Mark Cuban, a billionaire entrepreneur and NBA owner, recently gave an interview in which he said we all have our prejudices. He then cited two of his: a Black teenager in a hoodie walking towards him at night, and a white guy with a shaved head and a host of tattoos. Either side would make him cross the street in fear of being attacked,mugged,something.
Where to begin?
First, why a Black teenager? You don't think a Black guy in a hoodie in his thirties could mug you? Or does it make the bigotry more palatable when the racially provocative "Black teenager" is applied?
As for the white guy with the shaved head and tats aplenty, does that mean Chris Andersen of the Miami Heat gives you the willies?
I grew up in a city where white folks were in the minority. I attended a college where I was in the racial minority. I worked at a Black-owned and operated radio network, and my fabulous daughter is African-American. All of this makes me something Mr. Cuban is not: highly evolved. My experiences with people of color have permeated my entire life, and is not based on stereotypes of criminal and sexual misbehavior.
Mr. Cuban is right, we all have our prejudices. Mine is towards people who speak loudly into their cell phones, and people who have to be waved at so they don't run into you while they are texting. Their race doesn't identify their behavior, their propensity to rudeness does.
Oh! One more thing. The last public figure to demonstrate fear of a Black kid in a hoodie shot and killed him. Your apology to Trayvon Martin's family was a day late and useless. Think!