'Laughing While Black' Napa Valley Wine Train Lawsuit Is Settled Poem by James B. Earley

'Sistahs Book Club, a group of mostly African American women, who were kicked off The Napa Valley Wine Train for allegedly being loud and boisterous, have settled their race-discrimination lawsuit for a confidential sum, their lawyer said Monday.' ~Bob Egelko, SFGate - Monday, April 18,2016

Commentary:

'Growing up in a small Black community, good manners were a definitive way of life, parentally instilled in me and my siblings, early on. The same was true of all the other families I knew. There was the rare occasional deviant child, but for the most part, good manners ruled the day. Having been a decade's long, observant member of Black society and its relevant mores, nothing has changed from my original view. Throughout my adult years, I have resided and worked, in varied cities of both Northern and Southern California, having spent far more of my waking hours, in the company of Caucasians than even that of my immediate family, comparisons readily tempting. Travel and circumstance have implored upon me the hazards of surrendering to the pervasive pattern of stereotypical thought.

Often, I've been victimized by internal biases, only to be brought back to reality's truth, that we're all bigoted in some fashion. There's tragedy inherent within the ignoble art of stereotyping, as we are driven to believe that what we know of one particular person or object, is true of all similar others. Life has afforded me significant exposure to other cultures, and I've learned that we're all more alike, than not. It's our biases that tend to divide us.

Think of those eleven ‘loud' Book-Club ladies, as they were on a joyous trip through Napa Valley Wine Country. Juxtapose them with eleven reincarnated Napa Valley wine pioneers (you name them) , hilariously assembled aboard the Wine Train in similar circumstance. We'd all perhaps wish to have been simple bystanders to such a ‘loud' joyous event.

In the end it's not about eleven folks being loud, rather the critical issue apparent, is that of the ‘stereotypical eleven.'

Urgent note to the Napa Valley Wine Train: expect ‘loud' from whatever eleven festive-minded friends, and accommodate accordingly.' JBE