Oh boy.

One of my favorite topics right here, so strap in!

Back in the day in college, a professor of mine (a particularly hard assed one at that, and a particularly and usually cranky one at that) was talking to me in his office for some reason or the other.

He was rambling on about something. I can’t quite remember what, but I think it was about submitted HW or some such thing . . .

Once that was done he asked me a question.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

“Jackson MS” I said. Not that it was any of his business, but . . .

“Hmm!” he said. "This is not Jackson skin!"

And then he raised one of his spindly little fingers and pecked at my skin like a woodpecker. Quite literally.

“I mean, where are you REALLY from” he asked.

Perhaps shockingly enough, or maybe not, this nutjob was TENURED of all things.

And perhaps NOT shockingly either, later on that semester he ended up giving me a “F” for the course for no real good reason.

Well, actually he got me on a technicality.

What was that you ask.

I “mis quoted” someone, or “forgot to put quotes”.

Yes, I think it was the latter. Forgot to put quotes. My beast ass infused (and as Chris, a friend of mine and a fellow student put it “maybe if you hadn’t given him a hard time in class he’d have let you go with a C”) ass forgot to put quotes on a beastly term paper, and there it was. F.

The University had rules that meant anyone that got below a “C” had to repeat the course.

He was the only one teaching the course.

Anyway, as I told Emily about it (a friend of mine and “fellow student” again in another class) she said the following.

“I don’t know why you didn’t raise a stink about it. If he had even DARED to tell me that, I’d have made sure the entire campus knew”.

(and as we deal with the fallout over the incident in Minneapolis, well, I think she might well have!)

She was a fellow student in a different class. Curiously enough a Prof that was slammed for being racist, while the first wasn’t.

And while the second was roundly slammed for being racist, he’s one of the best profs I ever had.

The MOST rational. And the most practical.

Dr Bisland his name is, and I’m still in touch with him all these years later.

Says tomes about what you can see on the surface and what truly exists.

And my reaction to Prof #1?

I laughed it off, and made him the laughing stock in class in many ways. Literally so, except I didn’t race bait. Hehe. I used other tactics. Which I shouldn’t have, of course, but hey . . . ?

Then there was another incident where Rueben, a close friend and myself were walking (gasp!) in front of the gym of all things.

Out comes a burly looking character with massive pecs, massive biceps and pelican legs . . . (though not quite as bad as some other boobybuilders I’ve seen).

And a MEAN look to him.

As we passed . . .

“What the heck you looking at”, he went. “Go back to where you’re from!” (or something to that effect).

And it probably wouldn’t have gone any further except . . . I felt the urge to LAUGH.

Out loud, and while I didn’t laugh, I did “guffaw”. A bit. You know, the “caged guffaw”!

And he caught on.

He glared at me, and made several remarks I won’t repeat here.

Even I have limits! ?

And then he strode off like a Prima Donna if there ever was one.

My friend who was watching all this from the background emerged.

Furious.

“You just HAVE to come with me to the cops, Rahul”.

“Cops”, I questioned. “Is it really worth it?”

FWIW, I was due to be traveling to New York for an internship soon, and I didn’t want any court cases etc tying me up here, but my furious friend would have none of that.

And at the police station he launched into a tirade about this, and rightly so. We ended up not filing charges because of the reason I just stated above, and . . .

(Upshot of all this? A cop in the sort of shape that would make certain people say “I can pick you up and throw you out the window” went into the gym and tore the dude a new you know what).

But anyway, to me, it’s all STUPID for the most part.

I mean, really.

Does tanned skin mean you’re “not from the U.S”?

Or does being from a different ethnic background mean you’re any less in any way shape or form than whats considered “normal” to these lunatics?

I think not my friend.

And the best way to combat all this is by ignoring it, and becoming BIGGER and better than these people.

Herschel Walker grew up poor, disadvantaged, and OBESE.

And yet you don’t hear a peep from him about his RACE, or the racism he no doubt dealt with growing up in the deep South.

Ditto for any true achiever.

And I’ve never been the sort of whine about it publicly.

Why. Well, first reason stated above . . .

And second, it’s far more fun, and profitable to LAUGH at said people (and if you’ve been on my list for any length of time you know what I mean! ?).

Let them display their stupidity and ignorance for all to see, my friend.

You’ll find that when you react to such things with true MIRTH(I mean real mirth, not feigned) then their racism will fly out of the window eventually to be replaced by a sheepish “Yes, I was wrong”.

They will never admit that, of course. But that is what will go on inside their wee little pea brains . . .

Anyway, who cares. Hehe.

The same way I don’t care two hoots about folks that say my ability to do 100 pull-us per workout means I’m “not strong”. Or some tripe to that effect.

Or that a corrugated core means nothing, and a mammoth belly hanging over your pants means you’re a “big guy” and not “small and light” . . .

Or that hill sprints get tougher with more “muscle” (if there ever was a more asinine assertion than this, I’m yet to hear it!)

And so forth.

Keep fighting the good fight, and doing whats right my friend.

That truly is all that counts at the end of the day!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

P.S. – Be sure and do the right thing and make an investment in your health and fitness today by availing of the VERY best damned fitness system out there –https://0excusesfitness.com/0excusesfitnessystem/

P.S #2 – And no, to the person that claims I misquoted them in an email prior to this, I’m not going to weep about the fact that “white people have it better in China”. First thing you know they don’t (if you truly knew their mindset). And second, even if they did, who cares huh. I’m not going to stand around and make excuses for anything and never have.

On that note, if I did mis quote you, please show me WHERE EXACTLY, and I’ll redact it asap.

Upward!