Greetings from Boise, Idaho
I’ve slowly learned that painting with a broad brush does not make for a great painting. As a kid growing up in eastern Idaho I remember some of the generalizations that were heavily tinted with bigotry about people that were different than us. At the time it was too easy to not be offended, than it was to take on the “Elephant in the Room,”. My first lesson occurred in 5th grade when the one African American kid in the room decided to share on career day that he was going to go to college, and be a manager. Our schema had only placed African Americans on the backs of garbage trucks, and the wiseguys in the room promptly informed Stanley that was going to be his role in life also. To this day, I share with my fifth graders the shame of not standing up for Stanley. I guess be ashamed 50 plus years later says something about picking brushes carefully when engaged in making your life’s painting something that reflects on you.