Thread: So What? Let it go

I'll start with this... a few days after the election, I was at WAWA (gas station/convience store for those that don't have them) and there was this older white woman in line in front of me and she looked at me and in a snarky tone, she said, "I bet you are happy about the election" (oh by the way, I'm black). I almost said, "actually, I'm a Republican and I voted for McCain", but I had to go to work. Here's my point, CAN WE PLEASE END THE BIGOTRY!? Apparently, there is a school bus driver in Mississippi that kicked two black students off of the bus for discussing the outcome of the election. A Basketball coach in Mississippi told members of the team they would be suspended if they said the President Elect's name. Really? I honestly don't know what to say.

Most of us have come a long way. Some haven't. The fact that he got elected is enough for me for starters. The day will come when race isn't an issue in this country but @ 60 years old I may not live to see it.

Sadly the answer is no, we will likely never see the end of bigotry.

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

-Rogers and Hammerstein

i bought a couple of new but damaged Pumas off of our local gun shop owner. as soon as i mentioned straight razors to him he was really nice and talked to me like a friend. i went back to get the second one after finding that the first was a good deal and i talked to the owners son but i over heard the conversation the owner and an older man were having and it really did tick me off. all summed up it was about how they thought Obama was going to get in and what a shame it was to have a black man in power and how if he isn't shot within the first month then maybe they will have to do it. now i realise that they weren't serious about shooting Obama but i found it absolutely disgusting for them to talk like that. they are so set in their bigot and racist ways that they think it is funny to talk about assassinating a guy because of his skin colour. its ridiculous close minded thinking that simply breeds hate and fear. maybe it hit me harder because i had had a normal conversation with the owner a week before.

now, i am Metis (half french half Ojibwe) though not many people would know it to look at me, but i have put up with a lot of anti-native comments and speaches throughout public and secondary school and it really ticked me off(though they were nothing compared to what a lot off people have to put up with) as most people have no idea what they are talking about, but never have i had people express such fear and hate blatently in public like that. it was sad. that situation has made me decide to not buy goods from that retailer again and i think it is totally justified. he needs to grow up and start looking past skin colour.

Originally Posted by chee16

... they thought Obama was going to get in and what a shame it was to have a black man in power and how if he isn't shot within the first month then maybe they will have to do it. ...

And this in a country where the governor general is a black woman

And her predecessor was an Asian woman.

There'll always be bigots I guess. Nice to know they're the minority now.

X

We may never see the end of bigotry. But I'm hoping the next four (and--just speaking for myself--I hope eight) years will help some in changing attitudes. I say that knowing full well that some people are just not likely to change their thinking. But I'm from Chicago and was around when Harold Washington started his primary and then general-election campaign to become our first black mayor, and you should have heard some of the things that were said in the city's more conservative white neighborhoods. Actually, I guess you can imagine. Well, Harold was elected--twice (sadly, he didn't live to complete his second term); and the sky didn't fall, the city wasn't overrun with unqualified cronies, the CTA and police and fire departments and the trash pickup didn't grind to a halt, and not least important, he made it clear from the start by his actions (as he had said all along) that he was everyone's mayor, not just the mayor for those who shared his skin color or had voted for him. And that was evident whether you had supported him or not, and whether you agreed with everything he did or not.

There is still racism and racial tension in Chicago. There is still de facto discrimination. But I think we crossed a crucial line and put some of the more virulent attitudes to rest. At least this old white guy hopes so and hopes one of the effects of Obama's presidency will be to move us further along the road to where we'll be seen "not ... by the color of [our] skin but by the content of [our] character," as Dr. King said.

~Rich

Racism is the attack dog of self-loathing and ignorance.

Originally Posted by WireBeard

Racism is the attack dog of self-loathing and ignorance.

That is the best summation of racism I've ever seen. Yours, or did you find it?

I remember when we moved to a small town and my oldest started kindergarten and would come home crying almost daily because the kids made fun of him for speaking Spanish. Not quite the same as being in line in a gas station, but ****ed me off anyway. Native speaker in two languages being made fun of by children who were barely literate in one.

Originally Posted by WireBeard

Racism is the attack dog of self-loathing and ignorance.

As someone who is surrounded by the ignorant, self-loathing hillfolk... I concur with this heartily.

Originally Posted by kljr

Here's my point, CAN WE PLEASE END THE BIGOTRY!?

I like to hope you're preaching to the choir. The few stubborn ones left will probably never change their minds, but we can continue to set good examples for the next generations