A Lesson In Race Relations

WE'VE ALL heard the one about Jesse Jackson admitting that, when he's being followed down the street on a dark night, it's nice to know that the chap behind him is white.

Even though it doesn't fit the MSM template, the fact is that young African Americans do have a deserved reputation for deliberate intimidation. Like this story reported by Larry Elder. The car in front of him at a traffic light failed to move when the light turned green. So, after a suitable pause, he gently tooted his horn.

The three passengers immediately flipped me the bird, with the two in the backseat glowering at me as we moved forward.

The driver and passengers, of course, were black.

Was he a victim, a black man victimized by a car full of African American teenagers, he asked his brother in a bookstore parking lot, flipping the bird for emphasis.

Unfortunately, he was standing in a vacant parking stall and a white thirtysomething driver thought that he was the target of the hand gesture. Larry Elder decided he ought to apologize.

You can imagine how eager the white guy was to be accosted by two black guys. It was only after Larry and his brother had followed him into the store that communication became possible.

Then the white "guy slowed down, and turned and smiled."

That's what it will take to heal race relations in the USA. People like Larry Elder.

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.