The Day I Learned About Racism

My youngest brother Dan, though I love him to death, hasn't always been the brightest crayon in the box. Not to say that he's dumb, but he's a school of hard knocks kinda kid. It seems to me that things that would normally come easy to a person like myself, just don't dawn on him until it's too late.

For instance, at one point in his life Dan decided he wanted to be "Black". I don't mean it as a slur or anything, it's how he defined his want to be a rapper, a gansta and a playa. He wanted the whole shebang.

To this day I'm not sure what is so appealing to white, middle class children about the whole black suburban culture. Dan grew up with me in a tourist town in the middle of northern Michigan. I mean, you really can't get much more removed from the urban demographic than the open waters of Houghton Lake. But I digress:

One day Dan and my middle brother Andrew were traveling through Lansing. I don't know if Dan had been watching too much MTV's "Cribs" or if he had just gotten off a binge of BET, but Dan had learned some new lingo.

Andrew had stopped at a red light somewhere downtown, a group of young, thuggish, African American men were standing at the same street corner. Dan, out of complete ignorance, rolled down his window, leaned out and screamed "WHAT'S UP My N***AZ?!" (A claim to my innocence... I'm not sure how to spell N***az, or that it's even a word people use...)

Now, Dan had no idea of the implications of what he had just said, my brother Andrew on the other hand, did. Andrew blew through the red light and took off like a shot, both making him break the law and look guilty of sharing Dan's racist attitude.

I guess the guys at the street corner were livid and shouted at my brothers till they were out of sight.

When Andrew and Dan got home the whole family got a lecture from my parents about what a racial slur is and how the words used in rap songs and on BET arn't ones we are allowed to say. Dad wasn't able to explain why, just that it's how the world works and we have to abide by it.

Dan never did become a rapper, but he did move to the city, maybe it's still in his blood?