I want you to read this carefully so you don't get the wrong idea.  It is intended to make you think, not tick you off.  So, before you start labeling me and offer me a Greyhound ticket to Manitoba, at least give me the opportunity to make my case.

Tonight, the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds will play, what MLB calls "The Civil Rights Game."  The game honors the anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights bill in 1964.  The leaders of baseball are clearly reaching out to the African-American community.

I have studied civil rights and the way blacks were treated in this country after the civil war, especially in the South.  Even as late as the early sixties, federal troops had to be brought in to assist black students to register for university courses.  There were dogs and fire hoses and church bombings and bus bombings and bus station beatings.  At the same time we were sending men into space, African Americans had to sit in the back of a bus, be refused service in restaurants and use separate water fountains.  It was a vile, repugnant existence that was looked upon by those in the north as a "southern problem" so as not to start another civil war.

But as the leaders of baseball reach out to the African-American community, let's not pretend that civil rights pertain only to African-Americans. 

Native Americans were driven off their land onto reservations.  Italians, Irish and Eastern European Immigrants (who, by the way, entered this country legally) were denied jobs and housing and had to live in slums.

American citizens of Japanese decent were rounded up during world war II and sent to camps because the government perceived them as a threat.  The Chinese, who came to this country in the mid 1800's were given a rough time in California.

New religious organizations such as the Mormons were ridiculed in Illinois, forcing them to Utah. 

And, even though our government knew that Hitler was rounding up Jews in Europe for the purpose of exterminating them, they did absolutely nothing to stop it.

Even though a lot has changed since 1964, a lot hasn't.  Women still get the short end of the stick in the workplace.  Same sex couples are denied the same rights as heterosexual couples for reasons that make sense only to those who try to ban their partnerships.  Religious intolerance is at a high point as right wing groups fervently oppose other points of view and demand, even in a country which specifically separates church and state, to put their God in the classroom or the federal building or in the workplace. 

It's about movements against overweight people and smokers and middle aged white men and all other groups who the new left is ganging up on because their friends and benefactors think it would be a better world without them. Or have less of them.

So, tonight, when this game is played, don't just think about the African-Americans who were instrumental in having this law enacted.  Think about all of those who have endured discrimination and intolerance because of the color of their skin, their way of life and their religious beliefs.  And think about what, if anything, you've ever done to move the pile forward.

This is not about political correctness.  That's a device used to regulate people from free speech and expression and to brand people as something they are not.  It's about tolerance.  It's about being civil to people no matter who they are.  It's about reaching out to people that are different from you.  It's about being a decent human being.

It's not just about African-Americans tonight, it's about all Americans and how all of us must understand how fortunate we are to live in this country and to remember our neighbor has the same right as we do.  Remember that as you watch the game tonight.