Race has Nothing to do with Metropolitan Broadband

To underscore the inanities of racism, we have this video, also from SNL, from the 1980s, my guess - based on Eddie Murphy's youth?? Here's a different perspective...

Then, there's Chris Rock ... what would a tour through racial humor be without Chris Rock ... it's harsh, and funny, but who can argue that this subject isn't complex? ...hold on to your hat...

How about Dave Chappelle? As a blind KKK white power monger? How stupid can racists be?

Or something from across the pond?

And for me, the classic, from Mel Brooks ..."the sheriff is a ...." and "excuse me while I whip this out." and "the next man makes a move, the n**** gets it."

On a more thoughtful note, I remember these scenes from Star Trek when I was about 10, but often, I watched the show in .... black and white ...hmmmmmmm.

OK, after all that, I feel a need to clean it up a bit ... so, here's the cleaner side of Chris Rock ...introducing Barack Obama...

Now, here we are, in the 2000s ...all kidding aside, let's hope that some day soon we no longer need to look to Saturday Night Live, or Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy or Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle or Mel Brooks and Cleavon Little or any other comedic geniuses to tell us what we all know - racism may be hilarious and really really funny when lampooned, but at its heart, racism is stupid, and racists are morons and deserve our undying disrespect.

Racism should die out, racists deserve our scorn wherever we encounter them, and the sooner racism is gone, the better...for my kids, and yours. It's a cancer in our society.

We've had to look to comedians to laugh instead of crying, because our society is sick. This is sad, it's messed up ... For truth about Race in America, we need to start talking about it and forge a consensus that it is simply intolerable..I think that this speech will weather the winds of time and be seen as an historic event. Enjoy.

I loved my grandfather, but he was a racist, born in Georgia in 1902 and raised in deep East Texas, dying in the 1980s. I loved my uncle, but he was a racist too. They're both long gone, but their memories linger. It was painful to watch them and hear their hateful comments growing up, and I never felt comfortable watching them express their scorn for black people. They looked ignorant as they spoke, and they were, yet I loved them. It was confusing to a young boy growing up. Racism is complex, but it is wrong.

Though racism is a complex issue, that's all the more reason to address it and find our common bonds and come together as a community to celebrate our humanity together and repair our wounds. We should continue to laugh at the stupidness of racism, but we should also work together to make racism a thing of the past.