Sunday, July 29, 2007

175/365 You Shook Me All Night Long

I’m back in an urban environment for a few days. Yesterday, after a long, hot walk by the water, I stopped in coffee shop on the way to Suzanne’s new gallery. I was desperately thirsty. I picked up a bottle of water and got in the long coffee line.

This AC/DC song was on. Far from me, near the front of the line, this guy was totally rockin’ out to it. Singin’ a bit, the works.

He was black.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had never seen an African American guy rockin’ out to AC/DC.

Then I wondered if the realization of that was a racist thought of some kind. You know how white liberals are. Always on the lookout for their own racism, which they desperately hope isn’t actually there.

And yes, I know that the song is on Back in Black.

Of course, there are lots of things I realize I’ve never seen at the moment I first see them. If it’s taken me more than 27 years to see a black guy singing and dancing to “You Shook Me All Night Long,” well, then, that’s how long it’s taken me. When the song was popular, I was in a fairly white environment. My DC decade happened past the song’s prime. I’m not coming up with any time in my life when all proper stars would have naturally aligned for this occurrence. And I’ve never invited anyone of any race to come over to my place and forced them to listen to AC/DC. In fact, I don’t even play it when Tim’s around.

Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an Asian guy rockin’ out to this song either.

Maybe I should put that on the to-do list.

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