Do not Make Me a Better “White Person;” Make Me a Better Human Being
Dear Editor,
We are in the midst of Black History Month. And as I review headlines and multiple battles throughout the United States on immigration and other issues, I find myself questioning my upbringing in Toledo. Not as a white person. But as a human being.
It started with people battling over whether or not Lucas County should be considered a “Sanctuary” for those in the immigration battle. After much thought I concluded “why not?” We have been down this road before. Does anybody remember the Underground Railroad? Tell me that was not a “Sanctuary” for those seeking a new life, freedom and, God-forbid, protection.
But, unfortunately, it has evolved into more than that. Especially for us 60-and-70-year-olds. Some of us grew up in a pretty liberal household for the time. For me, I was the youngest among parents who were considered part of the “Greatest Generation.” A mother who was a 1943 graduate of the St. Vincent’s School of Nursing. She worked outside the house when women were told to stay home and care for the kids. She taught me that she cared for people regardless of ethnicity, color, religion, etc.
My father, a factory worker who worked side-by-side with people of color. He was promoted once. He lost that promotion when he found a Black worker being discriminated against and made sure he was given a fair shot. I grew up in the old Polish Village of Lagrange and Manhattan. I can remember the old “poles” coming to my father and saying “the blacks, they are north of Central Avenue. The wife and I, we are moving. You come join us in…. (insert suburb of relocation).”
My parents stayed.
As a hockey player in the seventies and early eighties, I played with a Black player on our team. It was a time when it was a white man’s sport. I lost count of the number of times when we had bench-clearing brawls because somebody took a run at our “black” player. His color did not matter. He was our teammate. And you do not take a run at one of our teammates.
At this point, I am in my early twenties. I felt pretty comfortable having a good upbringing of racial intolerance. Heck, I had a Black man walking with a white female relative in my first marriage in 1986.
Then in the early 1980s I got into radio as a disc jockey. With a gleam in my eye and excitement in my voice I played the Motown hits from The Temptations. The Four Tops. The “U.S. version of Lady Di” and her Supremes. As I would eventually learn, these were “youngsters” with number one hits in the U.S. and when they went on tour, they could not eat in the restaurants where the bus stopped. It got worse.
To my disgust as a human being, these kids, who were putting down a sound that were number-one hits and America was dancing to, were FORCED to eat their dinner on the tour bus or worse… by the garbage cans outback of the restaurant. In my 2020s mentality, I ask, how could this have happened?
So fast forward to this decade. A new set of battles. A new set of boundary lines. A new set of terminology. A new set of EVERYTHING.
There was a revolt with white people saying do not talk to me about white supremacy. Do not talk to me about immigration enforcement. Do not talk to me about whether or not somebody tossed on a plane to go to who-knows-where was given their due process based on OUR COUNTRY’S STANDARDS.
Please do not laugh. But after everything I have been through over the last 60 years with my parents struggles to bring me up “right,” do not talk to me about being a better “white” person.
Please talk to me about how I can be a better human being.
Why?
Because the battles my parents fought 60 years ago to bring me up right are not the battles we face today. Some are unrecognizably different.
Yes, some are the same battles faces long ago by the African American community. The same battles faced by Whites. Jews. Poles. Italians. Whomever. — “I just want an opportunity. A safe neighborhood to raise my children. Safety and a future for my kids.”
These are not new battles, but unfortunately to the growing process of existence, they are the battles facing the next generation. And generations to come. They are the battles that are baby-steps…the minor steps… forward that can be defined with one line…
“Do not make me a better white person. Make me a better human being.”
Black History Month should not be solely aimed at the African-American Community. If so, then all is lost. It should be aimed at ALL races… creeds… colors… differences… The battles since the1600s that the “New World” faced.
It is a cry from ALL sides that does not realize the cry of their message.
We need to realize the next steps forward are far removed from where we were in the decades of the 60s, 70s and 80s. This is the decade of the 2020s. We have new challenges for race relations. And unfortunately, the members of the “white’ community with their on-going rhetoric and arguments do not recognize this new challenge and the steps forward.
Specifically, they need to learn the line — Do not make me a better white person. Make me a better human being.
Be patient. I’m one of them. We’re learning.
Matt Zaleski
Toledo, OH
Matt Zaleski
VP – Marketing
Hubbub Marketing, LLC
220 Summerdale Ave.
Toledo, OH 43605
419-345-5206