Racism in America - alive and well

"I hate Indians! They are cheap" the woman stated quite unabashedly. The outburst was uncalled for, inappropriate and certainly unprofessional. The woman then proceeded to dare me to write about that in my blog. I was shocked, literally and could feel my blood boiling.

If she could be this open about one group of minorities, what on earth did she think of me and furthermore, what would she say about me behind my back?

I could not, no, would not let this racism pass by. I commented that she had just made quite the sweeping statement. She then proudly sneered - yes, I am a racist! Racism and bigotry is insidious and hurts all of us. The biggest irony of the story is that this woman is married to an African American, albeit separated. She has a beautiful African American/caucasian daughter who is already showing signs of questioning her heritage and wondering why she is different than the other children in her predominantly caucasian neighborhood. The woman of whom I speak hails from the former Soviet Union and came to this country sans papers and worked under the table for quite some time until she became "legal".

How quickly they forget. There but for the grace of God go all of us. I am reminded of those great leaders who have preceded us, Dr. King, Gandhi, Mohammed, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, all of whom preached inclusion - not hatred and bigotry.

Yes, we might have a bi-racial President who self identifies as black - that is his choice, but the venom that has been spewed in his direction, no matter the cause, has been uncalled for and has created a chasm in this country the likes of which we have not seen since Dr. King was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights movement - they tried then to quash the rebellion, telling blacks that they were inferior and did not deserve equal treatment as whites, but the people would not be moved. They marched to Washington D.C. and ultimately their united voices were heard.

Yes, I am sad as I write this, but I am also hopeful that my four amazing sons will be amongst those who will turn this tide of racism and bigotry - they are biracial, two of them have children, one of whom was the sperm donor for a lesbian couple and of whom I could not be more proud.

We certainly have a long way to go and I implore all of you who read this to call out bigots and racists wherever they hide, covertly and overtly - they clearly do not share the American Dream and shame on them for not doing so!

Mel is ranting again

I was not impressed with Mr. Gibson's rant against Jews a while back. It was no surprise to me that he tripped over himself to apologize to his Jewish "friends" - what an idiot!

Fast forward, Mr. Gibson left his longtime wife and took up with a beautiful and much younger Eastern European woman. His recent rants against blacks, women and others add further fuel to the fire that would indicate that Mr. Gibson is noting more than a bigot.

I stopped having any respect for this former upstanding actor and father of many, devout Catholic after he spewed forth such hatred for Jews.

Let's see how this plays out.

Helen Thomas' improptu resignation from the media

I have long admired Helen Thomas and her ability to ask the tough questions as White House press conferences. One could always count on her intelligent and thought provoking questions while other younger and less bold reporters would ask simple and not so pointed questions during the regular conferences held in the Oval Office.

Not so, this past week. Ms. Thomas showed that she is, in fact, nothing more than a bigot. We have all certainly had opinions regarding the horrendous massacre at sea by the Israeli army recently and some sanctions should be surely forthcoming. This behavior is not to be tolerated from any army, and in this case, where it is being reported that many of the crew members of the ship were shot in the head, almost execution style, one has cause to pause.

Ms. Thomas let forth a tirade indicating that Jews should "go back" to Germany, Poland or other parts of the world. How sad an unfortunate that she chose such incendiary and inflammatory language when she is clearly a master of words.

I wish she had not resigned - on the contrary, she should have been fired on the spot - I am sure that behind the scenes, she was told to resign or else, but I really don't understand why her dignity was spared, particularly when she is clearly, as previously stated, nothing more than a bigot.

It is all to easy to let forth a tirade of racist slurs - those Jews, blacks, gays, fill in the blank with whichever group one happens to deem lesser than, and you get the picture.

Yes, she will be missed, but I am glad that we were able to see her true colors shining under the glare of the media spotlight - scrutinized for what they were.

Good riddance to bad rubbish and to my Jewish friends and associates - Shalom and may there be peace in Israel one day.