The wellspring of thought that led to the creation of this blog is an email that I received from my schools chapter of SNDA concerning a dinner they were hosting. The SNDA is the student arm of the minority themed National Dental Association and has a strong black heritage. I am from the South and grew up in a school district that was 60% black and have a large number of black friends. Upon going to college with a lot of northerners and very few blacks, then to dental school in Boston, I have encountered so many people who ascribe to a misguided crusade on political correctness. I grew up eating Soul Food because of where I'm from, my grandparents grew up on a tobacco farm, it's what I know as normal. The rest of the country apparently thinks that Soul Food is not only a black culinary designation but carries with it baggage of being negative because it is something people associate with blacks. It is incredibly frustrating to me to feel incapsulated in a bubble where the words that I use can be restrung by someone looking to get offended. People simply do not have trusting hearts when it comes to racial tensions, I don't know whether it is a function of society, media, radicals, or what, but the level of freedom with which we can discuss the goings on of life has been shrouded in euphemistic ambiguity clouded by a fog of vaguery that permits only the slimmest vestige of true meaning to be at all discernable.
I asked some of my friends if people would get offended if I replied to the email concerning the SNDA dinner asking if they were serving soul food. If the reply had been yes I would have gone in a heart beat, but apparently it would be offensive to presume that because it is a group with black heritage that there is a possibility that they would serve soul food.
This experience coupled with my previous incapability to find an outlet for my thoughts relating to life, God, and where I find myself in relation to the first two have propelled me to create this here forum of my thoughts. I would love to have friends follow me and exchange in dialogue with me, however mainly I would like for it to serve as a journal for my journey.
Andy! It's a good thing whenever people are inspired to dig a little deeper. This sounds like just the blog that will encourage people to do just that. I saw Ashley the other day, and it brought back some good times with you. Hope you're doing well. Please tell Gwyn hey. Blessings my brother!
ReplyDelete