WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG

Okay, I'm going to start this thing off with a little story from my boyhood. Stick with me here. I'm going somewhere with this. I was about seven years old, growing up in Franklin County, down in Southwestern Virginia. Now these were the days before civil rights, you have to keep that in mind.

On Saturday mornings, my mother would take my two brothers and me to the movie theater in Rocky Mount, the biggest town in the county. They had a kiddie show on Saturday mornings. She would let us out, go get her hair did (sic) or something and come back and pick us up.

Well, this one Saturday morning, I was sitting in the theater and the movie must have been especially boring because I got to looking around and I notice there's an upstairs to the theater. I doubt I had ever heard the word, "balcony." Anyway, I figure that this upstairs would be a neat place to watch the movie, so I go out into the lobby and start up the stairs. Now there are two ushers (white, of course) standing there and they stop me and ask me where I'm going. I tell them I want to go upstairs to watch the movie.

They look at each other and laugh, then the older guy says to me, "That's for the coloreds." I turn around and storm back into the theater where my brothers are sitting. I'm steamed. I sit down and whisper to my brother, "Why do they treat colored people better than white people? That's not fair."

I don't know how long after that it was that I realized that it was the other way around. Because in those days, blacks were treated like second class citizens. It was "those days" that Shirley Sherrod was talking about in her speech to the NAACP, even worse days for her personally.

So, where am I heading? It's this, despite the fact that Sherrod's story was more about how she learned to stop hating white people and start hating rich people, the truth is, she has some racist leanings. At least to this extent, she feels that whites have not always treated her right. And she's right.

You know what, I think there have been times when I've been mistreated because of my race. And, I bet anyone of you who is honest enough to admit it, would say the same thing.

Racism does exist. To some degree, it exsists in most of us. But I think intellectually most of us recognize that despite what went on decades ago, today most people are treated relatively fairly, not totally fairly, but mostly so.

Hence, I think most of us, black or white, or whatever shade we may be, would not try to stir up racial tensions. I would like to think that if I spoke at a gathering of the NAAWP, I wouldn't dwell on how I've been mistreated by blacks. Come to think of it, I don't think I'd speak before any organization that is just for "white people."

While I believe Shirley Sherrod is not some advocate of black power, I think she still harbors a lot of resentment. I might too if I were in her position, but the truth is, the government has taken pretty good care of her, up to last week that is. Her salary has been paid by a nation of taxpayers who are, if my calculations are correct, about 85% white.

And if it weren't for reactionaries in leadership positions, she would still be feeling pretty secure in that government job. That's a lot more than many of us can say, white or black.

Mrs. Sherrod spoke of taking the white farmer to one of his own kind - that white lawyer. It's pretty clear that she still holds to that basic belief. And, in my opinion, making someone "one of your own kind," or "one of those people," based upon the color of their skin is pretty racist. I may be wrong, because I'm not even sure what the real definition of a racist is. I think whoever comes up with a definition makes it exclusive of how they personally feel.

I think Mrs. Sherrod has racist tendencies. She may think I do. Neither of us would see it in ourselves. So, I'm not trying to sound superior to her, not like that ol' white farmer did, as she put it.

After the events of this past week, the people I feel the sorriest for are the comedy writers in Hollywood. They could never come up with stuff as good as the media and the government is acting out on the world stage. No matter how outrageous and shocking Hollywood may try to be, Washington has 'em beat.

Other than that, I'm not really sure how I feel about the Shirley Sherrod story. I do think she has a great name for a song. But, other than that, I guess my main assessment is this: No racist ever stands so tall as when she stoops to help a white man.