How far have we come? A little ditty about jack and diane....

[The Straight Story]

1982, and Jack and Diane was a hit. I remember it because my mom's name was Diane, and her best friend's husband was named Jack. I remember hearing this song while we visited family in Byesville, Ohio. Which is also where I remember when I was even younger being there and getting ready to head home and the news was talking about a Klan rally back in Columbus - and how I was scared and mom told me to pay em no mind as they were just a bunch of idiots.

Gay rights. Women's rights. Minority rights in general - we have come a long way from when I was a little boy.

People in my hood used to taunt each other - the insult? They called you a ni**** lover. We played a game called 'smear the queer'. Latinos were something we did not see here in the midwest - but we had a vision of them, they wore big hats, drank a lot, and liked tacos. Latino women wore colorful dresses and could dance.

In our small hood there were no blacks. Until Arthur and his family moved in when my best friend moved away. Several people moved away, others protested at their house and told em to get out of our place. Except my mom and her friend, who baked em a cake and welcomed here. I became friends with Arthur. He is now doing art work for cd covers.

2007: My best friend during the 80's? He is gay, and we have a lot of fond memories together. No one cares he is gay. Half of our hood (86 homes) are owned by black people. Their kids play with the white kids here. Our one neighbor is asian, and a good friend of mine since the day his family moved here - back in the early 80's. He being the only Asian here became close friends with Arthur, the only black kid (which is how I found out what Arthur is up to these days). Now we have about 7 Asian families here.

For the first time in my life, I am the minority where I live. In March I am moving back to California where once I lived - and I am moving into a mainly latino hood (and yes, we use the term hood here, mainly because we are too lazy to say neighborhood).

So yeah - the right has had power over these many years - but we have overcome at the local level.

But racism is alive and well - a quick illustration involving me:
My friend across the street. He moved down the street to a new house, his parents were longtime family friends. Both died recently and the house was sitting empty. They planned on selling it, and did what they could to clean up the property.

So I was outside one Sunday, and a car pulled up to the house. At first I thought nothing of it, as they had had people coming over to do work off and on. And then I noticed two black guys get out and walk around the back of the house. This set off my alarms.

Why? Because I knew my friend - he would not let a black guy within 10 feet of his house. I did not have his number so I called my other friend, who called him. No one was supposed to be there. I called the cops. Turns out these two guys were tearing out the copper cables attached to the house to sell. I got their plate number and the cops I assume caught em. When they saw me watching them rip out the cables they ran with what little they had. Damned shame for them too, I had a roll of it out back from when the cable company ran new lines and I would have been glad to give it to em :)

When my friend and his sister arrived I said something which they sadly agreed with: "I know you both, and no way in hell you would hire a black guy to work on your house, let alone on a Sunday" - and they agreed!

So yeah - we have come a long way, but sadly there is yet a long way to go.

But don't give up - 20-30 years ago things were a lot worse. We are progressing. We are making strides despite the government, not because of it. Because we are each educating people in a variety of ways.

The RW is a dying breed. Their apocalypse is at hand indeed, and they know it. The hoof beats they hear are not the four horsemen of the book of Revelation - they are the sounds of our horsemen, progress, love, racial equality, peace.