Where is our Joy?

I don't like to stereotype, and I don't want anything in the following post to sound racist toward any group including the group I would easily be lumped into…

For Memorial Day, we traveled to Port Huron. We found a city park with a large playground for the kids, picnic areas, plenty of shade, and a large beach. I enjoy our Great Lakes. Lake Huron is only an hour’s drive away. Something about the water, the sand, and the soft grass feeds my soul.

The park showcased the melting pot that our country embodies. It was fun to family watch. This is the soil where my form of patriotism grows, in our open arms, in our diversity, and in our families.

A large latino family claimed a large, sunny chunk of the park to play soccer. They were having so much fun. They kept shouting, "Goal!"

I worried a bit about my kids wanting to join in. Then I realized that I might want to join in.

A large arabic family played very interesting music. The young women all joined hands and danced for a short time. My son, Gage thought that was cool. I couldn't help but think about how that embodied freedom and comfort - to dance in public like that in a setting that isn't known for dancing.

As a large Indian family walked in, I noticed that the men were pushing the baby strollers. At first I thought there were no women in the group. They trailed behind a few minutes later. As the day went on, it was obvious that the men were the main caretakers for the kids.

There were other large family groups around us that weren't just speaking English. I couldn't identify them all, but they had one thing in common, they were large families. There were many interracial families too.

In contrast, most of the caucasian-only families were small (4 to 5), a mother, a father, and 2.5 kids. Most of the non-caucasian families numbered 10 to 15+ with people from multiple generations. I'm guessing that they contained great grandchildren all the way through great grandparents.

It had me wondering… and maybe it’s just my family, but why don’t we get together in such large, extended family groups anymore? We did when we were kids.

Maybe I’m generalizing too much. It was only one day at one park, and it was a holiday. But I still wonder, why don’t we value the same things? I mean, here were multiple cultures all with obvious, strong family ties, except for one.

And where is our joy? We don’t dance in the park. We don’t stake out large sections of a park to play games together. We rarely see one another anymore. If it happens once a year, we’re satisfied. Or are we?

Memorial Day Weekend Randomness

• I hate to be judgmental, but if you have a cross tattoo that covers you're entire back and another on your chest, dropping the f-bomb every other word loudly out in public with your own kids around, as well as many other children, seems extra wrong somehow.
• I'm far from perfect. I'm just saying.
• I read an article late last week that suggested that it was counter productive for parents to neglect teaching their children about their specific race and heritage. It suggested that it actually caused them to be more racist because "everyone assumes they're white," and it can be very traumatic for kids when they find out that they're not. This is posted on a website designed to fight racism. To a certain extent, I'm simplifying. Our kids interact with diverse groups of other kids all the time. The differences have yet to come up, and I couldn't be happier about that. We have no plans to ever explain that there may be some differences or that they in any way matter. One commenter sited a Newsweek article that suggested kids become racist in such situations because they are "taught that the subject is taboo" and "therefore they are superior to other races in some way." I replied that it likely had more to do with a lack of interaction with people that are different. If your kids play with kids that are obviously different than themselves, but never notice, how can they develop the idea that the other races are taboo or inferior? I'm just confounded by the idea that we teach our kids to ignore the differences by pointing out the differences specifically.
• To be perfectly honest, the only "difference" Owen has ever pointed out happens when he sees tall people. He honestly believes that these people are giants, and he very publicly announces such ideas.
• On a similar note: We sat comfortably in a McDonald's at one point this weekend eating ice cream. Another family that was sitting closely by started loudly discussing their son's upcoming first visit to a Christian church with his friend. The father starting making some very comical (to me anyway) statements about Christians. He said that Christians view outsiders as narrow minded people. He then asked what his kids considered appropriate attire would be. I had to bite my tongue as he suggested shorts would be highly inappropriate for church. I wear shorts just about every weekend in the summer to our church. I believe the only dress code at our church is: Don't wear clothing that is in any way R-rated.
• I've found that stereotyping any religion, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, is like stereotyping most anything else. It's a bit futile. There are millions of mosques, churches, and synagogs with different ideas about dress codes, not to mention the tens of thousands of denominations with slightly differing ideas and ideals.
• I had to bite my tongue, but I kept focused on our own family conversations. It's hard to be stereotyped though. Speaking up would have likely reinforced another Christian stereotype that I've never much appreciated.
• I caught Johnny Cash's Gospel Road DVD from Netflix this weekend. I've always loved his music, and his faith has always been an inspiration to me too. I love the scene in Walk the Line where the record exec points out that Cash's Christian, gospel music listening base won't like it if he decides to have a concert for the inmates at Folsom Prison. He replies, "Then they aren't real Christians are they?" Gospel Road was dated, the music was good, but the actors that were hired were way off. I'm pretty sure most of the people in the Bible weren't caucasian. It was the seventies though. What can you do?
• I picked up a comic book for the first time in years this past weekend. Art Adams penciling any form of X-Men can't be ignored. His artwork is phenomenal.