Ch. 18: My George Costanza Moment
Oh the things I would’ve said in college had I been a hard-ass brutha instead of a sensitive black man
Remember that episode of Seinfeld (“The Comeback”) when one of George Costanza’s workmates zinged him with a funny one-liner, and only later did George come up with a perfect retort (that he obsessed over wanting to use with the guy in another meeting?) I’m sure at some point you’ve had the same experience.
In the process of writing this memoir, I’ve had a few. One, in particular, is directly tied to my personal racial identity crisis. It dates back to my days at U.C. Berkeley when I was part of the professional co-ed business fraternity Delta Sigm Pi, Rho Chapter.
My reputation as a consummate dancer followed me to college. My fellow fraternity brothers (yes, even the women were called “brothers”) all knew that I could cut it up, and could always be relied upon to provide my group of white and Asian friends copious amounts of dancing entertainment.