Where Is The Bottom

Make no mistake. This is a bona fide rant.

I was profiled tonight. Yes, I mean racially. DWB dammit. There are times when I need to clear my head, and on such occasions, I head to the ocean. There is a specific stretch of the ocean in a beach city, three cities south of the one in which I dwell. It is late, and I did not consider the time restrictions along the beaches. They were all closed. My favorite spot, an elevated road parallel to the ocean, has no parking between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., so obviously I could not pull over and step out my car to allow that fresh ocean breeze to smack me upside my head. I kept driving. I had another destination in mind, another beach spot. Once I arrived, I parked my car, released my frustrations in the form of tears, listened to Joss Stone, wrote myself a letter of affirmation and sat quietly to enjoy some peace.

When I was ready to depart, I had to back out of my space and perform a semi-u-turn in order to face the direction in which I need to go. Lo and behold, I run right into the "beach city" po-po, and this joker pulls me over. Mind you, this particular beach city is not as "liberal" as my own. In typical DWB fashion, I turn on my interior lights, ready my drivers license and proof of insurance, roll down both my front windows and stick my identification out for the officer to see. He gets out of the car, asks me if I know why he pulled me over, and of course I say no, when I really wanted answer "yes, because I'm a pickaninny rolling through your picture perfect town late at night." He proceeds to explain the purpose of the double yellow line which I had no choice but to cross while backing out of my space. He also notices that I had the red face and nose and asked if I was "stable", which almost elicited raucous laughter from me, but because I was in no mood to go the station, I assured him that I was cool, and just came out to get some fresh air to mourn the loss of a loved one. This was a half truth, by the way, yes, there was a death in my family Sunday, but the relative was very distant.

I relay this story to ask, "where is the bottom?" This is the question that was asked by the character Beneatha Younger, in A Raisin In The Sun. While Lorraine Hansberry's play was debuted on Broadway almost fifty years ago, its relevance to the black experience has not changed. I would also venture to say that this timeless story is also, now relevant to a few other minority groups in this world.
I watched tonight's broadcast on ABC. I really enjoyed it. I have read the play and seen the original black and white movie. I have not been fortunate enough yet, to see it on stage.

Back to my rant.

"Where is the bottom", when in 2008, I, as a woman, a woman of color, can get pulled over by the law because I am OF color. Where is the bottom, when Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, with ALL of her accomplishments, contributions and milestones, gets snubbed by the producers of the 80Th Oscar telecast (please see previous post from YBF.com)? Where is the bottom, when Mrs. Ruby Dee, who has blessed us with her grace and dignity in arts and film for over sixty years, has to wait until she is 83 years old to be acknowledged by the Academy of Arts and Sciences? I cry foul. Where is the bottom, when a specific tack head journalist/talk show host can get on national t.v., and speak about lynching in reference to our feature First Lady, Michelle Obama? Where is the bottom, when Phylicia Rashad never received any recognition from her "peers" for being the baddest t.v. mom there ever was. She rocked her roll as Lena Younger last night, a character that reminds us of the humility our fore parents had to possess in order to hold themselves and their families together.

And one more thing..........did anyone see BaBa WaWa (Barb Walters) ask Vanessa Williams if she had ever experienced racism as a child growing up in an all white neighborhood? WTF Babs? It was the late sixties! Vee's answer was yes, and Babs acted surprised. I say, Squirrel please! Hell, she experienced racism when she was crowned Miss America in 1983.

Of course I feel that Sen. Obama is experiencing it, albeit subtle; at least for now.

I could go on and on, but I'm sleepy and certain that I've said enough, if not too much. I just wanna know, where is the bottom? Do you realize that this may never end? Are you mentally tough enough to handle that? No wonder we have hypertension!

This is some fraganackle bull!