Our Comedic Start
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My wife, two teenage sons and I went to see Tommy Davidson perform at a San Francisco Bay Area comedy club a few years ago. We got there early, and managed to snag seats upfront. It was a great show. We had a blast.
Tommy is a black comedian and movie star, who was adopted and raised by white parents. I do not know what or if this presented challenges for him, but I suspect it helps him come up with some good lines and insightful perspectives on the subjects of race and identity. If nothing else, it helped him make our family the brunt of a few good jokes that evening. You see, my wife is black, and I am white. As soon as he spotted us, Tommy started talking about race. A couple minutes into it, he decided to pick on us, and asked "What do you call those two...are they mixed, mallotto, swirl babies..." and just about every other name one can imagine. |
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My wife, an outgoing performer in her own right, shouted back, "They're Afro-Irish!" The crowd let out a roar...Tommy paused, but quickly one upped her, coming back with, "So they drink...and collect welfare." It was really funny, and we were in no way offended. It was all good fun, everyone laughed, and it made the crowd think.
While laughing, I am thinking, "that's Chris, and that's Nick." I go on to think, "they are American." Then the coach and proud papa in me kicked in...so, I thought NO, they are not just American, they are "All American." They represent the best of America, the melting pot, a mixture of all of us. They are fully capable, confident, talented, good-hearted individuals. They are people we can all be proud to know and love. They ARE the American Ideal, where all men (and women) are judged by WHO they are, not merely by HOW they look, WHERE they come from, or WHAT group they can be PUT INTO. Like all of us, they are unique. They are special. They are All Stars in their own right. They are All Americans.
We liked the idea. We liked the new, positive way of expressing one's identity, regardless of ethnicity. We thought the statement, "I Am All American" conveyed this message perfectly. So, we decided to try to redefine the traditional concept of what it means to be All American - from just the blond haired, blue-eyed stereotype so many minorities negatively associate with the term - to the broader truly All American Ideal proposed centuries ago by our (sometimes hypocritical, humanly flawed) founders, and the ideals put forth in The Declaration of Independence, and embodied by today's multi-ethnic, multi-racial nation. WeAreAllAmerican.org, IAmAllAmerican.org, and their offspring were born. Thank you, Mr. Davidson!
While laughing, I am thinking, "that's Chris, and that's Nick." I go on to think, "they are American." Then the coach and proud papa in me kicked in...so, I thought NO, they are not just American, they are "All American." They represent the best of America, the melting pot, a mixture of all of us. They are fully capable, confident, talented, good-hearted individuals. They are people we can all be proud to know and love. They ARE the American Ideal, where all men (and women) are judged by WHO they are, not merely by HOW they look, WHERE they come from, or WHAT group they can be PUT INTO. Like all of us, they are unique. They are special. They are All Stars in their own right. They are All Americans.
We liked the idea. We liked the new, positive way of expressing one's identity, regardless of ethnicity. We thought the statement, "I Am All American" conveyed this message perfectly. So, we decided to try to redefine the traditional concept of what it means to be All American - from just the blond haired, blue-eyed stereotype so many minorities negatively associate with the term - to the broader truly All American Ideal proposed centuries ago by our (sometimes hypocritical, humanly flawed) founders, and the ideals put forth in The Declaration of Independence, and embodied by today's multi-ethnic, multi-racial nation. WeAreAllAmerican.org, IAmAllAmerican.org, and their offspring were born. Thank you, Mr. Davidson!
