Mixing Races Led To Mixing Animals

I don't think this school's mascot would fly now. (No wonder kids used to think smoking was cool!)

Today, Rocky Mount High School's mascot is the Gryphon.

A little history to explain why the school's mascot changed:

The Rocky Mount High School of today actually took its present form in the 1968-69 school year. By then the decision had already been reached to close Booker T. Washington and to educate all of Rocky Mount’s high school students at an enlarged RMSH facility. If the actual merger in the fall of 1969 was to be a marriage of two fine traditions into a new entity, the 1968-69 school year was the engagement period. Significant construction took place at RMSH to accommodate the influx of students from Booker T. Also, student, faculty and community committees from both schools worked hard to meld the two into one new school while preserving the best of each. The old mascots, the Blackbirds and the Lions, were not cast off or discarded; rather they were reverently retired in favor of a new mascot – part bird, part lion – that symbolized the continuation, rather than the termination, of both hallowed traditions. The royal blue and gold of Booker T. Washington and the black and gold that Rocky Mount Senior High had inherited from the old Rocky Mount High School on Marigold Street were combined, not discarded. The color “blue-black” (actually, dark navy blue) was adopted by the student body to go with the gold that was already common to both schools. Student government, cheerleading, and similar activities were to be shared between students from the predecessor schools by a formula that strove for equitable apportionment. The principalship was to be shared and the faculties combined. The stage was well prepared for a merger that incorporated, respected and preserved both traditions.

My Dad and his siblings were Blackbirds, and in their lifetimes, the world sure has changed a lot. I wonder if current students know and appreciate the history behind their mascot.

Alcohol on the Brain

A Sunday News & Record article raised the issue of how far we're willing to punish DWIs that do not result in someone being killed.

That same day, the News & Observer pointed out how drunken-driving suspects are sometimes arrested, processed, and shortly turned loose, allowing some of them to be caught a second time for the same offense within hours of their release.

Today's News & Record included an editorial on the subject.

Joe Guarino's thoughts.

Some of my own.

Let's Reconsider Our Love Affair With Alcohol

There are certain love affairs that we are better off ending--or better yet, never starting.

America's love affair with alcohol comes to mind.

I'm not naive enough to suggest that we try Prohibition again. Just as it didn't before, it wouldn't work now. Trying to implement it would only produce an ugly backlash and make criminals out of otherwise decent human beings. It'd end up doing more harm than good, just as it did the last time we gave it a try.

But wouldn't we be better off gradually changing the culture that leads to our childlike infatuation with alcohol?

There's already a road map in place for where we might go with this. Think about where our culture has gone with cigarette smoking. Rather drastic changes have occurred, even in my lifetime, that I'm sure once would have been regarded as impossible and even foolish to try to bring about. And I'm even talking about in North Carolina, a land well-connected to tobacco.

Let's start with advertising. Cigarette ads used to appear on television and radio, but by an act of Congress, they stopped shortly before I was born. Just as it's difficult for us now to imagine a world without beer commercials, I'm sure some people never expected a ban on cigarette TV ads to succeed. (I don't know if cigarette TV ads were ever as entertaining as beer ads, but if we ever do away with beer advertisements, I hope their creators transfer their energy and enthusiasm to advertising soap or other innocuous products.) After getting rid of alcohol advertising on television, we can look at getting rid of its advertising elsewhere.

Smoking doesn't occur in a lot of places where it was once commonplace. That's because it's not allowed in those places anymore. Gradually, rules/laws against smoking in different public places have taken over. Many businesses have taken the initiative themselves to ban smoking. While there are also some limits on when and where alcohol can be purchased and consumed, maybe we can find other ways and more places to curtail drinking. We've already managed to make smoking even less socially acceptable; maybe we can do the same with drinking.

On more personal levels, maybe we need to reconsider the messages we deliver to our children and fellow adults about alcohol. Do we wink knowingly and too easily at the notion of underage drinking? Do we celebrate and encourage drinking more than we should? Is our complacent approval of excessive drinking responsible for the horrible consequences that sometimes result (even if we don't drink excessively ourselves)?

I'm not saying that we need to get rid of alcohol. But might we move our society in a better direction by discontinuing our glamorization of alcohol use?

Think about Tolly Carr and other unfortunate drunks who have made the fateful decision under the influence of alcohol to drink and drive. And who, by so doing, have managed to harm and kill themselves and others.

Think even more about the far greater victims (the innocent ones) who have been hurt and killed by drunk drivers.

Think about the men and women who have found themselves in compromising sexual situations that one or both otherwise would never have chosen. And who sometimes suffer the future unintended consequences of such loveless encounters.

Think about the people who are--with the help of a little alcohol--able to sacrifice all inhibitions, including the one that would prevent them ever ignoring a sincere, perhaps desperate "no!"

Think about the people who find themselves without their usual strength to resist an undesired sexual pursuit.

Think about the otherwise good husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, lovers, friends, and strangers who manage to become human monsters under alcohol's influence, inflicting pain and misery upon anyone in their drunk path.

Think about the individuals who find themselves incapable of adequately responding to life's unexpected emergencies because of the condition in which their drinking has left them.

Sure, there are countless people out there who drink without ever becoming a burden or a menace.

But we too casually accept the problems alcohol too often creates.

And I'm not sure if our society has adequately analyzed its own responsibility for alcohol-influenced tragedies.

We casually cheer and promote a drug that we know changes people and affects their decision-making, sometimes drastically and sometimes for the worst. Alcohol's impact on a person can't be predicted prior to its use. So in a sense, we encourage a game of Russian Roulette: will you be one of the people who can handle his booze responsibly? Or will you be one who turns into a drunk menace to our society?

We've already proven our ability to change our culture's acceptance of an unnecessary, damaging, but legal product.

Maybe it's time we begin changing our culture's unquestioning embrace of another unnecessary, too-often damaging, but legal product.

Loosely Connecting St. Cassian, The Lottery, and Half-Nelson

Eric Fink, associate professor at the Elon University School of Law, brought this image and description to my attention.

More background: "St. Cassian, like all good martyrs, was executed for refusing to renounce his beliefs. What's interesting about his case, though, is that he was sentenced to die at the hands of his pupils, whom he taught to read and write (and, apparently, to use shorthand)."

Even back then, students apparently had strange ways of showing their teachers respect and appreciation.

The barbarism toward St. Cassian reminds me of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. In both cases, children are encouraged to participate fully in cruel and unusual acts. Though unpleasant, The Lottery has the potential to make us think more deeply about ourselves and our ways. We might want to argue that nothing in our culture even remotely compares to what Jackson describes, but we too have our own modest traditions that we tend to accept unquestioningly. If you haven't already, I'd encourage you to read Jackson's short story.

Much less directly, I thought of a fairly recent movie about a teacher who punishes himself through drug use. An otherwise inspiring teacher, Dan Dunne leads a lifestyle that puts his life and career in jeopardy. Though also unpleasant, "Half Nelson" features impressive acting and challenging issues for us to consider. It's well-worth renting and watching.

GPD To Host Drug and Gang Awareness Forum Aug. 28

Currently advertised on the front page of the City of Greensboro's website:

Drug and Gang Awareness Forum

Parents, grandparents and caregivers are encouraged to attend.

The Greensboro Police Department is hosting a Drug and Gang Awareness Educational Forum on Tuesday, August 28 from 6:30 to 8 pm in Webb Hall on the NC A&T State University campus.

Parents, grandparents and caregivers of children and teenagers are encouraged to attend this free workshop to learn how to identify the signs of drug and gang involvement and how to determine the best course of action.

The forum will be presented by Detective Ernest Cuthbertson.

I've missed any previous announcements about this event and thought others might share my interest in knowing about it.

Is Imani Graffiti Gang-Related?

Close to 6:30 PM tonight, I parked near the corner of Market Street and Church Street, across the street from the News & Record.

I was on my way to attend this event.

Walking along the sidewalk, I suddenly saw something to my left that made me stop and take a closer look.

At the site of the now-closed Imani Institute, this is what I saw:





Actually, I saw more than you just saw.

But the way the lighting worked, my camera couldn't capture the image as my own eyes saw it. (You can get some of the effect, but not the full effect.)

Not to worry.

Right about 9:00 PM, the Greensboro City Council candidates' forum ended.

After talking to a few old friends, I left the Greensboro Public Library and walked back to my car.

But before I made it back to my car, I stopped to see if I could take a better picture.

It was worth the time and effort to capture this powerful juxtaposition:



Does the graffiti mean anything?

Is it gang-related?

I honestly can't read it myself, so I can't answer my own questions.

Gang-related or not, it represents a public eyesore.

Either way, it seemed appropriate to post this after attending a candidates' forum that included some discussion about what appears to be a growing gang problem in Greensboro.

Too Much Pollution in the Blogosphere?

John Robinson made some provocative points in this post.

I posted my initial response here.

Confessions of a Two-Way Traitor

traitor: one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation.

There's no getting around it.

By definition, I'm a traitor.

Worse, I'm a two-way traitor.

Yes, a back-and-forth traitor, probably the most disgusting, least respectable kind there is.

If being a traitor means being regarded as a sinner, I've sinned pretty much my entire life, starting as a child.

Both my parents graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

They had two sons.

By birthright, brother Brice and I should have followed in our parents' heels and become Tar Heels.

Brother Brice, in case you don't know, is the Good Son.

And to spell things out a little more, Brother Hardy (that's me) is the Bad Son.

So even if you don't know me well enough to know this already, you've probably put the context clues together and figured out that, for some reason, something went very wrong, and the Carolina-Blue Blood that should have flowed to my brain and through my heart didn't.

Somehow, a very different color of blood got into my bloodstream.

Some people would say it's the same color, only a darker shade.

But the difference between having Carolina-Blue Blood and having Duke-Blue Blood is as great as the difference between being a Capulet and being a Montague.

In both cases, there's not supposed to be any mixing going on.

I don't know how that darker blood got into my bloodstream.

I'm guessing that one night, while I slept, a Blue Devil snuck into my bedroom, put his fangs to my throat, and took a bite.

Maybe he used his pitchfork as an IV instead.

However it was done, the deed was done, and before I reached adolescence, I was a full-fledged Little Blue Devil myself.

Few Tar Heels will understand this, but for some reason, my parents didn't put me up for adoption.

They even allowed me to attend the Duke Basketball Camp. Twice.

Of course, back then, Coach K and his program weren't what they are today.

And it wasn't like my parents were providing Coach K a future weapon against the Tar Heel basketball team.

Back then, I was as loud and obnoxious a Duke fan as you can imagine.

When I went to football and basketball games with my family, we always sat in the Carolina section, but that didn't stop me from yelling and screaming as loud as I could for my beloved Blue Devils.

I can only realize now what an embarassment I must have been for my parents.

They still loved me anyway.

Or at least pretended they did.

As I grew older, Duke basketball got better.

A lot better.

(I must have been a True Fan. I was pulling for Duke when they weren't winning. And I wasn't bad-mouthing their coaches or players, demanding changes, or just keeping quiet. I only pulled for them louder and harder.)

Duke got very close to winning a national championship during my high school years.

It just wasn't meant to be.

Then, I did what no Good Blue Devil should ever do: I entered Tar Heel Land as a student.

I got a very good scholarship and decided to become a sell-out.

And at the end of my freshman year, Duke won its first national championship.

I was probably the only Carolina student secretly cheering inside that Duke had finally won the Big Game.

(I was old enough to know by then that to maintain good health in Chapel Hill, I needed to keep closely hidden the fact that I was a Blue Devil at heart.)

I earned my degree at Carolina, and I have fond memories of my college years.

Today, when it comes to athletic allegiances, I'm a two-way traitor.

I can watch or attend a game between Carolina and Duke and honestly be happy regardless of the outcome.

When Duke's won its national championships, I've been a proud Blue Devil.

When Carolina's won its national championships, I've been a proud Tar Heel.

I know, I know. None of this is acceptable, anyway you look at it.

All I can ask is this:

Please forgive me.

Duke Lacrosse Case Should Be Used To Kill Death Penalty

You get the impression that some folks regard what happened to the three Duke lacrosse players as the worst injustice ever.

I agree that it was an injustice.


David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann experienced what no one should ever have to suffer through: finding themselves accused of something they had not done.

For a year, their lives were rudely interrupted.


For the rest of their lives, a cloudy asterick will remain beside their names.

"It’s changed my life forever, no matter what happens from here on out. It’s probably gonna be something that defines me my whole life," Finnerty told Ed Bradley in a "60 Minutes" interview.

I am glad that it only took a year to clear the Duke students' names.

They now have the opportunity to move forward with their lives.

As upset as some people are about what happened to these three young men, I haven't sensed the response that should follow.

While their case was never a death penalty case, what happened to them serves only as the most recent evidence that the death penalty needs to be abolished in our state and in our nation. (A moratorium is not enough.)

I assume that false accusations, such as the ones made by Crystal Gail Mangum, are rare.

I assume that prosecutors like Mike Nifong are even less common.

I like to believe the best about people.

I like to believe the best about our judicial system.

I like to believe the best about America.

But no human being and no institution is immune to imperfections, whether those imperfections result from accidents or intentionally carried out acts.

We can look back now and say that the system worked.

The three Duke students were exonerated.

They were never found guilty in a court of law.

But that ignores how far the case did go and how quickly things spiraled out of control.

If the case went as far as it did, isn't it possible that it could have gone further?

What if the accused had not come from families who could afford the best lawyers money can buy?

What if Nifong had taken a more subtle inital approach, drawing less attention to the case than it so quickly received and maintained? (To an extent, the Duke students are actually lucky that Nifong handled the case as he did. Otherwise, their situation might have slipped under the radar.)

What if the accuser had been a better liar than she ultimately proved to be?

What if there had not been racial and socioeconomic differences between the accused and the accuser?

What if a jury had convicted the three Duke students?

What if there hadn't been evidence to support the students' claims of innocence?

What if their reputations had been worse than merely sometimes out of control partying-players, making it even easier for people to assume their guilt?

What if they had been accused of a death-penalty-eligible crime?

It shouldn't take great imaginations to see the all-too-real possibility of others being wrongfully accused of crimes and actually finding themselves convicted, thrown in jail, and even awaiting their undeserved executions.

The Duke players are alive, free, and without fatal wounds.

The same goes for Ronald Cotton and Darryl Hunt, two wrongfully accused men who suffered much more and much longer than the Duke students even came close to suffering.

But if we execute a person and later discover that that person is innocent, we cannot undo that crime.

Such a risk is unacceptable.

It's not worth risking the execution of one innocent individual for the sake of being able to execute a million guilty individuals.

If you can argue that such a sacrifice of the innocent is aceptable, then you can argue that it's no big deal what the Duke players or Ronald Cotton or Darryl Hunt went through.

In each of these cases, it is of course a very big deal what these fellow human beings suffered.

But none of their cases would begin to compare to the actual execution of an innocent human being.

If we actually believe that what happened to the Duke players is inexcusable, we should demand that our North Carolina legislators and governor abolish the death penalty.

And that effort should be carried out on a national level as well.

A Struggling Cartoonist

When this cartoon first appeared over at Plead the First, several people noticed.

A few days later, a second cartoon drew my attention.

Adding a local political cartoonist was one of the best additions to the News & Record's editorial pages.

It had not made any sense that the daily newspaper for an area as material-rich as Greensboro/Guilford County hadn't had its own cartoonist to exploit and expose deserving individuals and incidents.

I definitely believe that certain individuals need to be challenged and that certain incidents need to be exposed.

A good cartoonist has a powerful tool (or weapon) at his disposal: the ability to draw images that, sometimes combined with just a few words, have the ability to challenge our thinking about and our understanding of the world around us.

A good writer or a good speaker also has the ability to affect our thinking and understanding, but the cartoonist's advantage is that he usually needs far less time and space to make his point.

At the same time, when he uses his tool/weapon to make strong points, a cartoonist almost always risks negatively affecting someone else's sensibilities.

It's also certainly possible that a person could be hurt by finding himself or a cherished value/issue "cartooned."

Another occupational hazard for the cartoonist is that viewers might misread or misinterpret his cartoon.

I lack the talents necessary to be a good cartoonist: being able to draw at least reasonably well, being able to capture issues and opinions succinctly, etc.

But I greatly admire the artform of cartooning.

I admire (and envy) cartoonists for what they are able to create and accomplish with their cartoons.

My respect and appreciation for Anthony as a cartoonist has only grown from reading his recent explanations and analysis of his own work.

It might be easy for some of us to picture critics (cartoonists/speakers/writers) as people who simply live to skewer others and skew issues.

It's therefore healthy for us to have a glimpse into critics' minds and hearts.

From his words, Anthony strikes me not only as a man of passion but also as a man of compassion.

He's not just sitting back, hoping to throw punches at people and issues for the fun of it.

There's a more sincere hope that we will be inspired to think more deeply about ourselves and about the issues surrounding us.

Inpsiring people to evaluate themselves and the world around them more deeply has always struck me as a noble cause.

Anthony thoughtfully analyzes the complexities of cartooning, specifically examining his recent experiences with two of his cartoons.

By exploring the complex, complicated nature of cartooning in an open forum, Anthony provides important insight and understanding for us all.

Taking a Punch for Corporal Punishment

I appreciated seeing a photograph of Alex Wall with this News & Record article about Anytown.

(I couldn't find Alex's photograph on-line--just the article--and I don't think he's mentioned in the article.)



I might have this wrong, but I believe Alex is the only student who has ever punched me during my 11 years of teaching.



I'm certain that only one student has ever punched me; I'm pretty certain that Alex was that student.



(During 11 years of teaching, I've now taught more than 1100 students, and that doesn't include other students I've gotten to know at my school but never taught. Needless to say, it's becoming harder to keep clear my memories of all those students.)



Don't worry about Alex punching me, though.



I asked for it.

Literally.

And though the punch didn't feel good, he didn't hurt me too badly. (The sting only lasted a couple of minutes, as I recall. I don't recall going home that evening and suffering any.)



Alex was a good student and a positive young man.



Back then, he was a pretty small guy with glasses.



I picked Alex to punch me because of his size; I didn't think he'd hurt me too badly.



After asking him to come to the front of the classroom, I gave him instructions along these lines: "I want you to hit me in the stomach with enough force for me to feel the punch but not enough to hurt me." (I'm paraphrasing, but I believe that's approximately what I said.)



I was trying to demonstrate something about corporal punishment, about how its use--for it to be considered acceptable and effective--needed to inflict a certain amount of pain without actually causing a child any permanent harm.



I wanted to demonstrate how hard it is for someone to measure how hard they hit someone--with just that perfect degree of intended force, not too hard and not too soft but just right.



(Kind of reminds me of Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear, of Goldilocks fame.)



At any rate, Alex took me up on the offer more than I intended and delivered a pretty hard blow.



He didn't knock the wind out of me or anything, but I definitely felt the punch.



But as indicated, I'd asked for it.



I was trying to use the demonstration to make a point about how hard it is to balance hitting a person hard enough to punish and deter without hitting hard enough to hurt a person permanently or seriously.



I'm not sure if I fully conveyed what I was trying to teach.



This incident occurred during my first few years of teaching, and it represented an attempt to capture my students' attention and make a point.



I think the demonstration achieved the first goal, of gettting my students' attention. (Imagine witnessing such a thing: someone providing another person an invitation to punch him in the stomach without fear of retribution.)



I'm not so sure that I got across the ultimate point I was trying to make.



I still am not generally a fan of corporal punishment, whether it's administered by parents, school administrators, or other adults.



A friend of mine in college said that's what was wrong of me: that my parents didn't beat me enough when I was growing up.



I preferred to believe that my parents did something right in raising me that made it generally unnecessary for them to spank me or use other forms of corporal punishment.



I might have earned a spanking or two that I didn't receive at home, but as far as I can remember, I never did anything at school that would have warranted a paddling. (And back then, corporal punishment was an option in the former Greensboro Public Schools.)

My parents never put it like this, but I grew up thinking it was almost a sin to cause problems or be disrespectful at school.

Knowing that I developed that philosophy about how I was supposed to act at school, I definitely feel inclined to give my parents considerable credit.



While I think student behavior is getting worse in our schools--in some cases, much worse--I prefer to think that we can come up with better options than corporal punishment.



Older and wiser, I won't be providing any future students a free punch for the sake of making a point or delivering a lesson.

Admiring Anytown From Afar

I never attended Anytown.


I had some wonderful high school experiences, but that wasn't one of them.



I did, however, have friends who attended and had wonderful things to say about the program.



From everything I've ever read or heard about Anytown, it's the kind of program I would have chosen to attend--and would still choose to attend.



It's also a program I would highly recommend for high school students, simply based on everything I've ever heard about the experiences young people have at Anytown.


I appreciated reading Tina Firesheets's article about Anytown in Sunday's News & Record.


And I think it's cool that David Hoggard's daughter (Josie) just attended and apparently had an amazing Anytown experience, despite initially having only a luke-warm interest in attending.



What was also neat for me was reading about people I've known or heard of but haven't seen or heard about in awhile.



On the front page of the Life section is a photograph of Cassi Falls, whom I believe attended the middle school where I teach, even though she wasn't one of my students. I didn't know her when she was in the eighth-grade, but I was deeply impressed by a guest column she had printed in the News & Record while she was in high school.



Peter Amidon, whom I had heard had become a teacher at Greensboro Day School, was a leader of Youth Leadership Forum-Greensboro (YLF-G), a program of the Greensboro Youth Council (GYC). I met Peter through YLF-G/GYC, and even though I didn't know him well, I admired the impressive leadership and people skills he already possessed as a high school student. From the article, I learned that Peter now uses his talents at the Center for Creative Leadership.



Briefly mentioned in a section about Mike Warner, Patricia Allen is another person whose name I believe I recognize as someone I knew from my GYC days. She too was an all-around impressive individual who not only attended Anytown but also returned as one of its advisers and co-directors. Again, it's been several years since I've seen Patricia, but I have positive memories of her from when we were in high school.



Alex Wall is pictured for the article, with a brief caption. He's a former student of mine. Like Cassi Falls, Alex went through Southwest Guilford Middle and High Schools. I have positive memories of him from his eighth-grade year, and I later taught his sister. I'm pretty sure that Alex is the student I one day asked to punch me in front of his classmates. I had a reason for making such an odd request, and Alex obliged. The caption with his photograph indicates that Alex is playing with a friend's lavender piece. I'm a fan of purple hair, but it's not my hair piece he's playing with in the picture. I hope Alex, his sister, and his family are doing well.



Kris Britton is the last person whose name and face I recognized from the article. All too briefly, Kris served as the School Resource Officer at my school, during her tenure as a High Point Police Department officer. She was very well-respected, among our students and our staff. During the time that she was at our school, she helped lead a program similar to Anytown for a smaller group of our school's students. The program was held off-campus, and a few of our staff members were involved in it. While I was not there, I only heard the best of comments about the job that Kris did with the students. I believe the experience only lasted a day, but I know that the students involved in that program, just like the Anytown participants, were lucky to have had the opportunity to participate and benefit from what they learned. Kris is no longer a police officer and now teaches and coaches at Dudley High School. Kris obviously continues to put her many talents to good use; she is one of five finalists for Guilford County Schools Teacher of the Year. (Congratulations, Kris!)



Anytown participants are encouraged to go back into their communities and serve as delegates. They are encouraged to teach and spread the lessons they've learned and make an all-around positive difference.



In our world, there can never be enough programs like Anytown.



Thank you, Tina Firesheets, for writing such a good article.


Thank you, Jerry Wolford, for sharing such good photographs.



And thank you, Anytown leaders and participants, for all that you've done and are doing to help make our world a better place.

Terroristic Threats Fail To Deter Couple's Marriage Plans

"Isolated pockets of ugliness aside, the whirlwind of America's College Football Couple continues."

So wrote Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times, describing how Boise State football player Ian Johnson and his bride-to-be, cheerleader Chrissy Popadics, have received about 30 threatening letters and phone calls regarding their planned marriage.

The threats remind us that some Americans--"the less educated, the less willing to change," as Johnson describes them--do not like the idea of a white person and a black person being together in an loving relationship.

When someone anonymously threatens you, you're left with a planted seed of mental fear that the person might be serious and might follow up on the threat.

It's an old way of trying to intimidate people into behaving the way you'd prefer them to act.

The threats have failed; Johnson and Popadics still plan to get married.

According to Dufresne, "Boise State has received permission from the NCAA under the 'special circumstances' clause to use school funds to pay for extra security at Johnson's wedding."

Interracial relationships and marriages are much more common today, and they are also much more accepted within our society.

Even if some people would never choose to enter such a relationship themselves, most of them probably also don't pass negative judgement against others who do.

I would guess that some of the people repulsed by seeing an interracial couple holding hands or kissing also wouldn't be inclined to do much more about it than maybe share their ugly thoughts with someone they trusted to share those thoughts.

Even then, I would assume that the average opponent of interracial relationships wouldn't go so far as to threaten or attack an interracial couple.

Though it's significant for anyone to receive 30 threats--imagine experiencing that yourself or imagine a loved one having to endure that--I regard those threats as far removed from mainstream America. (I hope I'm not being naive here.)

From Dufresne's article, it sounded like Johnson had a similar opinion about the threats.

Chances are that nothing will come of the threats.

It's just disgusting to know that some people out there feel like they have the right to threaten and try to intimidate other people.

The direct threats against Johnson and Popadics are just as bad as any threats Americans face from other terrorists.

It sounds like he's taking the threats in stride--as much so as possible--but while preparing for such a happy occasion as getting married, Johnson shouldn't have to worry in the back of his mind about someone wanting to harm or kill him and his wife-to-be.

Concerning racism, America's come a long, long way.

This story just reminds us that, despite such amazing progress, we still have a ways to go.

I wish Johnson and Popadics great success and phenomenal happiness in their marriage.

May the love they share be stronger than any hate they face, now or later.

What's on Pulpit Forum's Plate?

I'm not a member of the Pulpit Forum, so I only follow their efforts in the news.

But I wonder if these issues are receiving nearly as much attention from the Pulpit Forum as its efforts to keep Greensboro City Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small from being recalled:

1) While it focuses on the recall election, has the Pulpit Forum's attention been diverted from Yvonne J. Johnson's mayoral candidacy?

Johnson has served on the Greensboro City Council since 1993, has demonstrated that an African-American candidate can receive city-wide support, and has the potential to become our city's first black mayor (as well as our city's second female mayor).

Since Keith Holliday, Grensboro's current mayor, is not running for reelection, Yvonne Johnson has a real shot at being elected to the position.

But in the election, Johnson faces Milton Kern, who could prove to be a formidable opponent.

Even though he has not held elected office, Kern has credentials that most first-time candidates lack, particuarly against an established politician.

I believe Kern will have at least a little bit of campaign money at his disposal.

Kern might also benefit from the City of Greensboro scandals that some voters might associate with Johnson (and the other 8 current city council members).

I just wonder: if the Pulpit Forum had to choose between these two council members (Bellamy-Small and Johnson), which one would members like to see represent our city at least two more years?

2) What leadership is the Pulpit Forum providing our entire community concerning the very serious problem of gangs?

I've missed any recently announced (or held) press conferences concerning the Pulpit Forum's efforts against gangs.

North Carolina state Rep. Alma Adams stated that the "[R]eal question is what's really the best way to stop [gang activity]."

Adams prefers that we focus more on preventing and less on punishing gang activity.

I would guess that many--maybe most or all--members of the Pulpit Forum agree with Adams.

Our schools and our community need some strategies and solutions.

What is the Pulpit Forum doing to help solve (and perhaps even lead efforts against) our city's increasing gang problem?

3) What more could the Pulpit Forum do to support the International Civil Rights Center and Museum?

In the fall of 2004, I excitedly began planning a field trip to this museum for my eighth-grade students.

That was the year that its opening was supposed to coincide with Triad Stage's "North Star."

I couldn't think of a better opportunity for my students than to see "North Star" AND the newly opened museum.

Needless to say, I discovered that the museum would not be opening that year.

(My students still benefited from witnessing one of the two most powerful and meaningful plays that I've ever taken students to see--the other being Triad Stage's "The Diary of Anne Frank".)

After announcing one or two later planned dates for it to open, museum organizers realized that there were obstacles that needed to be overcome and that it was better to discontinue getting the public's hopes up.

When will our community be able to reap the benefits of having the museum as a place for us to visit and invite others to visit?

What more could the Pulpit Forum be doing to help the museum move closer to becoming a reality?

4) What more could the Pulpit Forum do to help non-profit organizations that lost funding from the Guilford County Board of Commissioners?

It appears that efforts to convince this board to continue funding local nonprofits will not succeed.

What could the Pulpit Forum be doing to help these nonprofits find alternative sources for these lost funds?

5) Are there other problems and issues to which the Pulpit Forum might bring more attention and provide greater leadership?

As I indicated from the beginning, I don't have an internal view of the Pulpit Forum's efforts.

There is probably a lot of good work being done that goes unnoticed and unpublicized.

But when it schedules a press conference, an organization like the Pulpit Forum seems to be indicating to the community where its emphasis and greatest efforts are being placed.

Have I missed the Pulpit Forum's press conferences on the issues I've mentioned above?

Do Pulpit Forum members want our community to believe that Bellamy-Small deserves all this attention and support (from them and from recall organizers), compared to other issues and problems in our community that appear to be receiving less publicity?

Let us not forget these wise words from Sly and Family Stone:

Sometimes I'm right, and I can be wrong . . .
I am no better, and neither are you
We are the same, whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me, and then
You can't figure out the bag I'm in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah

Carr Might Provide Real-Life Lesson Plans

Below are comments I posted on July 24th at 2:30 PM on the Chalkboard in response to "Carr wants to speak to students":

Without going into people's minds, we can only know what they choose to reveal.

But I would guess that Tolly Carr is struggling on two levels: 1) knowing that he was responsible for permanently ending a fellow human being's existence on earth and 2) knowing that he has done substantial, perhaps permanent, damage to an otherwise impressive career and reputation.

One of those struggles focuses more on the victim; the other internal struggle focuses more on himself.

I cannot imagine how horrible it must feel to know that you have taken someone else's life.

If I ever found myself in such a position, even in the very different case of self-defense, I think I would have a difficult time dealing with that and moving on. It would be that much worse of a feeling inside if it wasn't an arguably justified and necessary case of self-defense.

With cases of people drinking and driving, we more often end up with stories that do not result in someone dying.

But each and every single one of those incidents contributes to a more dangerous and even deadly environment for the rest of the population.

Carr deserves judgement in a courtroom, and we are all free to judge him in our minds as we most certainly have and will, but probably not one of us doesn't know, like, and support individuals who regularly do what Carr did: place themselves behind the steering wheel and venture out onto streets under the influence.

Some of us have probably done that ourselves and only been much more fortunate that we haven't found ourselves guilty of an accidental murder.

Through the normal teaching and learning process, I would guess that every single student is exposed to the idea that drinking and driving has the potential to have very negative consequences.

But since there is nothing out there that matters equally to everyone, there are countless individuals who ignore that message every day.

What I find profound, relevant, and intensely meaningful and important may mean less or even nothing to someone else.

But for some students, there is certainly the possibility that Carr's testimony might serve as a greater wake-up call.

As I believe has been suggested, parents should have the option for their own children not to be required to listen to Carr.

But for those who hear his message, maybe it will make a stronger impression than more traditional sources of the same messages about drinking and driving.

I don't know if I'm reading the situation correctly, but the fact that Carr is already serving jail time and that he plans to plead guilty may be signs that he wants to accept as much responsibility as possible for the crime he committed (short of taking his own life, which hopefully none of us would expect of him).

Not all criminals so willingly accept their fates; many fight and attempt to avoid punishment, even when they are fully guilty and know it.

The situtation is bad all the way around for everyone directly affected, and the best that we can hope is that people will learn the lessons that are available from the incident so that it might not happen again or at least as often.

Duke Lacrosse Party and "The Player's Club"

My response to Edward Carmichael's letter to the editor, "Duke episode began with a raunchy party," which appeared in the Wednesday, July 25, 2007 News & Record:

The case of the Duke lacrosse players hiring two strippers and finding some of their team members accused of rape reminds me of a movie called "The Players Club."

I'm not sure that I would recommend the movie for its entertainment value, but it does provide insight into the unsavory types you might find associated with a strip club, from the owners to the strippers to the customers.

With parties for which strippers are hired, I guess you have a better chance of controlling who the other guests are.

I'm sure there is as much diversity among strippers as there is among the general population, just as that same amount of diversity exists among the customers who enable strippers.

Some strippers are probably wonderful people, and some of their customers are probably also wonderful people.

At the same time, no matter how confident a stripper is, I would guess that at least deep down, there are some psychological issues going on that are not always pleasant or positive.

The same speculation might be made about the men who choose to visit strip clubs or hire strippers.

I would guess that most strippers know that the men who take pleasure in viewing them also probably do not respect them on a very deep level.

That subconsciously at least might make strippers not feel too good about themselves, and it might make them resentful and even angry toward the men who pay to watch them.

I don't ignore that strippers choose to do what they do.

But I also don't pretend to know or understand what leads individual strippers to pursue such a calling.

The average woman doesn't suddenly find herself stripping to make money.

Stippers may have emotional and psychological issues, just as the rape accuser from the Duke case obviously did, and men who choose to put themselves close to such women may be taking a dangerous risk.

Likewise, under the influence of alcohol, which I assume is common at strip clubs and strip parties, the male viewers might not behave in the best ways possible either.

Some men probably drink a little more so that they don't have to worry about their conscience too much.

Some of these men may have questionable character to begin with. (Some would say their character is automatically in question for choosing to view strippers.)

When alcohol is involved, even the best of men are sometimes capable of the worst of thoughts and deeds.

"The Players Club" had an almost exclusively black cast.

The narrator was a stripper who (I believe) was trying to make money for school and to support her child. (It's been awhile since I've seen the movie; I might need to be corrected on some of the details.)

She has a younger, less mature female relative who also pursues stripping. This younger stripper is convinced to go to a private party at a hotel. She hasn't been hired to have sex and doesn't plan to, but a couple of men who know and dislike the woman convince another man that he's entitled to have his way with her in a room. And he does. Against her will.

We're all pretty certain now that that's not what took place at the lacrosse players' party.

But it wasn't beyond the realm of belief that men, particularly the kind who would hire a stripper in the first place and who were under the influence of alcohol, could be capable of such a thing.

Yes, drinking is common. And maybe the kinds of parties that these young men had are common also.

Maybe we should begin to question such things and ask ourselves if maybe we shouldn't begin trying to change such a culture for the better.

Where does such behavior lead?

Do these men go on to be the best of men in our society?

Do they later marry and cheat? (Are they capable of respecting some women fully while respecting other women not at all?)

Do they treat the women with whom they work with respect?

Do they go to church on Sundays and pretend to be good Christians?

Do they judge others while refusing to judge themselves?

If they met the strippers in a different setting, how would they view and treat them?

How would these men expect to be treated by people who know what they are up to? (Would you tell your girlfriend? Your wife? Your minister? Would you tell your parents? Maybe just your dad? Or would you confide in your mother also?)

The Duke lacrosse players ended up suffering more than they deserved.

But they placed themselves in a vulnerable position.

Unfortunately, many of the questions and issues that might have arisen without the rape charges will never be explored.

And without the rape charges, how would we have reacted, or would the story have even been exposed?

What can we still learn from the case?

And will we?