Post-racial America My Cuss!!
Many of you know that I live in the same house I grew up in. The street was racially mixed when I was a kid but now it is predominantly black. There are a couple of transitional housing places that tweak the "white" end numbers a bit but overall this is a black neighborhood.
I just went to my front yard to get mail and retrieve the trashcan. As I got to the mailbox an unfamiliar (a resident or friend of someone in the transitional housing on our street) woman with white hair - white skin too - was walking down the street. I said "Hello, how are you?" but she didn't verbally respond. Instead she went to the opposite side of the street AND put her purse on the opposite shoulder only to come back to my side of the street when she was a full house or so past me. As she did this I wished her a good day, got my trashcan and came back inside.
I am not overly concerned about racism; I tend to see the individual more than the group but it is instances like this that remind me why black folk seem obsessed with racism. We cussin' can't get away from it.
PS: Notice my "Fantastic Mr. Fox" version of foul language.
I just went to my front yard to get mail and retrieve the trashcan. As I got to the mailbox an unfamiliar (a resident or friend of someone in the transitional housing on our street) woman with white hair - white skin too - was walking down the street. I said "Hello, how are you?" but she didn't verbally respond. Instead she went to the opposite side of the street AND put her purse on the opposite shoulder only to come back to my side of the street when she was a full house or so past me. As she did this I wished her a good day, got my trashcan and came back inside.
I am not overly concerned about racism; I tend to see the individual more than the group but it is instances like this that remind me why black folk seem obsessed with racism. We cussin' can't get away from it.
PS: Notice my "Fantastic Mr. Fox" version of foul language.
Comments
Your good people Jai. I guess all you and I can do is teach our children a little kindness, acceptance and humility and lead by example.
Hopefully she was just a scared old paranoid and not so much a racist. I doubt it but...well, you know.
Jer
Like I said I tend to focus on individuals not groups and both Tara and I work - passive and active - to show Julia the value of kindness, among other things.
In other news, I'm watching Ben Harper on Austin City Limits right now. Why have I not followed his career since his first album? Man, he's good.