Q: “Did u hear the one about the changes to the White House since Obama got elected?
A: Him and Michelle did some gardening and replaced the rose garden with watermelons!”

Wow, usually I don’t get to hear this type of humor but I was privy to it tonight @ the local gas station a few blocks from work in Blaine, WA (just south of the Canadian border). I was tellin the clerk about Michelle Obama planting a garden in England last week and how well she got along with the children. And the man behind me in his dirty coveralls and work boots says “watermelons?!”
I kinda did a double take and told them that I don’t usually get to hear those jokes. I guess its a different world to be ethnically ambiguous at times. And to hear that we’re still usin Jim Crow imagery in ‘09 is fascinating and disturbing! Its still a very racist place that we’re livin in.

So what does Obama’s presidency mean? I believe it will just become more concealed and covert than it has already been.

Your thoughts?

While eating, she shared her life story as well as introduced me (via phone) to her best friend in town, a man named Willie.  It turns out that Willie had seen my story on Fox News, and being a fellow cyclist and generally awesome guy, he offered to pay for our dinner!  While I never met Willie face-to-face, I can say that he was definitely a highlight of positive individuals I’ve met.

The next day Willie met with Eleni and Albert as they interviewed him and Amy about their experiences in the small town of Madison.  Willie is a black man, and while he didn’t seem too comfortable talking openly about the towns racial politics, he did share a little history about Madison’s connection to Willie Lynch, the infamous carribean slave master who is said to have trained north american slave owners how to condition slaves and reap the highest economic profits from their exploitation.  It turns out that Lynch had resided in the town at one point in his life.

So we found out that we were officially in the Deep South by the time we hit central Florida.  The next day confirmed it as I passed through Live Oak Springs in Suwannee county.  While announcing what I was doing (I tend to get confused looks in small towns when I walk into pubs in my spandex) the waitress took one look at my card and said, “hmm, well I wouldnt be speaking up about this too much here..you see, our town didnt take to fondly to the election”.  Meeting two black women from the town confirmed it, as they told me “you best keep on moving through here, for your own good!”.

The election of Barack Obama and subsequent reactions across the nation shed light on just how contrasting our nation can be.  Many are overjoyed, while MANY others, i repeat, MANY others, are not too happy about a ‘negro as president’.

So, while Newsweek and others keep on writing about this “Post-Racial” society that we’ve suddenly found ourselves in, I encourage anyone and everyone to suspend that thought and recognize that we still have a whole lot of work to do.

Heres an interesting example of some racial depictions in mass media.. This cartoon is from Betty Boop.

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While sitting at a bar having some fried catfish and chips, a man approached me indicating his interest in my bike and asked if me and Gonzo were bike messengers.

Being the “down”type of white-boy he told me that he loved Obama and that we have a Black President and that Black people in general were the most beautiful race on the earth.

I was flattered and downright touched…up until he dropped the bomb. “You know, I could tell when I first seen you that you was cool peoples, you know you my nigga!” He paused, and then added, “you know but its aight if I say it with the n.i.g.g.a and not end with the ‘E.R.’ ”

Anyways, I was obviously a little taken back, however, seeing as how this gentleman had just paid for my dinner, I felt a little hesitant to argue his point that in Louisiana “all the black folks are cool with it”. Anyways, we walked outside to take a picture by the bike and were greeted by a black man riding on a mountain bike who took claimed he wanted to purchase my touring bike! Next thing I know ol’ cool white boy has greeted the man sayin “whats up my nigga?!” The outcome of the ensuing conversation was bleak. After trying to explain that his black friends in Louisiana are “cool with me sayin nigga,’ he claimed ‘man I’m a nigga too!” An argument and some macho positioning went around until I convinced the black man not to try and beat that “fat white motherf***az ass” . “Well F*** you too then, NIGGA!” the black man he finally said dismissing his newfound foe.

So in turn for not fighting the man over their miscommunication I bought the man a beer and asked him to tell me about his life. Turns out that he’s a Desert Storm Veteran, not receiving the services he needs as an plastic artery in his left leg clots often. “The government has really forgotten about us”, he expressed. When asked about Obama he said he was hopeful that the vets would be treated better for their service to the country.

Then he was kicked out of the bar. Apparently the owner thought that he was trying to work his hustle. According to the bar owner, he had a poor reputation for hustling folks nearby.

What do I take from this? Well, at this point just hours later I am still trying to process just what went on. I see one more example of how the Obama-era Post-racial society concept is bogus. People are hurting and neglected, and many of us can’t communicate beyond our differences.

Some more food for thought from my favorite cartoon, EVER! What do YOU think???