"White Guys Can't Dance?'

I know that there are many stereotypes in today’s society that can be totally true and others, which are a reflection of real bias or prejudice. I know that it’s taken me a long time to have any ability to have rhythm or feel the beat. Yes, my African American brothers can dance circles around me! I laughed when the movie came out that blasted white males for not being great at basketball. Much as another movie just came out highlighting the first African American Baseball Player to literally break into the sport but it wasn’t without lots of antagonism and true racism.

Last night I attended a dance performance at one the high schools where lots of my teens attend. It was great to see a few of my gals in the performance. I love dance because it provides opportunity for anyone to participate and learn so much about self-expression and working as a team. It was a 1.5-hour performance that really rocked because they had such great costumes; music and the moves were out of this world. They even had one dance that had the sounds of Frank Sinatra blaring out.

I had a conversation with a close friend who had recently transitioned to the east coast and was living in a primarily ‘White’ neighborhood whose surrounding area was the total opposite. He had made the decision when he first moved there to start casting a vision for the church to embrace and understand the real culture around them and not try to impose their standards as if they truly represent Christ and the Church. He had met one of my African American Pastor friends, Stanley, who was enlightening him about the real existence of racism and the difficult time everyone has understanding the life of those that are different. It is a long road to see someone come to a point where they are willing to look at the world through someone else’s paradigm.

I know last night we were joking around as a group. Some of my teens were asking if I liked watermelon and fried chicken. I laughed and said YES, I love eating melon and chicken. The assumption was that because I was white I wouldn’t like melon or their version of fried chicken. Just as another group of teens would assume that I would never like eating any type of chilies or sopas whereas I love eating chili verde or pezole.

I married into a tea drinking family whereas I came from a coffee drinking family. I enjoy having a cup of café in the morning but seldom drink at night unless we are doing a dinner out. I had to adjust to my in-laws extreme addiction to tea, which saw them drinking it at every meal and even before bedtime. This really isn’t a big deal unless you want to make it into a big deal. Yet, I know that as Anne was fixing some curry last night our Hispanic friend who was helping in the kitchen had never sampled this exotic Indian dish before. It would be easy to say that our kitchen smelled and some might even say badly. She was quick to admit that she wasn’t too quick to try different things.

One of one the great benefits of living in a diverse community is that there are practical ways of being stretched to understand the tastes, likes and dislikes of others. I know that it’s very unlikely that I will ever become a great dancer or someone who is going rock at playing basketball. Yet, I have a few of my teens who could become amazing dancers and a few guys who will become fantastic cooks or chiefs.