Is My Son A Racist?

By Victor A. Ward

Recently, my wife and I visited China to adopt our son. He is 19 months old and quite the energetic little boy.

Every evening, I give him his bath. After that, I get him ready for bed by putting on creams and lotions and slipping him into his pajamas. Then, mom comes in for the final bottle of the day and to tuck him in.

During the whole process, we listen to songs. One night it might be the Sound of Music. Another night Beethoven. Sometimes George Thorogood; other times Jay Z.

There are even times when we listen to the more traditional children's songs: Mary Had a Little Lamb; Row Row Row Your Boat; and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; etc.

You can tell when my son is really into the music: He bobs his head; he smiles; he waves his arms; he does a little dance; he laughs.

My son has more rhythm than I do, but that's not saying much because I am a Black Libertarian (read: Oreo).

One night, much to my horror and shame, my son started grooving to -- brace yourselves -- Dixie.

I am sure that you have heard this song. In case you haven't:

Clearly, this song is racist. It claims to be the Confederate Anthem and, thus, is tied closely with the Confederate Flag -- and anything that is associated with the Confederate Flag is racist!

Furthermore, look at the words! It starts off:

"Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton."

Without a doubt, this is a reference to slavery. The songwriter expresses his true, heartfelt desire: The continuation of the enslavement of people of color.

In the chorus, the songwriter says that he will take his stand "to live and die in Dixie." Again, the songwriter shows his deep bias to return to the South during the days of slavery. He loves the South so much that he is willing to fight and die for it.

Now you can understand my horror when I saw my son bouncing away to this racist song. There is no way that he was just enjoying the music the way some people just enjoyed the South. There is no way that he liked the beat the way some people liked the Confederate flag's colors.

No, no way. For the sake of all that is good and right in the world, I must read deeply into everything that my son does. I must look at every single action to make sure that if I discover any racism  -- for racism is the root of all evil -- in his little heart, I can immediately take him to a public school for the proper re-education. There, he can sit and learn with other misguided boys and girls.

Yes, it is much easier to let the professionals raise him. After all, who/what is my son going to believe when it comes to Black people? What he reads from a book or what he sees in his own father?

Or, maybe my son will see one thing in his father; a second thing with his uncle; a third thing with a friend; and something else on the television.

Then what will I do? My son will be confronted with the confusing proposition that different people act differently, and he will have to think for himself.

The horror and tragedy of it all.

I would rather have a one-size-fits all policy. That way, it's easy to say that black is black; white is white; orange is orange; and anything associated with the Confederate flag is racist.

 Victor J. Ward  first came across libertarianism by reading Murray Rothbard's Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy and Walter Block's Defending the Undefendable. He holds a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and an MBA from Santa Clara University.