|
It is too much
a part of things,
even though the source is not within.
In small American cities
with and without universities,
it keeps a constant presence
in the Confucian sense,
the inner arriving to match
the outer, spirit not separate
from matter (the latter illusion
left by the missions
the people have made such fine
use of). There are times
when you have to pretend
to embrace an idea or befriend
your adversaries. If constantly
misinterpreted, use the mystery
as currency. You have to start
somewhere. Be wise: depart
from where they’ve already put you.
A country itself can’t betray you.
|
It’s an expression
you’re not supposed to use,
like “black basketball player” or “fat person,”
unless you are a member of the group,
in which case you can even tell jokes.
Did you hear about the Asian driver
who stopped at the red light?
Actually, no one should use the phrase lightly.
Head for the road after using it,
and you’ll probably be hit by an Asian driver.
It’s plain hubris, unless you are a person
of Asian descent, in which case the joke,
in spite of being on your I-group,
might get you blamed, thanks to group
affiliation, regardless of who ran the light;
such is the power of the joke.
Most of my life, I never heard anyone use
the expression, but I am only the person
I am. Remarks about Asian drivers
probably stopped when I, possibly a driver
and certainly Asian, joined the group.
For years I believed that every person
would be judged on the heeding of lights
and signposts, that racial profiling was used
solely in the hot pursuit of thieves. Jokes
were trivial. Besides, the only jokes
I’d ever heard concerning drivers
were the criticisms men and women used
against each other (women, as a group,
were said to slam on brakes at yellow lights;
men sped up; both would harm the person
in the crosswalk). Later, I became a person
who wrote textbooks. The boss banned jokes
about stupid people, Asian drivers, etc. A light
went on: “Asian” was a kind of driver!
When I parallel-parked badly, it had group
repercussions, same as when I played piano or used
a calculator. Little use in trying to be a person,
then, and not a group. Now I try to think of jokes
when I’m in the driver’s seat, waiting at a light.
|
