Shades of Gray

My daughter has a wonderful voice. She's been singing like a pro since she was a very little girl. This is not a case of PPS...Proud Papa Syndrome. I'm not waving her flag here. I do that enough. No, this is what I have heard, consistently, all throughout her young, beautiful life, from friends, family, teachers and total strangers alike. "Wow, she's great. Boy, can she sing!"

This was highlighted again this past weekend when she was invited to be the featured soloist at a concert of Christmas music held at a local church. What made this event even more noteworthy was fact that she had been invited by a congregation of Black Christians.

Here was this beautiful, young, white Jewish girl singing her heart and lungs out with a Black Gospel Choir...at their request!

As I sat in the balcony and kvelled over my daughter I thought of the insane way in which President Obama has been treated by his opposition. It would be more tolerable if he were being criticized for his policies alone. But the fact that so many people on the conservative side of the American political spectrum have pilloried Obama not only for his political philosophy and legislative proposals but they have attempted to delegitimize his presidency because he is Black. And only half Black at that.

They should be ashamed. They represent what is so wrong with our culture, a culture of "us and them", of competition at every level.

It is also understandable why the right has taken this point of view. It is to marginalize Obama in an attempt to make him unacceptable to the American people. If they succeed then their candidate in '12 will prevail whether it is Romney, Huckabee or Palin.

Again, I say, they, and we should be ashamed. Obama is Black. My daughter is White. Jackie Chan is Asian. Alex Rodriguez is Hispanic. Beckham is a Brit. Kidman is an Aussie. Depardieu is French. Barishnikov is a Russian.

And so on as it has always been and will always be. And we persist in judging people by irrelevant characteristics...height, weight, hair, the color of their skin.

In this time of Christmas we should be reminded that Jesus was a Jew who was murdered because he was different.

As was Ghandi, both Kennedys, King and Lennon.

The new political party No Labels wants to be seen as a party of anonymous description.

"Can't we all just get along?"

We can start by being like the Black church that invited my White daughter to sing. They didn't invite her because, or in spite of the fact, that she is white. They invited her because...she can sing.

Hallelujah!