Nowhere to go but up!

Wow, can you believe it? Pinch me! The nightmare (Bush) is over! I unashamedly wept when Barack took the (muddled) oath of office. A very dramatic moment for us all. Now that the seemingly impossible is fact, seems like the general tenor of the people is "see what we did." We're much better than that, racism has been confronted and is now dead. As a people, we can be justly proud of Barak's achievement, but do we truly think that we have matured beyond our racist past?




In some ways, the national euphoria over Obama as being "our guy" reminds me of the way earlier in our history another African-American was nationally embraced . Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber. I remember my father declaring that "he was a credit to his race." I didn't think anything of it at the time, but on reflection it was not a kind remark because of the implication, that he was okay, but not the "others." But Barak is more than an African-American. He was elected in spite of his race, not because race no longer matters, but because of his vision, character and intellect. He would have been elected president no matter what his race or creed. We need him at this time.



But racism is still our bete noir and not too well disguised. If you don't believe me, then listen to someone who knows. I recently read "Not a Genuine Black Man," a biography of Brian Copeland, KGO radio talk host and stand up comedian here in the Bay Area. Brian grew up in the "progressive" Bay Area during the enlightened 70's. Unfortunately for Brian, his mother moved his family to San Leandro, a white bastion in the region. San Leandroans were proud of their exclusivity and guarded it zealously. There Brian experienced racism of a level that rivals the worst that the South had to offer in the 40's! Granted there were no lynchings, but does getting stoned (hit by rocks) by neighborhood hooligans count? How about being arrested for carrying a baseball bat to the local park, oh, and by the way, he was nine years old at the time!

Intolerance appears in many guises, such as the passage of Proposition 8, banning same sex marriage. A simple majority decided they had the right to discriminate. Brian, in his book, reminds us that in the 60's, after Brown vs. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1965 had made discrimination unconstitutional, that a majority of Californians also passed Proposition 14, which repealed the "Rumsford Act," a California State law prohibiting discrimination in housing! The California Supreme Court rightfully found that initiative to be in violation of the State constitution's equal rights provisions.

So what does all this mean? To me it means we can be proud of this moment (the inauguration of Barak Obama) but that the struggle to rise above our racist past and intolerance for rights of minorities is not over.

We have no where to go but up, and it is still a long way to go.

Here We Go Again!

Well, one year gone and another one started. Reviewing my plans vs. accomplishments for the year past, there are some pluses and some minuses.





My first goal was to ride my bicycle at least 50 miles per week (that would have resulted in a total of about 2500 miles). I actually rode a little over 1000 miles, or about 20 miles per week. I'll be mounting a new set of tires and changing the battery on my cyclometer this week to start a new quest. My goal is at least 30 miles per week.




The second goal was to learn to play the guitar. I dropped that early in February. I just could not get my finger tips hard enough to play the steel strings. Not a total loss, however, as I gave my guitar to my grandson, James, who took it with him to his new duty station at Ft. Riley, Kansas.



Learning Spanish was a smashing success. While I did not get a chance to attend a full-immersion Spanish School, I did get a chance to travel to Mexico and use my new skills with natives. Watching telenovelas on TV and listening to Spanish radio for a full year was very beneficial. I hope to travel to Costa Rica on another Rotary humanitarian mission this summer. And I still plan to attend a full immersion school in Mexico, but probably not this year.




The last goal related to success in my fishing ventures. We started out pretty strong, but I got sidelined in May through July when one of our cats became seriously ill requiring full time nursing. You can see the results of some of our trips in my postings for last year. The most successful outing was the last one, to the Kennedy Meadows area of the Sierras. I brought home 5 good size rainbow trout that currently reside in my freezer. This year I hope not only to get out more often, but to also try some fishing for stripers in the Sacramento Delta.

I have a few additional goals for this year related to our house. I hope to finally get the house painted (outside) and to clear the garage out enough to be able to park at least one car inside. That will require some serious de-crapping and the elimination of 20 years of accumulated clutter. Also want to install a gas burning insert in our woodburning fireplace.

Let the games begin!