The Grapes of Wrath Are Fomenting, Part 1
Writing by treason on Monday, 27 of February , 2006 at 8:01 am
“We are the world in small. A nation is a human thing. It does what we do, for our reasons. Surely, if we’re civilized, it must be possible to put the knives away. We can make peace. We have it in our hands.”
– Henry Plantagenet in James Goldman’s “The Lion In Winter”
Notice how words suddenly appear in the media? Soon everybody’s saying them - whether or not they know their definition or proper usage. The word of the moment is “xenophobic.” A couple weeks ago, when radical Muslims were burning flags and embassies and banning Havarti, the word was “fomenting.” Pundits on TV start it, then talk radio listeners pick it up. And then it’s everywhere. I swear I heard a woman in the produce aisle last week complain that the fruit in the store was already fomenting.
There are several meanings, but I think the one people intended was “to stir up, agitate, incite.” At the height of the Islamo-fascist rioting, our local paper printed a story about unrest at one of our city’s high schools. They referred to the problem as “ethnic tensions.” I have ethnic tensions myself. Every time I make pasta sauce I fret about the quality of the sausage. You think it’s easy finding good Italian sausage west of the Mississippi? It’s like finding a good bagel or edible bread. Good luck!
I didn’t read the article, but after I listened to local talk radio I realized the problem has nothing to do with cooking. Parents and former students called to say that this has been “fomenting” for a long time. Hispanic students hate both white and black students and beat the crap out of them whenever possible. Then the calls came in to say it isn’t true; it’s actually the Mexican students - from Mexico - who are forming violent gangs and making life miserable for everyone. Mixed kids aren’t even spared - everyone’s a target.
Angry parents called to complain that the teachers do nothing and things have gone from bad to worse since that new principal took over. That would be the one who was recently arrested for cocaine possession when he was pulled over for drunk driving. I love government schools.
I know this particular one because I spent three years at a non-profit that was spitting distance from it. The little hoodlums - er, I mean students - walked past my office window every day and banged on it for no apparent reason. They scratched the finish on my car and the windows, too. I still have a large smudge on the door where one kid ran a black marker across the white paint. Nice.
Sometimes I’d catch a glimpse of them as they sauntered by. I didn’t really notice what they looked like in relation to color or ethnicity - to me they all looked pretty much the same: surly. Life used to be simple: black and white. Now when we talk about race, the color wheel has spun out of control. When I lived in California the diversity was almost overwhelming. So many languages and dialects, and people from countries most of us can’t even find on a map. Like I’ve said here before, the potlucks at the company I worked for were legendary.
And that’s where I met T. When he and his brother were little, they raised themselves on the Berkeley campus while their mother was working on her master’s in Statistics. Not only is T one of the smartest people I know - maybe even the smartest - but he’s also the least racist person I’ve ever met. “Least racist” still makes it sound like he’s racist, just not much, so it’s not accurate. I’ve known him for over sixteen years and I haven’t found any propensity in him at all. I used to bring in a woman to facilitate seminars at the company we worked for a few years ago and she pulled me aside one day to say how much T impressed her.
“I watch him with other people and he talks to men and women, subordinates and management, and he doesn’t change for any of them. He’s the same person and he treats everyone the same way. With respect and fairness, but he’s honest and straightforward, too. I’ve never seen that before.”
“Yeah,” I said, “He just hates stupid people. Doesn’t care about color, religion, origin, politics, education - he just has no patience with stupidity at all. That’s his prejudice.”
Like Scalia, he doesn’t suffer fools gladly. And I’m not talking about intellect or educational background here. It’s how I’d describe the behavior - or lack of it - at this high school. These kids are acting stupid. T claims that the younger generation isn’t racist and they’re color blind, but it’s all the talk about racism that’s causing trouble. I don’t know what it is. To me, you put a group of kids together and you’ve got Lord of the Flies.
To be continued…
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