You Just Don't Expect To See That.

Have you noticed that my posts are getting shorter and shorter and the points made are getting less and less interesting? I sure did. Let me give a real shot at this.

Tennessee State University is a college located in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee State (TSU) is categorized as an HBCU. HBCU stands for Historically Black College and (or) University. Therefore, there are a lot of African-Americans that go to that school. If you're not familiar with African-American culture, I am not the one to familiarize you with it, because I'm really, really white. There is a big difference between white, northern kid culture of me and the predominantly black student base of TSU. Not that I don't fit in, which I guess I don't really, but I'm just from a different part of the country. So naturally, there are some cultural differences I can recognize easily when in that atmosphere. When on the campus of TSU, the one thing you will notice is how nice it looks. The trees, grass, and hedges are well trimmed and it looks like "anycampus, USA." The only "black culture" I have ever really known is what I have seen broadcast on TV, or depicted in film. When seen in person, it's pretty accurate, I guess. Nice cars with big rims. Bass booming out of several trunks. Whatever, these are what you call stereotypes. I have built-in stereotypes because of what I have experienced up to this point in my life. All of this set up is for one of the coolest things I have seen while in Nashville, and specifically, driving on the campus of TSU.

The other day, I was dropping off my lovely wife at work, which happens to be TSU. I was driving away from the middle part of campus, heading out, on my way to work. On the sidewalk was a young black man, heading in my direction. He had on the black denim jacket, the loose-fitting pants, the hair in short braids, all the things that are relatively standard clothing of the youth of today. The major difference with this young man was the fact that he was roller skating. Full-on roller skates, traversing across campus. This caught me off-guard. I did not expect to see someone traveling in this manner, rockin' some skates, because it just doesn't look that cool to do. If I know anything, people try to look as cool as possible whenever they have the chance. So seeing a young man traveling via roller skate turned what would have normally been a regular, boring journey to work into the extraordinary, even for just the split-second that we passed each other.

Fearlessly roller skating like a gangsta.

***As a really white kid writing this, please don't take any of what I have said the wrong way. I know race can be a sensitive subject, but when we can step back and look at it for what it is, which is a difference in culture, not skin color, you should be able to talk about it whenever you want. It's a fact of the world that people are different. I try not to even view blacks or whites or Asians or Hispanics or any other race or nationality as anything other than people with different culture. Sometimes, our pre-existing stereotypes can shine through, even when we try to fight it. My intention here was to indicate that it caught me off guard seeing a young man on roller skates, not to point out the fact he was black. It just also happened to be that he was black. Know what I mean?***

I hope we're clear.