American nomenclature is full of color references and I assume most are related either obviously or not, to skin color. This issue may not be as black and white as you think. That’s my first one. Some of you may know many of the buildings in Washington D.C. were built by slaves. So the President lives in the White House which was built by Black men.

Black and white issues indicate a definitive line between two sides. I have heard people use many words for children from black and white couples. One that took me a while to understand is grey which means blurring of the races.

When I grew up people told big lies (black) and fibs (white lies). Remember how easy it was to tell which cowboy was the hero and which was the villain? White hats and black hats. (Yes, Adam Cartwright, Paladin, and “Lash” LaRue wore black to go with their outfits.) Most of the heroes rode white or light colored horses but the bad guys always rode dark ones.

It isn’t just black being the subtle villain color we grew up with but Indians were bad, except for Jay Silverheels (Tonto) and both people portraying Charlie Chan were white and his two “assistants” were fumbling goofs. One was black and the other Asian. Subtle, huh?

Hollywood and many people, including in government, still think Indians are all drunks. The President’s utterances have portrayed many white supremeists as being good guys and brown skinned people as murders, rapists, and drug dealers. The more we are exposed to those ideas from birth the more it becomes ingrained in our psyches. “People of Color” is supposed to exclude, but my crayola box had a white crayon. It was still a color and although I am well tanned in most areas, I am still called white!

Minooka, Illinois’ High School sports teams are named “The Indians.” Some people think it is an affront to the people who were here before the Europeans pushed them out of their homes or killed them off. Morris’ team is called “The Redskins” and sometime ago it was proposed the name be changed. It wasn’t. My home town team is called “The Foxes” and apparently doesn’t insult any of the foxes in the area.

I have discussed this issue along with what they like to be called with Sioux, Navaho and Apache. They all live on reservations and prefer to be called by the name we gave them five centuries ago and they grew up with. They didn’t like Canada’s “First Nation”, Native American, or any other word the activists think up. I forgot to ask about redskins specifically, but I don’t feel they would object too much. It seems those who live in the urban areas, (my news comes from Chicago area) are the ones who find these mascot names objectionable.

The ones I have spoke with find it an honor to be remembered as fighters and for bravery. I did ask a Navaho about the Atlanta Braves tomahawk chop motion. He thought it was okay but reminded me about counting coup (acts of bravery) was greater than killing an enemy. This issue reminds me of the sudden emphasis on tearing down statues of anyone someone perceived of having something to do with slavery. They tore down Grant’s statue because he had been given two slaves by his father-in-law. Grant didn’t believe in slavery but he didn’t want to offend him further than marrying his daughter. Grant worked in the fields side by side with the field slave and freed them both when he could get away with it. He also destroyed the K.K.K. while President.

This viewpoint isn’t just mine alone and I doubt few of those reading this opinion will disagree. People have a right to assemble and protest what they perceive as an inequity or differing opinion. However, that right does not extend to violating our rights to go where we want, to conduct business on our own property, or to feel safe doing either of those.

A few police have gone well past where they should have gone, but they are only human and the protests, especially violent ones, create an “us” against “them” feeling. A few years ago Chicago had large protests that were managed and controlled by the police. They had undercover cops and informants in the crowds and in the small violence-causing groups allowing the undercover cops to stop violence before it manifested itself.

Many years ago I was meeting with a client when a Will County Deputy came into their office. He was a large man. He was made even larger by his vest under his shirt. After he left, my client mentioned how fun-loving the deputy is when not in uniform. That’s when it struck me how quickly normal people change when they put on the vest and gun belt. At that moment they realize they could be the next cop killed. Then again, I doubt we want Mayberry’s Sheriff Andy and Barney to patrol our streets and to come when we call for help.

Over the years I have talked with rookies to police chiefs and I believe the longer they wear the badge the more callous they become. The more their assigned area involves a high crime area, the more biased a cop is against that population. It didn’t matter whether they are the same race or ethnic as those in the high crime area, they learned to distrust those people. Putting on the badge must change people if they can do their job. Some just let their naturally bad character take over.