In a perfect world everyone gets along and appreciates each others differences. In a perfect world everyone is equal and racism is unheard of…Once again we are reminded that we do not live in a perfect world. No matter the shade of our rose tinted glasses we are presented with reality in black and white. We do not live in a perfect world. We live in an imperfect world with imperfect people.

It is our imperfections that cause grief, insecurity, hate, racism….to name a few.

We would like to think that we’ve come along way over the years but how far have we really come? It is very easy to proclaim that racism is a thing of the past when ones race is not the target ism. Last night my sister (a junior at UC Davis) made mention of racism on UC campuses. She went on to express her disgust with the incident at the University of Missouri… apparently some folks thought it would be amusing to scatter cotton balls outside of the University’s Black Culture Center.

Now wait a cotton picking minute!

C O T T O N outside of a Black Culture center is like swastikas outside a synagogue! It is a very deliberate statement which should be clear to even the rose tinted glasses wearers.

Apparently the cotton sprites showed up at UC San Diego too…they left the cotton in Missouri but chose a N O O S E to show their love. Of course there’s a rational explanation for both the cotton balls and the noose. Of course people are jumping to conclusions neither incident has anything to do with racism….Of course its easy for someone that does not experience covert and overt racism almost on a daily basis to explain all of these things away.

The explanations and excuses are just as ridiculous as the acts. Lets just all be honest about the world that we live in and what’s really going on. Just because you have not experienced racism…just because you are not a racist does not mean that it does not exist. 165 years of slavery being abolished, approximately 47 years of Civil Rights, and a Black POTUS does not eliminate the ROOTS of racism woven throughout American culture. The truth is racism is as American as Apple Pie! We can lie about it or keep covering up and pretending.

Its not rocket science. Look at racial disparities on a wide range of issues from education to health to unemployment….

What rose tinted glasses wearers REFUSE to see is that racism is not limited to a person or people disliking a particular race…. Racism is also institutional…
I N S T I T U T I O N A L R A C I S M

I’m not making this stuff up rose tinted glasses wearer! I am neither over sensitive or a “race card ” “victim” player. I’m reporting to you live Straight Outta Compton. If it walk like a duck, quack like a duck, it must be a duck!

To the racist sprites sprinkling racism dust on colleges campuses and places in between… thanks for the timely reminder and motivation. Your cowardly acts do not scare or intimidate…they do just the opposite.

While you’re sneaking around strategically placing cotton balls and learning to tie nooses… the very people you’re hating on are on a far more productive mission…My Alma Mater explains like this:

O Hampton, we never can make thee a song
Except as our lives do the singing,
In service that will thy great spirit prolong,
And send it through centuries ringing!

Kind mother, we’ll treasure the dear happy days
We’ve spent here in life’s preparation,
Yet go with brave hearts upon our chosen ways,
Of service to God and our nation.

You better learn to like us and learn to live with us those nooses and cotton balls don’t stop the progress. Lean wit it, rock wit it, Get On Board Wit!