I saw my first black person when I was about 8 years old. The school bus made a new stop one day and he got on. I was curious...I didn't know what was wrong with him and he was so shy that I couldn't ask. When I got home that day I informed my parents that there had been a 'grey boy' on the bus that day. It took them a while to figure out that it was a family from our church who had adopted a black child.
We only got 3 television channels for most of my childhood. We watched the local news and a few shows that my mom thought were appropriate, such as; MASH, MacMillan And Wife, Hart to Hart etc. You may recall that there were not too many black people on these shows either. In fact, the first season of MASH had a black character and his name, get ready, was 'Spearchucker Jones'! (Excuse me while I Google this to make sure that I'm not insane...yup its true, and he was removed after a few episodes after the producers were informed that there were no black surgeons in the Korean war. Spearchucker did apparently have a first name, but we never heard it on the show)
I say these things so you can understand how weird it is to often be in the minority as a white person down here in Georgia. Its not 'bad' or 'good' its just new. We were pulling into our apartment complex the other day right when the school bus was dropping off the kids from around here. There were maybe 20. 2 Mexican boys and the rest were all African-American. Paul didn't even notice, but I was amazed...its just so new! Maybe that is racism too...just being aware.
Ultimately, though, racism is still hideously rampant here. The whites hate the blacks the blacks hate the whites and, well, everybody seems to hate the Mexicans. The other day one of Paul's co-workers ran into a couple that used to frequent his table at the restaurant. The co-worker asked why he didn't see them anymore and the couple replied that 'That restaurant has just gotten too ghetto for us'. Can you FATHOM it?! The restaurant that they used to love was no longer good enough for them because it has too many black employees.
On the other side of the racism coin, one of the black employees at Paul's work told him that one of the other black employees had told her that 'they need to take care of their own kind'. Their OWN KIND!!! I've heard that referred to as reverse racism, but its not, its all just racism. (Perhaps it could be said that after all the years of being beaten down by 'the man' the African-Americans need to look out for 'their own kind' but I don't know, it all perpetuates hate.)
Its a learning experience being here. I hope and pray that I can remember always that we are all equal and all created by the same Being.
3 comments:
Racism is bred early in life. We were an Italian-German family living in Chicago with a through-and-through Irish mayor. Every March 17th, he would have the Chicago river died green and have a St. Patrick's Day parade; corned beef and cabbage dinners were held at certain churches, but open to everyone. Two days later, we didn't get to have the Chicago River died red, nor did we have copious amounts of Italian food dinners being served at any of the churches. Religiously speaking, Catholics weren't allowed to eat meat on Fridays but if St. Patrick's Day happened to be on a Friday, they were granted a dispensation and were allowed to eat meat on that day. We were encouraged to wear green on St. Patrick's Day, but nobody told us to wear red on St. Joseph's Day to honor him. So guess who grew up with a little bit of animosity towards the Irish -- you bet! Oh, and one other thing -- if you held a city job (like my dad who worked for the Chicago Housing Authority as a plasterer), you damn well better vote democratic or you'd end up pounding the pavement looking for a new job! So racism exists, but discrimination because of culture, beliefs, religion, looks, you name it, anything can and anyone can experience discrimination! And I better get off my soapbox before I ramble on and on again like I often do in the comments section. Mom2
When I was 11 we moved to Belle Glade, Florida. Belle Glade pretty much exists as a migrant town, populated mostly with cane cutters and their families. At least, the part of town we lived in was, the other half of the town was white. I was one of 5 white kids in a school of 1200 students. I know all about being in the minority! One adapts pretty quickly- you should have heard my Floridian drawl, I was awesome. Oh, and I got made fun of for being Canadian for the first 6 months, and then I announced that I was actually from Alaska. Juneau, in fact. They left me alone after that.
Laz, when i told Paul about that he said 'SEE, lying always helps!'
And mom, that's kind of an amazing story, especially about Catholics getting a dispensation to eat meat on Friday for St. Patrick's Day! And don't think you ramble, you never do. I love your comments and emails :)
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