The University of Alabama at Birmingham (Alma Mater, Vol. 4)

*UAB*

In Birmingham, Alabama,

There was a hypothesis….rather a strong belief

That the fusion of love and reason would eventually erode hate.

Birmingham was a laboratory for a Doctor and many others to prove this to be so.

And at UAB, there have been many scientists and researchers who have made other invaluable progressions for mankind. Among them: the first to successfully create a treatment for a viral disease; establishing the first university-affiliated diabetes hospital in the country; and being among the chief researchers for HIV for the past century. And if we could be the first to detect HIV-related genes, then why not continue to blaze new trails?

As the Blazer stood with tray in hand in the Commons of the Green Dining Hall,

He noticed a familiar sight. With remarkable consistency, he noticed blacks sitting with blacks, whites sitting with whites, Asians sitting with Asians, and so on and so forth. In that moment, he decided to conduct an experiment of his own. It began with the question of whether or not this was just human nature, and the science books were just too politically correct to report it. Is it part of the human makeup to “stick with one’s own?” But he then remembered seeing the camaraderie shared in the huddles of the teams in Bartow, West Campus Field, and Legion, regardless of the sport or the racial makeup. He saw women of different colors share the same smile in a group huddle after a great smash over the volleyball net. He saw teammates on the track with physical differences but similar goals reinstall confidence in one another after they missed their time. All the way from up in the stands, he could see that coaches were more like fathers for every player on that basketball court no matter how different the DNA. He learned that while UAB is not a sports school with filled trophy cases, that every team regardless of the wins and losses…made everyone better. Not as an athlete, but as a person. And he even thought of laughs shared in small classrooms whenever witty comments were made during an engaging conversation. And it was easy to imagine that if it were anywhere other than a classroom, the same laughs would likely be had. And now, standing in the Commons of the Green Dining Hall, he wonders why so many simultaneous laughs…are all so far apart.

Now that he had the question, what he designed was if more people went outside their comfort zones, the concept of race would be as antiquated and head-scratching as blondes sticking with blondes. He knew there were different cultures, and this united many, but he also knew that if culture was the cause, then the same culture they all share was staring them right in the face. He realized that

There are too many who focus on the colors we didn’t choose,

Instead of celebrating the colors that we did.

So if it isn’t human nature that divides us, then what is it?

He knew it was the thing that didn’t stop the Doctor,

Nor anyone who wants the world to change:

Fear.

Well, he considered, there are much greater things to fear than making new friends.

Every table in this cafeteria is the colored table. And it’s easily seen that the color is Green.

So if these sitting charts are color-coded, why don’t we mix it up a bit…

And even if just for a day, and even if it goes unnoticed…somehow, the world, starting with Birmingham, Alabama, will be a bit better off.

With that, he decided to sit as the lone white male at an all-black table. And whatever would happen at that table or anywhere else, well, it would just happen naturally.

And quite naturally,

The experiment was a success.

From Alma Mater Vol. 4: The South.

You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.

Copyright © 2017 Clyde Aidoo