Truth Behind The Lies

Listening to our local sports talk radio station one morning last week, I heard some excerpts from the NBA's All-Star Selection Show that aired on TNT the night before. What I heard briefly had me irritated. It bloomed into full anger for a very short time, and then I decided that it was probably all in good fun and that I hadn't heard the full story. Turns out I was right, but not everyone here took it as good naturedly as I did. That brings me to today's topic...Isn't there often some truth behind the lies that people tell? Isn't there usually a reason for you to get aggravated at someone who is spouting off?

Now for a little background...

The excerpts that I heard to start this little chain reaction were from an interview conducted by the TNT crew (including Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley). The focus of their interview was the New Orleans/OKC Hornets rookie sensation, Chris Paul. He was left off the all-star roster and they wanted to talk to him about it. As is his usual course of action, Sir Charles took to ribbing Paul during the interview. He asked Paul if there were cows and chickens in his yard. He wanted to know if there was anything to do in Oklahoma. He called my beautiful state a vast wasteland and went on to say (after the interview was over) that he wasn't sure the state was safe for black people, unless you are an Oklahoma Sooner or Hornets player.

What I heard on the radio was several small pieces of that individually. When taken as a whole and in the context of the interview, it was obviously Barkley being Barkely...funny and out on a limb. Now that is a round-a-bout way for me to get to the point, but my point is this.

There is truth to some of what he said.

You come to Oklahoma, you will find MANY a yard with cows or chickens...or both, in it! Like any state in the union, I'm sure there are places black people don't wanna go...just as there are places I know that white people don't go. You get the idea.

But there are people here who can't see through the schtick. They can't laugh it off and admit there is some truth there.

So why is that? Why is it that we tend towards the defensive and towards anger when someone calls us out instead of just fessing up to it and moving on?

I could cite countless instances of this happening. It's around you every day. Is it our nature? Are we ashamed of anything anyone else chooses to poke fun about? I'm really stumped here.

Aren't stereotypes at least a little bit true more often than not? Isn't that why they are stereotypes? I mean, sure there are exceptions and the stereotype doesn't usually tell anywhere close to the whole truth. But, there had to be a little truth there somehwere for it to have gotten started in the first place, right?

A story I heard later that day on that same radio station really summed it up nicely and really made me grin. The caller stated he was African-American and that he had been forced to move here a few years back. He stated that he had heard and, in fact, believed many of the stereotypes he'd heard about Oklahoma. Specifically, he had the notion that we all ride horses and that there aren't many roads. So the guy flies in here from wherever he came from and our airport is out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but fields around it. As he gets in the car to drive away, he keeps seeing people on horseback! He said, "Oh no! It's really true!!!!"

Turns out that guy was calling in to tell us that he considers himself an Oklahoman for life now and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. He wanted to offer Barkley a weekend tour of our fair city.

I don't know why we get so upset over things others say. If it's true, fess up and move on. If it isn't, say it isn't and move on. But it seems to me that getting upset and angry about it and NOt letting it go only serves to feed the belief that what was said just might be true.

Sir Charles...you need to come check us out sometime, chickens and all. You will find it to be as safe as anywhere else, whether you are black, white, or purple. You will see how good the people here are, and if you come to a Hornets game, you will see what a real basketball crazed crowd is all about.