Slapping Black Toddlers

I think Joe Rickey Hundley did what a lot of us would like to do but wouldn't because of the obvious consequences.

I don't think parents should take screaming toddlers on a flight. It's torture for them to stay still for any period of time. It's also torture to the passengers who have to listen to the wails of complaint. Hundley had a drink too many and gave in to his impulse. It's like having a tooth drilled without an anesthetic. As for the man using a racial slur, my basic feeling is that if blacks want to reach parity with whites, they have to begin by seeing themselves as Americans rather than as afro-americans or blacks or anything else.

Why do blacks demand that they be called by the most current, fashionable adjective? It does nothing but separate them from being part of the mainstream.

Blacks have nothing to prove at this date, and they have no reason to be offended.

Look it, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the "N" word simply means, "alteration of earlier neger, from Middle French negre, from Spanish or Portuguese negro, from negro black, from Latin niger.

First Known Use: 1574"

The fact that blacks were once referred to by the "N" word a few centuries ago, is a long enough passage of time to just let it pass. What was once derogatory has long since passed. What difference is there really in a word? The word "black" was once used by the French, Spanish and/or Portuguese in their native tongue. The definition is the same.

I don't know what should be done with Hundley. Probably the company where he was once employed should have required that he attend AA meetings rather than fire him outright (to avoid negative publicity). He was obviously tipsy (at least) by hitting a crying toddler. If he knew anything about children, he'd understand that such an action would only increase the decibel level of the screaming.

For his split-second action to reach a national pitch isn't going to help anyone. In fact incidents like this just explode the black/white divide -- once the media makes a major case out of the idiotic reaction of Hundley.

In Russia, slaves were known as "serfs." They were white and poor. Today, everyone in the country wants to claim that they came from aristocracy (even if most of the aristocracy was put to death). But, the word "serf" doesn't have the same inflammatory connotations as the "N" word does in the US.

At a certain point in our world history, being Jewish in Europe meant a ticket to one of the extermination camps, and yet we do not see this group repudiating their heritage or established name. Jew is short for Jewish, and that is that.

I'm not saying that bias has disappeared. It hasn't by any means, but a small step forward would be for groups to dismiss what are or seem like slurs against their race. This requires an inner peace with oneself.

Hostility will never move a racial segment a step forward -- in fact -- it will most likely move the entire group a few notches backward.