Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Color Blind Turner Reunion



Today I was walking out of physical therapy with an African-American man and I suddenly noticed his T-shirt said "Turner Family Reunion." He told me his wife's maiden name was Turner and told me there were white relatives among the Turners. I told him it sounded like the kind of reunion I would like to go to.
He's 80 and he and his wife bring their daughter every week to aquatic physical therapy. All three of them seem like fine people to me. It's very comfortable to chat with them outside the pool.
In 1962 I proposed my high school fraternity take African-Americans as  members. I was glad it was senior year because all of a sudden I was persona non grata.
I would never have believed that in 2015 unarmed African-Americans were being shot down by police. It's such a long period of time that things should of worked out by now. What does that say about us as a nation. I'm a Mayflower descendent from two pilgrims, but know that the children of the pilgrims slaughtered Native Americans. I know that before World War II Chinese were not allowed to be citizens.
I wish that I could go to their reunions. I wish that my country could grow up and behave itself.
As John Lennon sang, "you can say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one." I'm waiting to join others looking for the same  world.

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