The words the lowest common denominator are amongst the cliches we use to demonstrate hatred born of ignorance. As in, sinking to the lowest common denominator to describe an opponent whose barbs generally devolve into race, gender, or sexual orientation insults. Colloquial interjections like lying down with dogs, waking up with fleas or birds of a feather, flock together are a few more signifiers. One of my most memorable things was something my great-grandmother said: You can judge a man or woman by the company they keep. Although she was not original, I have often found that she was and is still accurate.
Before the women’s basketball team at the University of Utah took the floor to play a game, they had to endure the lowest common denominator in Idaho. Apparently, and as described, the lakeside resort in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is luxurious and should have been a highlight in these young women’s lives. Unfortunately, the experience of camaraderie, buckets, and backslapping, buoyed by cheers of friends and family, was partially drowned out by racial animus. Coach Lynne Roberts, obviously disappointed for herself and the young women in her charge, described incidents of racial taunting that created fear and bewilderment amongst her players. She described the incident as “shocking” and said, “no one knew how to handle it.”
The young women of color crimes—in the eyes of some—were staying in an attractive hotel and eating at a nice restaurant. “For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it's messed up,”said Roberts. I have no doubts about the earnestness of Coach Robert's comments, but she made the same mistake I have repeatedly heard when these issues happen. She, like others, took an issue and created a fantasy around it, which makes what happened unserious and even worse a cliche. “There is so much diversity on a college campus, and so you’re just not exposed to that very often … Racism is real. It happens. It’s awful. So, for our players, whether they are White, Black, green, whatever, no one knew how to handle it. It was really upsetting,” exclaimed Roberts. First, let me applaud Lynn Roberts for saying unequivocally ‘racism is real” [and] It happens.”’ Her unfortunate need to include fantasy races like green or whatever makes Blacks, Asians, Latins, and Indigenous people(s) part of the unreal and nebulous menageries that exist in the minds of those looking for safe harbor from the realities of racism.
I am unsure if she has, but if Roberts is looking for ideas to handle it, ask the people most affected. The BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color) has offered ideas to fix the race problem that are ignored because the solutions often make the oppressors uncomfortable. The natural inclination to being pushed and not heard is to push back. The outcome is usually to bait minorities into the inevitable—violence—and then dismiss the groups as trouble-making thugs. Black Americans spend a great deal of their lives waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. An example of that was the terrible bridge accident in Baltimore yesterday. Of course, the GOP held responsible the border policy, immigrants, and, finally, Chinese terrorism. As a black man myself and knowing the governor of Maryland is a black man, I ducked, waiting for that other shoe.
Coincidentally, another Ute, the gubernatorial candidate for Utah, blames the accident on diversity. Port of Baltimore Commissioner Karenthia Barber, a Black woman, owns a consulting firm that includes “diversity, equity, and inclusion audits and consulting.” Utah gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman looked to hold her responsible for a ship losing power and crashing into a bridge abutment. “This is what happens when you have Governor(s) [Wes Moore] who prioritize diversity over the wellbeing [sic] and security of citizens,”Lyman posted on X Tuesday morning. I have wasted too much of my life ducking that flock of birds, avoiding flea-bitten dogs, and trying to restrict the lowest common denominators to math classes. I have been invited to the table on more than one occasion, but like many people of color, rarely do we get a seat or a microphone.
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