And Then There Were Idiots

Allow me to chime in on the recent "scandal" involving the Lakota East high school performance of "And Then There Were None" a.k.a. "Ten Little Indians" a.k.a. "Ten Little N------" (I do believe some words shouldn't be used).

If any of you have been involved with high school theater at all, you know that these kids have put in months of work into this show. That is I believe the single most important factor in all of this. And to have all that work nearly thrown away?

And for what? To please one man who apparently likes to hear himself talk. Shame on Mr. Hines for even bringing this up. Though he may have a legitimate issue, this is hardly the arena for raising it.

Shame on the school administration. This makes them look like they are afraid of their own shadow. This should be a total non-issue. If they want to offend someone, there are more interesting ways to do it.

I can empathize with Mr. Hines, since I don't know anything about his background or experiences. Some people say that there are no black people or white people or yellow people - there are only people. I believe that those people are mistaken. Race should not be ignored, because it is an integral part of who we are. It affects our culture, our behavior, our speech, our very looks. Why ignore it?

By the same token, we cannot underestimate what it is like to live in a minority culture in this country, or any country. Majority/minority issues disrupt the playing field. One type of outcome for the majority and minority person might appear identical, but rest assured it was far more difficult for the minority to accomplish. Outcomes of another type may be easier for minorities to accomplish.

I didn't mean for this to turn out to be a race manifesto. To Mr. Hines, awareness is necessary, but not at the expense of a high school play.