i’m just saying…

so, all kinds of statements are coming out about what has been said behind closed doors and boldly enough, some statements made in public interviews.  i’ve always had a curiosity as to what is a good response for people who you like and people who supposedly like you, when they say something very off-handed about one as a person of color.

recently, we’ve heard a few statements from “friends” of president obama.  funny thing is, when speaking of the current pres.  those making statements refer to him as “this guy.”  i guess that would be much better than some other socially unacceptable term, i guess.  anyhoo, bill clinton has been quoted as saying, “a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee”, harry reid has been quoted as commenting on why the pres. was/is a good candidate for pres., “light skinned” with “no negro dialect” – except, of course  when he wants it.  and of course there’s the hair rod blagojevich, who says,  “I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived,” Blagojevich said. “I saw it all growing up.” 

one can read into any of what has been said and choose to be offended. is it worth it?  it’s all distractions and has the potential to keep one from being focused on what really matters.  what i have learned to do is let actions speak for who i am.  i’ve heard all types of dumb head statements in my day.  my response is much different from what it once was and those crazy  statements, comments, opinions, etc.,  just seem so laughable at times.

re:  dialect (harry reid) – whether one has a dialect of sorts or not, it has no bearing on whether the person is capable and intelligent

re:  this guys getting coffee (bill clinton) – well, quite a few years back, fetching coffee would have been one of the few options, BUT NOT ANYMORE!!! thank God, we’ve come a long way baby! because of our progression (tongue in cheek) we can choose to be someone who pours coffee or leader of the free world.  the choices we have are endless…unlike way way way way way back in the day

re:  the hair rod blagojevich’s comment – well, let’s see, i did not know that shining shoes, living in a small apartment, having a business in a black community and “having seen it all” constitutes being black.  i’ve been a brown person all my life and those factors that the hair  rod was talking about are such old stereotypes that he sounds as stupid as his hair looks.  no one, brown person or otherwise,  is ever synonymous with where they come from. or even their socioeconomic status or even their occupation.  so, as i go into my closet and shine my 3 inch stilettos while i munch on a chicken sandwich and satisfy my craving of watermelon, i will remember that in this lifetime of mine, i will “see it all” and hear it all and it won’t mean a hill of pinto beans and corn bread to me.  (yes, i laugh as i say this but i really really am craving watermelon. really)

re:  being offended – no need to be!  choose not to be!  really, there is no need to get all up in arms because it certainly can’t change the value of one as a human being.  i’m just sayin…

now i’m pretty sure that lots of other politicians, friends of the pres., friends of mine, and heck, maybe even friends of yours, may have said some off-handed things as we’ve come through this really really hot political season.  in fact, i’m surprised at quite a few things i’ve heard come out of some folks mouths, however, sometimes, stupid is as stupid says. we have all said some really stupid stuff and after it has flowed from our lips, we wish we could take back.  i’m just saying