Tipping and the Klan.

I found the following story involving Mrs. Field's alma mater and Ole Miss interesting. [Oh my, this can't be good for recruiting all those black athletes.] I wasn't in the least upset, because I happen to agree with Dr. Boyce Watkins whose article you are about to read.

"I was intrigued by recent reports that the Ku Klux Klan had a rally on the Ole Miss Campus recently. It might surprise you to know that I am essentially unconcerned by their presence on campus. Don't get me wrong, Klansmen are incredibly ignorant. Also, we cannot deny their historical reign of terror over people of color in America. But I can also give you a list of reasons that we should stop paying attention to the KKK.

1) They thrive off of attention: The KKK has very little power. They don't do very much anymore, and even in this rally, it appears that there were only a few members present. The truth is that the klan only has power because we give it attention. They are like a grease fire: The more water you put on it, the more it grows. But if you starve the fire of oxygen, it eventually dies out. The klan must be starved of attention, and then they will go away. They only remain relevant because we want them to be.

2) The KKK distracts us from real racism: While Ole Miss can proudly brag about how they ran the KKK off their campus, they then turn around and face a college campus that doesn't hire very many African American Professors and doesn't graduate black athletes at a very high rate. But they are not alone in their campus segregation. According to a survey we conducted on YourBlackWorld, over 1/3 of all black college students have never had a single black professor, and over 60 percent of them have only had one or less. That should embarrass our universities and be the source of absolute outrage among African American students. Rather than fighting against Klan members they will probably never see again, the Ole Miss students should focus on dealing with the professors in the classes that they attend every day. Also, we are allowing the campus to brag about something that is not worth bragging about. For campus administrators to fight against the KKK and simultaneously support systemic racism via the lack of campus diversity is like them saying, "I am completely against rape, but I plan to molest you every single day."

3) The KKK has freedom of speech just like everyone else: Whether we like it or not, the KKK has the same liberties that most of us have as Americans. As long as they are not out encouraging people to kill African Americans, they are protected by the constitution. I want to protect the klan's right to speak because that also gives me the right to speak. The last thing we want is to live in a country where the government decides whose opinions should be heard. The Klan has a right to exist. I don't support the KKK, but I also have major problems with Ole Miss. The university was built on a foundation of racism and like most campuses, they are probably not being very progressive in terms of fighting it. But in order for us to accurately fight against the disease of racism in America, we must be intelligent about our targets. The KKK should not be a meaningful part of that dialogue." [Story]

I agree 100%. So take that all of you people who think that all I do is chase racism. I could care less about a few Klansmen on the Ole Miss campus. (BTW, the guy in front under the white sheet looks rather portly. Are they sure that's not Haley Barbour?) I am more concerned about all of their secret sympathizers in state houses across the country and in the halls of congress, than I am a few marchers in Klan costumes.

Hell I am more pissed off about a story from my home state, where it seems that it's cool to lock up people even after you give them lousy service.

Oh come on field, you are a lawyer, the restaurant's policy is that there is a MANDATORY 18% gratuity. It is a built in cost, you have to pay it. Why? As my man Lamont Hill said, that is incredibly oxymoronic. -Kind of like intelligent conservative- How can something be a mandatory gratuity? I mean why should the actual cost of the goods that I am purchasing not be enough? And what if the service really did stink? Wait.... "You can't give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip," said Pope, a 22-year-old Moravian College senior who's a Pottsville native, according to the Lehigh Valley Express-Times. They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress caught a smoke, had to ask the bar for soda refills, and had to wait over an hour for salad and wings, they told NBC10. " See, the service did stink. Why add the cost of the service that stunk and tell me that I have to pay it? Remind me never to go to the "Lehigh Pub" in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Oh field, you are just saying that because you black folks don't like to tip. No, us black folks, like white folks, and all other kind of folks, don't like to get ripped off. Having the cops run down this couple and arrest them after giving them lousy service in your establishment, smells like a rip off to me.

That's where the Klan should have been marching; in front of the "Lehigh Pub". Unlike those poor patrons, I am sure that they wouldn't have been arrested.