Greetings. Well, this summer we bought a house! We intended on downsizing to something more private on a golf course or wooded lot, but when you’ve seen a home on a lake, it’s hard to settle for a view of the 9^th green. So we ended up with a home on Geist Reservoir in Indy. But there’s lots of work to do, and that work has demanded our time since closing. So, very little golf, no time devoted to my retirement bucket list, or to this blog. But recent news events have moved me to jot down a few thoughts. And since I do have this forum, I thought I’d share them. Some will disagree, and some will be offended. Everyone will have an opinion. I’m retired now and I guess I have the luxury of a “frank comment”.

I don’t know a lot about John Schnatter of ‘Papa John’ fame besides the fact that he has an awfully non-melodic name, makes bad commercials, and the best I can say about his pizza is that it is edible. I also do know that he is knee deep in a situation that irks me to no end. As you are no doubt aware, he has committed the mortal sin of uttering “the N-word” during a media-training session. As a result, his name has been removed from institutions across the US, including University of Louisville, Purdue University and his alma mater, Ball State University. The action has been swift and firm despite the fact that he issued one of the quickest and most sincere apologies I have ever heard from a corporate head. No matter. It’s the N-word, after all. Used to be many words that were off limits. Now it’s just the N-word.

After hearing Schnatter’s apology (which is difficult to find…several pages into a google search) I was moved to understand the context in which he made his mortal transgression. Turns out it’s a bit of a mess. The story includes a jilted media company which had just lost millions in revenue, a possible effort to discredit Schnatter in the works, and other strange circumstances. Lost in media reports is the fact that Schnatter was not using the word as a personal noun describing a person or group of persons. He used it in a media training session to describe how a competitor referred to black people, while insisting that people like that have no place at his company. He also rejected a possible spokesperson because he uses “the N-word” in his music. Stupidly, Schnatter used the actual word as opposed the politically correct “N-word”. No matter. The jilted media company leaked the episode to Forbes which ran with a headline taken out of context.  And now Schnatter must die.

Again, I don’t know much about this man, except that he built (not inherited) one of the largest fast-food companies on the planet, so he must have something on the ball. His company employs thousands (including I’m guessing a sizeable number of African-Americans). And it turns out that his philanthropic tendencies are legendary, donating millions to charity, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning. I’m thinking that in these modern times it is unlikely that a raging racist would be able to accomplish what he has; but I could be wrong. After all, he did use the N-word.

And that demands a knee-jerk reaction, wiping out the tremendous good that this man has done all his life. How have we gotten to a place where there is no tolerance, no discourse and no room for apologies? This little episode, for me, helps explain why Donald Trump is now President. People are sick of these knee-jerk over-reactions in the name of political correctness. Donald Trump was the only response for many. I think Trump is unfit to be president of a local Cub Scout group, let alone the US of A, but he was the outlet for those who are fed up with condescending, elitist, politically-correct social justice warriors.

Now I do not want to minimize the hurt of pejorative words and I do understand that it is a difficult road that African-Americans travel in the US. Racism is still rampant. But we need perspective and we need to educate. This summer I joined a Men’s Club at a local golf course. Indianapolis, and most specifically my town of Carmel, is one of the least diverse places in the country. I (half) jokingly say that I am the diversity here: “That Italian family down the block”. But it is true; I doubled the count of Italian-Americans in this 100-man club by joining.  One of the first weeks I was playing with a guy who introduced himself on the first tee and asked if I was in “the mob”. I looked at him, told him “No, and that’s an insulting question to ask”, and walked back to my cart. It took him a hole or two, but he came up to me and apologized, saying he was just kidding but he really didn’t know many Italian people and realized that using a generalization like that was inappropriate. Another guy butchered my name when he read it (as most do) but got carried away by adding about 10 more vowels and 5 more syllables. I sat with him and broke my name down so he could say it right, clearly communicating that he was not funny. A third guy called me “spaghetti man” (after the pasta brand SanGiorgio) for a couple weeks so I eventually pulled him aside to let him know that my parents named me Frank and I like that name. He looked at me like I was a touchy son of a gun (and I probably am), but he got the message. The point here is that I don’t think ostracizing and marginalizing those who show insensitive tendencies is the way to set things right. It’s about confrontation, yes, but also education and setting an example that leads to progress.

The words we use are important. But our actions, even more so. It’s frustrating for me to watch as this man is eviscerated for his insensitivities, while all the significant good that he has done gets washed away, including the potential good that his returned money could have done. And an opportunity for discourse and learning is missed in the knee-jerk effort to censor the guy. How sad.

Post-Script: Well we’ve gone from stupid to ridiculous. Shortly after I posted this blog, it was announced that longtime Indianapolis Colts radio broadcaster Bob Lamey was retiring because “it was time”. The owner of the Colts, Jim Irsay, was quoted as thanking Lamey for his service and for providing “Colts Nation” with some of its most indelible moments. Soon it was revealed that Lamey was actually fired for using the n-word in a retelling of something someone else said in an old interview. Once it came out that it was really for using the n-word, the press went nuts and lambasted Irsay for saying ANYTHING nice about this man and his career.

So it turns out that Lamey was discussing an interview of former CART and Formula One race car driver Derek Daly, done in the early 1980s.

Derek Daly admitted he did indeed use the n-word over 35 years ago during a radio interview. Daley, who had just moved to the United States, said the term had a different meaning and connotation in his native Ireland. Daly said he was “mortified'” when he learned how the term was used in the United States and has never used it since. He apologized then and has recently repeated his apology: “I want everyone to know I deeply regret and sincerely apologize for what I said more than three decades ago.”

Still, a local TV channel immediately announced that it was severing ties with Derek Daly, who had worked for the station as a freelance racing analyst for the last 30 years.

Now it gets really ridiculous:

Conor Daly is Derek’s son, and he has followed in his father’s footsteps. He is also a race car driver (and was entertainingly partnered with Alexander Rossi on last year’s edition of the TV show The Amazing Race.)

Drug Company Eli Lilly quickly pulled its sponsorship of Conor Daly’s race car, citing “a racially insensitive remark made by the driver’s father in the early 1980s that surfaced this week.” They actually wrote that in their press release.

Conor Daly is 26 years old and was not even alive when his father made that comment. I have no words, except to say that if I ever have a choice, I will never select a product made by Eli Lilly.

• Uncategorized