By: T F Stern
T F Stern’s Rantings

This past week the public has been inundated with hate mongering in what can only be interpreted as race bating; stories in the news regarding allegations of “murder” in a case where a Black teenager was shot down. To hear some of the opinions voiced by long time Race Pimps, you heard me, Race Pimps like Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, with the help of a compliant drive-by media, you’d think the young man was gunned down just because he was Black.

I can’t fathom why anyone would intentionally stir up such feelings across America; deep feelings which pitted race against race as if all the progress made in my lifetime had been wasted. I remember a time, walking into stores where they had a drinking fountain for Whites and another for Blacks. I thought those days were behind us or at least well on their way into history, but the Race Pimps would have to earn a living some other way if everyone started acting civil to one another.

With all that’s been going on this past week, I was reminded of something which happened over thirty years ago. I ran my locksmith business by day and served as a Houston Police officer on night shift. One of my contract locksmith accounts was the American Automobile Association (AAA). Just as with the police department, they had an assigned area for which I ran emergency locksmith calls.

One evening, I’d already changed into my police uniform prior to reporting for duty, when AAA called asking if I could squeeze in one more call, the dispatcher knowing I had other commitments. Upon hearing the nature of the call and looking at the clock, I figured if everything went smoothly it wouldn’t make me late for roll call.

I arrived to service the locksmith call wearing my police uniform, something I seldom if ever did. The call was in a predominantly Black neighborhood and the customer was an elderly Black lady wearing her Sunday best. When I stepped out into view, her eyes fixed upon the uniform as if she’d seen the Devil. She’d seen far too much over the years and considered a White police officer a possible threat to her well being. I observed all this just from watching her countenance.

It took only a few minutes to figure out that her ignition switch was broken and would have to be replaced; not a very difficult job and one I’d done many times. Her vehicle was a Dodge with a wrap around dash that would make it a bit more difficult since I would use a “slam hammer/dent puller” to jerk the ignition switch; didn’t want to take a chance on damaging that portion of the wrap around molding that would be directly in line with the motion of pulling the ignition switch.

In pulling the switch, which came out on the very first “yank,” my pinky finger got pinched by the slam hammer. The pain was intense, but I was more concerned with letting any blood spill onto the lady’s carpet as I cupped my hands. I stepped from the vehicle and let the blood splash to the ground.

The look on the woman’s face haunts me to this very day. All her fears about White people, much less White police officers surfaced. In her mind, she knew she was either going to jail or the hospital; after all, a White police officer had injured himself while working on her car. She didn’t say a word for several minutes as I cleaned up my busted pinky finger; checking to see if it still worked and putting a band aid around it.

I did my best to explain there was no extra charge for the blood, a weak and useless attempt at humor. AAA was picking up the tab, so there was no need for an exchange of money. I felt bad for the whole human race for the inability to get past her lifetime of seeing racial prejudice. Now, when she had someone in front of her, a White police officer who held no animosity towards her or her race, the opportunity to move forward had been thwarted by far too many bad experiences.

If only we could learn how to see each other as brothers and sisters, children of our Father in Heaven; then we might learn how to properly serve one another. This is the Dream which Martin Luther King wanted to see fulfilled. Past being sad for the events which have brought me to write this article; I’m angry, angry that Race Pimps are still able to generate so much hatred so easily. Looks like we have a long way to go Brother King before your Dream is realized.

This article has been cross-posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government & The American Constitution.”