Ridiculousness.

This sht shouldn't happen here. . .

So, some idiots decided to burn three crosses in Durham a couple of weeks ago. After reading more about it lately, I realized that one of them was actually at the other end of our subdivision.

During the summer between my junior and senior year, I lived in the town where I went to college. The tiny town in rural North Carolina. It was known that the KKK was around that area. There was a bar up in the next town called the Korner Pub or something like that.

The summer that I lived there, I was dating a Ugandan exchange student (bet that was something that you didn't know about me.). I heard one day that there was going to be a Klan march through town. I remember being kind of scared. Like I thought the KKK was going to come and hunt down any people of color in town or something. I was afraid for Antony's safety. I went to warn him not to go near Main Street anytime that afternoon.

Honestly, I don't remember whether they came through or not. I think they did, but it wasn't a very big group and they were moving pretty quickly. I was disgusted and sickened by my brush with the KKK. How dare these people, these ignorant hateful people, be allowed to ride around spreading intimidation and fear.

When I heard about the cross burnings in Durham a few weeks ago, I thought, "What a stupid prank." In Durham, which is quite a bit larger than the tiny town where I went to college and much more progressive, did the KKK really think anybody would be intimidated by this? The KKK claims that they aren't responsible for them. Maybe just some stupid, misguided kids. We have a pretty vibrant gay community here in the Triangle, and some members think that the crosses were more directed at them. We also have many Hispanic people here and some think that the crosses were directed at them.

There was lots of public outcry and candlelight vigils held. Much of this outcry was expressed by the white liberal contingent of this area. It seemed a little over the top to me. Only because, I still figured it was some stupid prank and better handled by not paying attention to it, the same way that you ignore some idiotic person who's making ignorant comments, that everybody knows to be ignorant.

That's not to say at all that I think that problems of racism or any of the other -isms should be ignored and not talked about. And certainly, if this is more than an isolated incident and begins to escalate, then it should definitely not ignored.

I heard the author of a great book called Blood Done Sign My Name speak last Sunday. Actually, I haven't read the book yet, but it's on my list, and he was a riveting speaker. He tells the story of growing up in a small town in NC when a black man was murdered by a white guy in the community and the resulting trial in which the white guy was acquitted. Tim Tyson was a professor in Afro-American studies at the University of Madision, but is coming back to Duke University to work for a reconciliation center that they are setting up. He's got great insight into race relations in America.

OK, gotta go. Rescue Me is on.