The Color of a Thug

THE COLOR OF A THUG 

On February 15, 2014, the Palm Beach Post published an article by Miami Herald journalist Leonard Pitts entitled “What thug really means.” Mr. Pitts referenced the recent murder of 17-year-old Jordan Davis, who is black, by Michael Dunn, a white man. 

According to an eye witness account, Mr. Dunn, having parked next to an SUV filled with young black males listening to loud, bass-heavy rap music at a Jacksonville gas station, said “I hate that thug music.” 

The eye witness went on to state that an argument erupted between Dunn and the young men, which prompted Dunn to get his gun out of his glove box and start firing. The unarmed Jordan Davis was shot and died. Dunn is on trial for murder.

I’m not arguing the facts of the case or disputing the eye witness’ testimony. My ire lies with Mr. Pitts claim that the word “thug” is racist. Pitts presented two scenarios and asked the reader to imagine what would be seen in his/her mind’s eye. Test number one: close your eyes and picture a California girl. Test number two: close your eyes and picture a chess prodigy.

Mr. Pitts claimed that more than likely the reader would see the California girl as a Farrah Fawcett look alike and the chess prodigy as an owlish nerd – both, of course, being white.

I don’t know where Mr. Pitts was raised, but I’m a Jersey girl. Although I moved to Florida more than 20 years ago, I’ve never actually left the Garden State. Many of my views and attitudes were formed while growing up in an ethnically diversified inner city neighborhood in West New York, New Jersey -- a place that closely resembled the Martin Scorsese movie, Mean Streets (circa 1973). 

My father was of German/Irish descent. My mother was Italian. Both were kind, decent people without a prejudiced bone in their body. My dad was born in the United States. My mom was born in Italy. You’ve heard that old joke “… for the longest time, I thought my name was guinea wop?” Well, that’s what my mom faced throughout her formative years and, yet, I never heard her say a mean word about anyone -- except those thugs!

Mom did not need to close her eyes and imagine.  Thugs were a part of everyday life. These tough guys may have preferred Dean Martin to rap, but that didn’t make them any less frightening. Some of them held high political office while others worked at menial “clean up” jobs. For comparison purposes, I would like to point out that the family that lived directly across the street from us was black. There were ten children and I had the biggest crush on the oldest son. He was gorgeous, smart, kind… did I say gorgeous? He was also the first boy I ever kissed and I’ve never forgotten that moment. He was a brilliant student and achieved great success in life. 

Let’s fast forward to the mid-1970s. My husband became a police physician in the town where we lived – not the same town I grew up in. This town was considered high class with many wealthy people residing in luxury apartments and big homes overlooking the Hudson River. I ran his office for 25 years and often laughed at the juxtaposition of law enforcement officers and criminals who populated our waiting room – at the same time. Those less than stellar men were definitely thugs and they were all white. Some of them were even police officers.

The point I’m trying to make is that racism is not a word or a gesture. It’s a mindset. Thugs don’t come in colors – like shoes or paint. They come with attitudes and cross all ethnic, educational, financial, residential and religious barriers. A thug to me resembles Vito Corleone not the late Jordan Davis. Thugism (yup, it’s a word) is an equal employment opportunity.

Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abul Jabbar are known for playing chess. None are prodigies on the checkered board but they are amazing players on the basketball court. Kareem Abul Jabbar also wore goggles while playing. This was the result of suffering a scratched cornea during a game and not because he was a nerd. 

Jamaican born Maurice Ashley is a chess grandmaster, author, commentator, app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker. He is currently a Joint Fellow at the Berkman Center at Harvard and the Media Lab at MIT. Mr. Ashley might qualify as a nerd but I’m not going to tell him because nerd might then become a racist word. 

One last thing… the days when people imagined Farrah Fawcett as the epitome of California girl are long passed.