A New Day in America?
Obama is capable of leading, are we capable of following?

Today we have a new President of the United States of America. For the first time in our nation’s history a man of color occupies the White House. As a nation we should be proud of ourselves — whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians and everything in between, for voting for character over skin coloration.

Perhaps his ascendancy can help us become a better nation in other ways. Perhaps now we can put an end to some of the systemic racism that pervades our country... racism so embedded that most whites don't even see or think of it -- they totally ignore, overlook, and accept it as quite normal. And the reason is simple: It doesn't really affect them or their lives in any substantive manner.

Thanks to the staff of CoolCleveland.com (who've done a magnificent job of spreading my musings far and wide) I've met some people and have been invited to some dining establishments that I would not normally frequent... my tastes running more to home-cooking; I'm the family foodie, except when my wife shows off her considerable culinary skills on occasional weekends. However, my fantasy profession is "chef." I just love shopping for food and cooking.

Alas, I digress, and I’ve finally figured out why I do some of these digressions... it’s because I don’t want to hurt readers’ feelings by broaching uncomfortable subjects. My reading audience is diverse, and since becoming an adult I’ve tried my best to live as far above the color line as humanly possible... so when people think that I enjoy raising issues of racism, the really are mistaken. It pains me deeply... but if I don’t raise them who will? That’s why I sometimes dance around the issue.

But here are the facts: A relatively new eatery was reopened on the eastside and I was invited there by a friend for lunch. I arrived a few minutes early and took a seat at the bar while waiting for my luncheon companion. The young white woman tending the bar (even though she was in the process of training a black woman) couldn’t hide her displeasure at serving a black man a glass of water. Even some of the black staffers looked at me as if to say “What the hell are you doing in here?”

Now, some could say that I was being overly sensitive — but I’ve been black all of my 65 years and I know when I’m being dogged out because of race. The amazing thing that happened next was that a white guy, about my age (who obviously worked at the place) came and stood at the end of the bar and gave me the biggest, warmest smile I’d received in ages. He seemed absolutely thrilled to see me, and I was later introduced to him as the owner/manager of the establishment. Go figure. But this was just one incident that I quickly got over, but the problem goes deeper and is about more than just a slight, it’s about basic fairness.

Here’s what I know about the restaurant business in Cleveland. I have a good friend who has worked as a server in some of the best restaurants in town for over the last two decades. She happens to be a beautiful black woman. She told me most restaurants have a formula for hiring blacks for the “front” of the house (if, indeed, they hire any blacks at all for those positions): One black female, and one black male …as long as he is gay. Many establishments still only hire blacks for busboys and cooks, and they stay in those positions, no matter how well they could learn higher-paying skills.

This is called “tradition — the way we’ve always done things around here.” The other words for it are “institutionalized racism,” and it’s really past time for it to end.

One of my favorite restaurants is Zocalo Mexican Grill on East 4th Street. OK, it isn’t as upscale as the famous establishment across the street (that shall remain forever unnamed), but the staff of Zocalo is racially mixed, and they don’t seem to be losing any customers because of it. And, yes, I leave a 20 percent tip … more if the service warrants it (I know I have to make up for the cheap-assed black professional athletes in Cleveland in the tip department).

The pay differential between working as a sever and working as a busboy is significant enough to pay for an offspring to attend college. That’s how races move ahead, by someone working their butts off at a decent paying job so their kids can get an education and don’t have to. But they have to first get the job.

When is Cleveland going to come into the Age of Obama and really integrate the wait staffs at fine restaurants? It’s kind of embarrassing when even out-of-town visitors begin to notice and remark how really racist Cleveland is on this issue. The problem is, Clevelanders (both white and black) take this as normal … and it’s not. It further erodes our city’s image.

The question is not one of "Is President Obama capable of leading the nation?" The question actually is, "Are we capable of doing what he has asked of us as a nation?"

In his Inauguration speech the president said, "We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things." Can we as a city, as a nation, grow beyond these childish things, these prejudices, these intolerances he spoke of?

If the wait staffs of Cleveland restaurants are as white this time next year as they are today, we will have answered that question in the negative. But I hold out hope that we can grow —I hold out hope for a positive answer to President Obama's challenge.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com
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