My Grocery List

In regards to changing food labels...all I have to do is change my grocery list. That’s it. There is no rewriting of history. Nobody is hiding history from me. That’s not where I go for history. History is not being rewritten. What’s changing is the way some food lines are marketed. A conscientious effort is being made to change how a people group has been negatively portrayed over the years. Nobody asked me. I didn’t have to attend meetings or follow up with interviews or surveys. I just have to change my grocery list. I can do that. Easy. And I’m glad to do it. Man, easiest thing I can do to help spread positive change. 

People ask...what can we do when we’re not even aware of how racial profiling is perpetuated? How about change your grocery list? This one is easy. And if you feel like you’re losing a part of your history or heritage when a product name gets changed...there are plenty of libraries, museums, historical sites, documentaries...Ted Talks, for crying out loud. We don’t need to get our heritage from a food label. Just like we don’t need Starbucks to celebrate Christmas. This is not about me and what I’m losing or having taken from me. It’s not about me one bit. 

This one is easy folks. Statues and monuments..those are more difficult discussions...but discussions that need to be had so we can preserve history in the proper context. The time is now. If we don’t open our minds now for healthy discussion and change, we’ll miss out. It will happen after we’re gone. And people will wonder why our generation didn’t change. 

Freeze!!

One summer during high school a friend and his parents graciously took me on vacation. It was a great week away in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Camping. Fishing. Golfing. Swimming. Sailing. And my favorite..cookouts. It was about as carefree as I’d experienced in my young life. Also...I was treated like a golden child. Other people’s parents can do that, I guess. They spoiled me. I knew it. My friend knew it, but he didn’t seem to mind. I sensed he even enjoyed it. He was good like that. And I soaked up every minute of it. 

One night, while we were in a hotel on Lake Superior I decided to go for a walk along the beach. I think I just wanted some alone time (even back then), so I asked if I could go by myself...and was permitted. There was still about an hour of daylight, so I had no concerns.

After 30 or so minutes I noticed that if I veered off the beach slightly...and across some railroad tracks, I could be in town after just a couple blocks. I was cautious even back then and looked around for any signs of potential danger. Finding none, I started across the railroad tracks. 

I didn’t make it across the tracks though.  As soon as I stepped off the beach and towards the tracks a couple of police cars pulled up with their lights and sirens and closed in on me. Cops jumped out of the cars. More cops came out from behind rocks. They yelled at me to “freeze”!! No guns were drawn. I was not cuffed. I was not wrestled to the ground. I was simply placed in the back of a squad car while they tried to figure out who I was. I didn’t have any ID on me, so it took a few minutes, but I was released. 

I was told I matched the description of a suspect, and walked right into a stake out. I was stopped because I looked like someone else. 

Was I mistreated? Absolutely not. I thought I was actually treated very politely and respectfully. Sure I was a scruffy long haired kid...it was the 70’s.  But being white, I really didn’t have anything to worry about. I just had a little bit of a story to tell when I got back to the hotel. 

We need it to be this way for other innocent people...for all innocent people. Regardless of who they look like.