Defeating Sylvester McMonkey McBean

Let’s talk about racism.

In case you haven’t heard, the U.S. now has a black president. The top four favorite male sports stars in the U.S. are black. The top two favorite female sports stars are black. This nation damn-near shut down when Michael Jackson died — a man who, unlike Navin Johnson, was in fact born black before he became pasty-white. Is there a daytime celebrity more popular or rich than Oprah? Take a gander over at the top songs on iTunes and you’ll find a healthy dose of black musicians.

Certainly the successes of blacks and the black community in this country and around the world will never put an end to racism. Anywhere there is a semblance of a society in which “the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars” and the “Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars,” we’ll have a measure of racism. And like Dr. Seuss’ Sylvester McMonkey McBean, folks like David Duke and Jesse Jackson will continue to make a good living from the “Off again! On again! In again! Out again!” politics that place more importance on the small differences than the big, wonderful similarities.

Which brings us, of all places, to the Aug. 4 meeting of the Fort Smith Board of Directors. There was a discussion about the Fort Smith Department of Sanitation possibly providing collection and recycling service to Van Buren residents. It was during this discussion that City Director Bill Maddox — a crusty old white guy — reminded the director of the Fort Smith Department of Sanitation — Baridi Nkokheli, a professional black guy — that he served one “master.”

Whoops. You just knew something crazy like this was gonna happen once they started televising the board meetings. Ironically, it was Maddox who pushed the hardest for televised board meetings.

To say the word “master” in this situation was a poor word choice is like saying iceberg detection was an unfortunate part of the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

To his great credit, Nkokheli didn’t react as many of us would have if in his large shoes. To the defense of Maddox, the word choice was a gaffe most likely devoid of overt racism. Maddox is not that clever.

Nkokheli and City Director Andre Good — another young, black professional — kept their cool, with Good suggesting in a polite manner to Mayor Ray Baker that Nkokheli serves a municipality, not a master. The Mayor didn’t appear to understand what Good was trying to say. Maddox did. Immediately after the board meeting adjourned, Maddox made fast for Nkokheli to apologize. Again, to his credit, Nkokheli accepted the apology. If Maddox is smart, he’ll issue a brief public apology at his first available public opportunity.

A brief public apology would have been an appropriate public end to the saga. But a former city director rushed in where Angels who have but one residence fear to tread. This former  city director and publicity-seeking citizen issued a letter to the media suggesting that Maddox is an insensitive white guy who should resign from the board because of his “demeaning and discriminatory remarks.”

My momma taught her children it is impolite to tell someone to “Shut up.” That’s often a hard rule to honor. Instead, let’s note that this former city director’s outrage lacks any credibility considering the director’s unwillingness to remain a resident of the Ward to which elected, the arrogance with which the director then avoided calls for resignation, and the unfortunate tumult this director injected into this city in a shallow attempt as city director to fire the police chief to make way to the post for the director’s spouse.

This director points to a pebble of ignorance wanting us to see a boulder of unconscionable racism solved only by the ouster of the Great White Offender. This director makes up in unbridled nerve for what is lacking in responsible perspective.

Of the many reasons Maddox should not be a city director, his Aug. 4 gaffe is not likely in the top five. Also, Maddox has the sense to remain a resident of the Ward to which he was elected. But for folks with a deep desire to see Fort Smith move forward, comments from Maddox usually create a mental wince similar to the one that spread throughout the audience when “master” was uttered.

Those overly sensitive to the tactless we encounter in life will side with those calling for Maddox to resign. But those folks, as they often do, miss the point. That point is the lesson learned in the example of societal maturity displayed by Messrs. Good and Nkokheli — a maturity yours truly is not sure he could have displayed. Indeed, they did not act stupidly.

Possibly the only way this thing could be blown more out of proportion would be for someone to propose bringing Maddox, Nkokheli and Good together so they could make nice over a few beers.

Although a few cold beers would help make more tolerable most city board meetings, we don’t need the soothing suds to know the lesson learned is that we have at least two professionals involved in city government who possess the responsible perspective necessary to avoid the fruitless debate about who has and has not bellies with stars. Indeed, it’s possible that “… the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day.
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches.
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether
They had one, or not, upon thars.”