Month: September 2016

Gangster Rap and What Matters

/ kevingdrendel / Leave a comment

Anyone who has read my blog knows that I often express sympathy with the plight of people of color in modern American society. Though I am white, a man and live in the suburbs, I have defended the right of Colin Kaepernick to protest, though I don’t find his protest to be very effective. I have urged my fellow Caucasians to try to see through the eyes of other people and not be so quick to dismiss them. I have written that we should try to understand what “black lives matter” really means.

I am not the person who should be writing about these things, perhaps. But, we are all people, right? If I can’t write about these things, what does it say about the ideal that we espouse as a society that longs for equality and justice for all and treats all people, no matter what race, nationality, gender or orientation, as human beings worthy of respect?

So I write about these things.

I specifically feel self-conscious about writing on this subject. It is not the world I know, but, I don’t hear people talking about it much. They used to talk about it, but not anymore. I’m talking about the influence of things like gangster rap on our society. Continue reading →

Issues with Colin Kaepernick

/ kevingdrendel / 1 Comment

olympics-black-power-salu-008

I have been silent about the Colin Kaepernick “issue” since it first surfaced. I have been slightly amused, but more perturbed, at the rants and raves that have taken on a life of their own. Don’t we have more serious issues to attend to? We get our panties in a bunch a little too easily.

I know. I probably stand apart from many of my friends and people I know. I am white, lean conservative, consider myself a Christian… but more importantly, above all other things, I count myself a follower of Christ, an imperfect one to be sure. But, that’s my ideal.

I don’t identify with Colin Kaepernick, and neither do my friends, and that is part of the problem. Continue reading →