To use a colorful military phrase, Ralph Northam (Democratic Governor of Virginia) “stepped on his ‘crank’” BIG TIME!
I have no doubt he knew exactly that he was in that offensive college yearbook picture. Was it shameful? Yes. It was 1984, and he was 24 years old. That was nearly a quarter century after the Freedom Riders of 1961. How could he not realize it -- then or now?
What was truly shameful, however, were his denials and attempts to excuse it after the photo surfaced. A heartfelt apology was called for -- from the get-go! Take ownership of his white-privileged, racist past! Then tell us he’s grown over the years, what he’s tried to do to change our society for the better. Tell us what he’s doing from this point forward.
Now, on to Liam Neeson’s stunning admission that he wanted to kill any Black man in revenge for a friend’s rape. Shameful? Yes. A ‘primal urge’ indeed. But we are supposed to be socialized to overcome those primal urges.
Surprisingly, Neeson’s admission seems to generated more controversy than Northam’s weasel-wording. I leave that matter for another time. But what was heartening in Neeson’s case was that he knew he needed to get beyond that blind hatred. He sought spiritual guidance, confessing to a priest.
I sometimes call myself a ‘Bama-borne Boy. Born on the campus of what is now Auburn University, where my dad first taught. After a few years, our family moved back to the (then) progressive state of Wisconsin. But moving far from the Deep South didn’t mean leaving racism far behind. Milwaukee had its own not-so-subtle racism back then.
So, all this to say I’m so forever grateful for the solid values my mom and dad instilled in me. Dad, in particular, was adamant that we not use the ‘N word’ (nigger) or other racist insults. The term ‘African-American’ hadn’t yet come into use, so ‘Negro’ was the best he could come up with. He insisted we treat all people with equal respect. Both mom and dad put that into practice, setting an example for me and my siblings.
Disclaimer (mostly as a wink-&-nod to my wife, mind you): I’m hardly perfect. I don’t know how I might have grown up, had we continued to live in Alabama through the 1950s and 60s. But…
Thankfully, I was raised in a home and community where it would be inconceivable to do that ‘blackface’ thing, or to harbor mindless, murderous rage against any group of people.
We can all strive to overcome our worst human impulses, and to put the worst of our history behind us by embracing all humankind as worthy of our love and respect.
Two favorite pictures of Dad (in Mississippi) and Mom (in Whitewater)
Copyright © 2019-02-23, Mike Kruchoski, All Rights Reserved.
