Apr 25 2008

My race and ethnicity issues... Plus other stuff we don't talk about

What I discovered on ABC.com is a new show called Eli Stone. It's about a guy who's an attorney, that hears music and gets signs that tell him what cases he should work on. It's a comedy with a message, kind of like Boston Legal, just not as good.

The first episode, Eli goes to an acupuncturist who happens to be Asian. During an unscheduled visit, "Dr. Chin" drops his fake accent and in its place, his real Californian surfer-dude accent comes out. His explanation is that people "don't want an acupuncturist named Frank Lee Bikowski". They want the incense the mystic, foreign accents they want the Dr. Chin's.

How true is this? More times than not we are caught up in the parsley and rose shaped tomatoes that we lose track of the main course. This then got me to thinking how many times we fall for the okey-doke. See, I've got this problem that really goes against everything that I've written about. But, it's how I feel. Enough sugar coating it...I'll just say it.

I have a big problem with white girls that teach hip-hop dance classes. There, I said it. I am not proud of this feeling, because deep down inside I know that dance like music really knows no color. However, hip-hop music is a very personal thing for me. It's about lifestyle, experiences about attitude and heart.

In this regard, I have yet to meet a white hip-hop dance teacher that comes across as genuine. This is not to say that they are not out there or that they do not exist, only that I have yet to meet one. I find it difficult to accept when I think of the inner-city kids that came up with this style of dance. That it meant more than where to put your feet; it meant the difference between living, eating and surviving. You can teach form, but you cannot teach passion or fake lifestyle. That is my point; hip-hop dance is all about passion and the past. It's more than music it's a true lifestyle.

For the record, I happen to absolutely without a doubt love Marshall Mathers aka Slim Shady aka Eminem. Not only do I think he is a creative artist he is genuine. He raps about his life and his experiences not his interpretation of someone's life and experiences.

I'm sure there are others that feel the same way. Of course, that does not make it right. It is what it is. A deep agonizing feeling, that you may say has a hint of prejudice. Maybe, but I never claimed to be perfect. I am a work in progress.

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