Thomas Edison

Thanks Howard Stern

I'm not sure how the conversation got started but it ended with black history month.

He was trying to tell me that having a black history month was insulting to black people. His theory, that he claims he got from Morgan Freeman on the Howard Stern Show, is that by setting aside one month means that it's OK to ignore black history the rest of the year.

Sure, I understand where Morgan was coming from but did my friend? My friend, who is seriously a good guy, thinks all black clubs or organizations are racist.

So here is my question to you all... or rather question"S".

Tell you what, as soon as someone can answer 1/2 of these questions without using google i will agree that we don't need a black history month.

1.What was the #1 best selling book in the 1800’s?
2.In one sentence, what was the cause of the civil war?

3.What was the Missouri compromise?
4.What did slavery have to do with the Alamo?
5.What was the compromise of 1877?
6.What percent of the U.S. population in 1776 was black?
7.Who founded Liberia? When?
8.What is the 15th Amendment and when was it passed?
9.What was a Dixiecrat?
10.What was the Kerner Commission?
11.Who was Crispus Attucks?
12.What was the Tuskegee study?
13.How many black men were lynched from 1880-1951?
14.Who was York?
15.Who was the first man on the North Pole?
16.What year did Georgia incorporate the Confederate battle flag into it’s State flag?

First one who answers them all right gets the prize! If you do it without Google, I'll call you on three way so you can laugh while I call my buddy back to tell him he was right.

Media Influence

I never saw a gangsta till Mtv showed me one. Well, I’m still not sure Dr. Dre and Snoop were really gangsters, but they said they were and what do I know? Maybe I was too young to notice but before this time I never saw any kind of graffiti, except on TV. That changed when someone sprayed COL POSSEY on the wall of my middle school. Shortly thereafter I remember being the only one at a party wearing pants that didn’t sag. It wasn’t my usual crew but still, I was the ONLY guy who didn’t sag. Soon thereafter my school posted rules banning bandanas, Raiders logoed gear, and baseball hats. I remember friends being upset by the ban. Thanks to that time in my life I still know how to throw up a Cryp or Blood sign. A kid I played football against lost his football scholarship and went to prison because he shot someone at a concert. The paper said it was “gang related”.
Did I mention I grew up in Sandy Utah, 99.875% white? It was, and probably still is, one of the most stable neighborhoods anywhere.

My wife never thought college was an option. She didn’t know anyone who had ever been. Well, her teachers I suppose, but they are different. No one in the family had ever been, neither had anyone in the families of any of her friends. It was never talked about, never encouraged, a simple non-issue, as if it didn’t exist. College was for white people, rich white people.

Then she saw the TV show, “A Different World”. She loved it. It had black people in college. All sorts of black people: rich “bougie” ones, nerdy ones, jocks, from the hood poor ones, everyone. It made college look cool, fun, and accessible. She decided she was going and talked to a councilor at school. Going and asking is how she found out about Georgia’s “Hope” scholarship which provides ANY student who graduates with a B average, a full tuition scholarship to any state school. She received her Bachelors with honors.

Does media have an influence?