Culture Clashes

Former President Jimmy Carter hit the news yesterday by saying that he believed some of the strong opposition to President Barack Obama was driven by racism.

It's a delicate subject. But we all know that it still certainly exists.

One quote I always remember from former President Ronald Reagan was "Being an actor prepared me for being President."

I didn't care for that.

I had a former boss who once told me, "If you have something bad to say never put it in writing so you can deny it if you have to." He was also a strong believer in the benefits of acting, of being ingenuine.

I didn't care for that either.

I always thought that one of President Carter's greatest faults was that he was painfully honest. Honesty is something we're not used to in Washington.

It may be strange to mix in a quote from the cartoon show "King of the Hill," but I always remember one episode when Hank Hill was accused of being a racist and he responded emphatically, "That's not true! I hate people of every color!"

There is no doubt that one of the main causes of racism is ignorance, which breeds fear of the unknown, which creates prejudice. Many people are just uncomfortable with what they're not accustomed to.

Personally I'm not necessarily concerned with what names different cultures prefer. Whenever people ask me what I like to be called, Jim? Jimmy? Bert? I always say, "I don't care. "Hey you. Hey goofball." Whatever works for you.

When I was a newspaper reporter we were directed to use the word Hispanic. Then at some point that changed and we were directed to use the word Latino.

Of course we're all using the term African-American. But does that mean that I have to be called Irish-American? Or German-American? Or Irish-German-American? Maybe we can just all be Americans?

I do not doubt that there is some underlying racism attached to the irrational attacks on our current President. I knew as soon as President Obama took office that it would be one of the challenges he faced.

I've experienced racism. I know what it's like.

When I was a newspaper reporter in Philadelphia I met a lot of writers from the Philadelphia Inquirer and worked hard to try to land a job with the paper. It wasn't just a much more prestigious paper but my salary would have more than doubled.

After months of trying one of my peers at the Inquirer finally pulled me aside and said, "Jim, I'm sorry. I don't think it's fair. But unless you change the color of your skin, or grow boobs, or both, there's no way you have a chance right now."

It was such a horrible feeling. I was considered talented enough, skilled enough. But I couldn't be hired because I was a white man. I always felt that reverse racism wasn't the proper way to correct racism from the past. It didn't make sense to correct one mistake by making that same mistake again.

There are a lot of white people that I like a lot, and there are some I just don't care for. There are a lot of black people I like a lot, and there are some I just don't care for. There are a lot of yellow, orange, red, blue, purple people I like a lot, and some I just don't care for.

People are who they are on the inside. We all have to judge others by their content not their color. And at the end of the day...who are we quite frankly to judge.

I've played a lot of basketball. There have been plenty of times I've showed up at the playground and have been the only white guy in sight. I'd hear the teasing, the jokes, the heckling. But once I stepped on the court, dropped a fake, dribbled the ball behind my back and hit nothing but net with a fading jump shot from the corner...it was all good.