Everybody In the Club Is NOT Getting Tipsy

Dwyane Wade to LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony during the Olympics, "Hey fellas, let's hit the bar after the game and get some drinks." "Okay. Let's go." they say. So after beating the current team they're playing by 100 they shower and head to Sanlitun, the nightlife district of Beijing. As the All-Stars head to a nice-looking bar they're stopped at the entrance by security. Aware of the arrogant image that some Americans portray in foreign countries they stop and ask if theirs a problem. The security guard asks for an autograph. They sign the autograph and head towards the entrance. Again they're stopped. They ask why. The security guard informs them that they can't enter the establishment. They ask why not. Security guard simply says, "Because you're black." WHAT!!! Is this America circa 1935? Nope. Beijing 2008. Home of the Olympic Games. No Blacks or Mongolians allowed. I hope recent reports are true; that its just a translation mixup. But even if it is I think theres a sort of subliminal racism at work when the word that many people associate with evil happens to be the same word that is used to represent the race that I belong to. Blacklist. Blackout. Blackball. Black eye. Black as sin. Think about how this type of language influences kids. They're being conditioned to think that anything "black" is bad. We gotta change that type of thinking.