Let this image sink in for five seconds. One, two, three, four, and five. Ok, remember the mental image you’ve created upon reading the title.  

One day Karen, a black man, and a police officer, almost — simultaneously walk into a bar that fell from an overhead street sign, ultimately landing and blocking the corner sidewalk. Thankfully no one was injured, but clearly this bar posed a safety hazard. No worries! A maintenance repairman was immediately notified about the “bar falling off its overhead hinges.” The only problem was across the street, this guy started climbing up the opposite pole! Utterly confused, a pedestrian — which happened to be a black man yells “hey, excuse me, this bar over here is the one that needs repairing!” No response.   

Then Karen, the store owner of Karen’s Kinder-Kare, right out of the blue, rushes across the street, and yells “hey nitwit! I’m the one who called you about the fallen bar! Why are you on the opposite side of the street?” Again, the guy gives no answer. By now the police officer walks over, orders the repairman down from the ladder, and says “sir, please remove your ear buds, what’s the problem? The downed bar is on the other side of the street-walk, and its jeopardizing the safety of our pedestrians.”  

The man replies hilariously, “Dude, I know! I was literally just looking at all those idiots, standing around gawking and staring at it! I mean really, get over it!” The officer then replied “ok, so you see the issue, you’ve been notified, now go fix the problem — being that’s the immediate matter requiring your attention.” The guy rebuttals, “no can do, officer!”   

Now agitated, the officer reply’s “why is that?” The guy’s answer was sarcastically astonishing! He said “well first of all, all bars matter; right? Not just the broken ones, and secondly, I’m just a guy who climbed a ladder to record video for my social-media post, being I thought you were about to arrest that black man for jaywalking! Sorry for the misunderstanding.” — End (intuitive) Joke.  

The moral . . .  

“Misunderstandings are often fueled, by the images created from biased ideologies.”  

So, the question beckons, are you somewhat a little biased? Would someone afflicted per attrition, oppression or social injustice (who doesn’t look like you) consider your biased reasonings, satire or opinions racist? What image did you give Karen in the title? Was the officer a white male? What clothes did you picture the black man wearing while yelling from across the street? How about the nationality of the guy, who climbed the ladder for a social media post, was he Hispanic? (Tell the truth)😉

Think About it.  

Reginald O’Neal Gibson