A History Lesson - Obama

When my alarm goes off in the morning it's set to turn on the radio instead of that pesky beeping sound. This particular morning show was discussing the word "Mulatto." Apparently a woman had come on the show and was using this word to describe our new president. We were all getting an education this morning because I too had never heard of the word. And so it begins the picking apart of our new president. How can he be called the first African-American president? He's not really black. He's a "Mulatto." He's bi-racial with a white mother. This whole conversation woke me up! Why am I surprised that people are already picking him apart? I'm not going to say that this is how Americans are because it really seems to be a human nature issue not a country issue. If you put someone in the lime light others will do their best to pick them apart. It's sad but it's true.

Today's history lesson was the long list of other derogatory words that people use and don't know that they are derogatory.

Vandal - East Germanic tribe known for their sac of Rome in 455.
Hooligan - an term used to describe an Irish drunk.
Hip Hip Hooray - The first half of "Hip, hip, Hooray is adapted from "hep,hep," an old German sheep herder cry. Also use as rallying cry while going Jew-hunting in Jew ghettos.

You can find these terms and more using Wikipedia. Obviously these terms aren't really meant in this way or used in these ways. When my son goes potty in his potty chair and we shout "Hip Hip Hooray" I promise we are not hunting Jews.

Now you know what I mean when I say "learning never ends!" I learn something new every single day and this is today's lesson. I'm sure this would be a great topic for some student out there that needed a topic for a paper. Who knew? Did you?