Thugs and Mr. Potato Head

Are you “woke” and and “politically correct” or are you inferior or uneducated or racist or xenophobic or misogynistic or stupid? Write a social media post about protests or riots or Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head and you will be told all the rotten things you are. For example, after 61 years, it has come to light that I am racist, homophobic and, oddly, misogynistic. I am also fat, stupid and a boomer. These descriptors have all come in response to social media posts over the last year. By the way, have you noticed you can’t deny being racist? You also can’t deny being homophobic. Denying it evidently just proves the point. One of these days I will write a blog on what that means. For now, the racist, homophobic, fat, stupid boomer wants to let off a little steam.

Those of us born in the 1950s or 1960s or even the 1970s know there are phrases and words we grew up with that should never be uttered again. Some were not used with malice or a demeaning connotation at the time. “Retarded” was a proper medical term, if you can fathom that. Some were very demeaning and hostile and I won’t recount any of those here. Sadly, some were just part of the vernacular and no thought was even given to where they originated. I agree that can no longer be an excuse for those of us of a certain age. However, I am frequently shocked at what is today considered as racist or xenophobic or misogynistic.

Most recently, I was accused of being racist for the use of the word “thug”. I will push back on this one with some fervor (and probably some sarcasm). I’ll resort to an old tactic and give you the internet’s most quoted version of the meaning of “thug”.

• Thug is a term for a violent, lawless person, especially a man. … The adjective form of thug is thuggish. In this sense, thug often refers to someone who acts as a bully or is a professional and violent criminal, as in The mafia sent hired thugs to intimidate store owners.

Bingo. Exactly what I mean when I use the word. Somehow, now I am supposed to know that a thug refers to an adult, black male in a derogatory way. Maybe it does for you. So who is it that appropriated the word “thug” and turned it into a cultural reference that subsequently turned us boomers into racists? I do not subscribe to the notion that because you hear with racist overtones, I have become a racist. For me, “thug” doesn’t have a race connotation. Ever watch “The Godfather”? Talk about thugs……and not one of them was an adult, black male.

Pop quiz: If a group of adult, white males is looting a liquor store to protest police brutality, are they thugs? If a group of black and white adult males is looting a liquor store to protest police brutality, are they thugs? If a group of adult, black males is looting a liquor store to protest police brutality, are they thugs?

The answer is, what does looting a liquor store have to do with a protest against police brutality? They are all thugs, and thieves and criminals if they are looting a liquor store. It’s looting, not protesting.

Moving on….

“Wokeness” and “political correctness” are just other words for being a thoughtful, kind and aware human being. What we are witnessing now, however, has taken those terms to a degree that some have come to use as weaponry. “Cancel culture” is now more like a sport…a sport with equipment that cuts and shames and demeans with a passion that renders common sense null and void. Most of us roll our eyes and laugh out loud at the references being made today. Dr. Seuss? Mr. Potato Head? You have to be kidding, right? Nope, not kidding. And we have to stop thinking it’s loony and really push back before the pendulum swings so far we can’t get it back to the middle.

I find it interesting that, in defending a lot of positions, the favorite tool is “If you don’t want/like X, don’t get/use X”. I agree, in most cases. So if you don’t like/want a Mr. Potato Head, please don’t buy one. Buy Lego blocks instead. They come in all shapes and sizes and colors and connect with each other in every way and don’t convey gender or sex. I used them with a Girl Scout troop to teach a lesson on diversity and inclusion and the value of every human being. They are a great tool for that. (Caution: don’t buy the ones in the pink box to avoid being called sexist.)

I remember using Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head to teach my kids body parts. Where do the eyes go? Where does the hat go? Where do the shoes go? Silly me…I thought they were handy educational toys. 30 years later I find out all I was doing was ingraining sexist, genderist (a new word?) and misogynistic stereotypes on my poor unsuspecting children. Except…..my daughter is one of the most tolerant and loving souls you will meet in your lifetime. My son didn’t have a judgmental bone in his body, unless you butchered a Stevie Ray Vaughan song on the guitar. How can it be that their exposure to Mr. Potato Head didn’t set them up to be cruel, judgmental and intolerant? I even read them the Berenstain Bears’ “He Bear, She Bear”….they shouldn’t have had a chance in hell of being “woke”.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s because their parents and their grandparents and most of their teachers and most of their friends were examples that didn’t allow for any kind of hateful, intolerant behavior. I don’t pretend to believe that all the people in their lives held all the attitudes of the hyper-woke today. I will tell you that Mr. Potato Head didn’t override the lessons we taught them to be kind and to live their lives without telling others how to live theirs. When they did encounter some hateful rhetoric about women or race or sexual preferences, one or both of us jumped on the opportunity to teach them about tolerance and prejudice and their responsibilities to be kind to one another. We were not perfect parents, but when I take a good hard look at the end result, I know Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder had a lot more influence over my kids than Mr. and and Mrs. Potato Head.

I don’t imagine that this will be the last blog I will write that is born out of my disgust for this “woke” standard by which we are all being measured. The irony and hypocrisy of it all is just too rich a subject matter. Until then, my book suggestion for the week is “Go, Dog, Go!” by Dr. Seuss. “The Godfather II” is the best movie ever made and will teach you the true meaning of “thug”. ….and don’t forget to pack your “angry eyes”, just in case.