In the early part of my life, institutional racism was the sticky, sludgy bottom in the stream of our family's progress.

My father resented it more than he ever let on, and my mother, ever the fighter, found ways to poke a finger in the face of those controlling this not-so-invisible ceiling and wall that contained an entire segment of Americans.

Admittedly I write about this quite a bit. The reason is that I have a fairly unique perspective. When my friends talk about loving the series Mad Men, I am not in that club because the show's writers are deft at representing the aforementioned institution. It's just plain painful to watch. Sorry, my dad is the elevator operator, not the misogynist movers and shakers.

When something in the news presents an opportunity to expose you to this perspective, I like to give it a shot. Two things have come up recently that allow me to draw the race card.

First is the story about Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay. This presumably nice young couple live in a small parish (county) in Louisiana, and they wanted to get married. The justice of the peace in that jurisdiction is a man named Keith Bardwell. This kind of civil service goes on thousands of times a day, everyday. But because Mr. Bardwell refused to grant the petition of marriage to Beth and Terence, an interracial couple, it becomes news. It also illustrates that we have not grown very much as a society. I know this is one man in a rural part of a southern state, but are you okay with that as an excuse? In 1954 it was the rule, rather than the exception. Welcome to 1954.

The other topic is Rush Limbaugh and his attempt to own part of the NFL's St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh was widely criticized as making remarks that are at best insensitive, at worst racist. I have listened to Rush. He is hugely talented, outspoken and confident in his analysis of current events. Rush counts among his best friends Dr. Walter Williams and Justice Clarence Thomas, both conservative and both black. This is not a case of "some of my best friends..." he really likes these men and probably people of all colors. Rush likes people who think like he does, he has strong views about our society, our culture, but he is not a racist, not even close. To prevent him from owning a team is patently unfair and its own form of bigotry. Add to that the fact - yes fact- that the most incendiary comments attributed to Rush were never said, and you have a world class black-listing. Welcome to 1954.  

One thing I have learned about the race card is that it always has two sides. We may never become a completely colorblind society, but we can make progress if we remember that we are approaching the second decade of the 21st Century and leave the past right where it belongs.        



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