THE COLOR OF RESPECT
by Connor Nathans
The story of an overhearing that remains a persistent echo
When I was young, I overheard the phrase: Respect changes the color in which you see a man. I wish I could recall the circumstances of my overhearing, as such would likely go a long way toward my understanding, but I must do without. I wish, too, that I had never heard the words at all, but this, I can only bemoan until the end of time.
Respect changes the color in which you see a man. The words are burned into my brain like some sort of all-important brand whose meaning eludes me. To this day, I have running through my head the same string of questioning that assaulted me upon first hearing:
“What is this color of respect? Is it a specific hue, or is it different for each member of the respectable class, or, even further, is it different for every person upon each view of the respectable? Is there, perhaps, some exact shade, tone, or tint to this true view of those deserving of it? Could one possibly calculate out its exact value or vividness? What about, even, an over- or undertone? Are special eyes required to see this special color? Will I ever be able to see it? Will I never actually know? O what is this color of respect?”
I hope to, someday, have an answer to my question.
Mr. Nathans hails from a number of places in the Midwest. He now lives and works in Miami, Florida.