Saturday, August 18, 2007

Skin Deep

The other day, beltline traffic was barely moving, and what should have been a 10-minute drive turned into 40 minutes. I scanned radio stations and found a talk-show in Milwaukee. A New York dermatologist was doling wisdom and advice to callers and listeners with his truly inspiring bits of knowledge. For example:

"People of color don't like to go out in the sun because it makes their skin even darker."

Why, it reminds me of a song....

"Everyone's A Little Bit Racist," another fine ditty from Avenue Q.

8 comments:

Sleepydumpling said...

Aye caramba! I mean heard in the office over the water cooler, you might expect, but from a dermatologist on a radio programme?? I hope someone called in and told him what a racist he is!

christian said...

Two words: Cray-Z.

Anonymous said...

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6DA133DF931A15752C1A964958260

Amy said...

Lisa, thanks for the link. Interesting. Have you ever read any of Maya Angelou's books? She wrote about race and perceptions a lot. When someone told her that her baby was so beautiful and "he could pass," she was utterly insulted.

Christian--well, what else is there to say?

Kath, I'm going to be a shit. Why is saying it on the radio any worse than saying it over the water cooler? That wasn't the only thing he said that made my eyebrow shoot toward my thinning, greasy, Snape-like hair. But that one just took the cake.

laurie said...

you should read the short story "white as snow." for some reason i think i'ts by kay boyle but i might be wrong about that. it's an amazing story on this topic.

Amy said...

Thanks for the tip. I'll look it up.

laurie said...

it is, its kay boyle. i have it in a collection called "sometimes magic."

Sleepydumpling said...

It's not worse. It's just heard by a LOT, LOT more people. That's what makes it more shocking.