his neck introduced himself at a party we both happened to be at. He seemed civil enough - then he turned around and I saw his marking. My first thought was, “Now that he’s got a tattoo (of any sort), a Jewish cemetery won’t bury him. He’s really missing out.” My next thought was, “I bet this dude thinks he’s talking to someone else with disordered view points.” Things sizzled out from there.

Fast forward to more recent years: I’ve heard Neo-Nazis (mostly young males) greet each other with - and I say this with a straight face - “Wassssup?!”. I’ve heard one say “Haaail no”. Just like a Brother. While these oft confederate-waving, largely undereducated Caucasians are busy talking about the survival of their race and their culture, they’re also busy being Blackly hip. Some of these swastika-bearing biodegradables, would gladly rape and/or kill someone’s Black daughter and greet the White judge with “Wasssup nigga?”. It’s in the words and in the swagger: the tide of change has already started sweeping through. Cultures of all sorts are blending more than ever these days, despite prevailing race-related problems.

You may have noticed I’ve been using the term Black instead of African American. It’s not a PC thing. I’m lazy: it’s a waste of words. It’s generally obvious that someone who lives in America and has American citizenship is American. So it’s redundant. Do we generally call someone whose parents are from Scotland Scottish American? African, Black, Negroid, Colored … someone is always going to have a problem with whatever name is assigned to a political minority group. Many Africans I know prefer Black to African American. Some prefer colored. More than you’d think stopped caring a while back.

If you live in the US, I’ll assume your Nationality is American, okay? If you identify your people as being from Africa or Scotland or Greenland or Germany, I’ll assume you’re African, Scottish, etc. by ethnicity. Labels, including the “logic” of my system here, has flaws. It’s tiring to hear myself use this cliché, but: in the end, we’re all just people.

- R