PEELING BACK THE ONION
A Continuing Series by Jon Frangipane
Do You Really Know Who You’re Talking To?
For years you may speak to friends, or just someone you know, and think you both share common ground; that your likes and dislikes are fairly similar. Then one day, your entire conception changes when that person you thought you knew says something from left field (or right field), and suddenly your whole relationship crashes to an end.
A recent incident in my life that literally shocked me was a phone conversation with a businesswoman I had befriended and known for years. And for some reason, we began discussing the huge increase in racial unrest. Out of the blue, she asked me what my family heritage was. I told her that my mother’s family originated in Genoa in Northern Italy and my father’s family was from Sicily, on the Southern tip of Italy.
My friend was quiet for a moment and then exclaimed, “But you’re so white!”
This so-called friend of mine immediately identified herself as a racist, to my utter surprise and disappointment. At that moment, I just wondered what was going on in this highly educated women’s twisted brain. Oh my God, have I just slipped in the ratings on her Race Relations Chart? Maybe I haven’t ingested enough olive oil?
Those four words, “But you’re so white,” were all it took to open up my eyes as to who I was really talking to. As a musician, my life experiences have included meeting people of all ages, all religions and all races, many of which I’ve performed with on stages, traveling around the country. They have all remained my friends. See photos below – with Duke Ellington and Count Basie.
I personally have five children. The mother of three was born to a family of German extraction and two other children born of Japanese extraction. None have experienced any racial threats. And their skin is as white as the driven snow.
By the middle of this very century, the skin color of everyone on our planet will begin to turn a shade or two darker whether we like it or not. In the meantime, the complete global acceptance of equal rights for people of color must be uppermost in the minds of every individual living person, at the risk of the destruction of our entire planet.