A trend I'm noticing with some white people.
Apparently this is twice this has happened to me since I've been back to North Carolina. For those of you who don't know, I'm part black, part White, and part Indian but when people look at me they see the black part of me. Now, Last week i went to the doctor's office with my grandmother. While there, there was this white lady who acted terrified to be around me. Mind you I'm partially blind so unless I'm looking right dead at you, I'm not going to pay attention to what you're doing.
But my grandmother was paying attention and she mentioned to me that this woman was acting like I was going to hurt her or something. Now, I have a bad back so I couldn't fight anyone if I wanted to. My question is why are white people so dang afraid all the time? Its the 21st century. You think they would be used to it, but should I start becoming concerned for my safety? We all know how some white people feel about black people but with me being partially blind I'm wondering if I'm over reacting to this or should I just trust that nothing will happen to me.
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I get bigoted against for having an accent.
You can't let them get you down. They don't represent what United States stands for.
With younger whites in a more liberal area, I doubt you'd have elicited so much as a glance.
Sorry she made you feel that way, I just hope you don't think we all do that. Aside from the racist issue, it's utterly bizarre someone would think another person would be dangerous while escorting their grandmother. 
Response to valerief (Reply #9)
Great post. You're certainly one of the more eloquent DU'ers. 
Having lived among such people in the South for twenty years, I believe that many there would make similar admissions if they felt safe enough to. It takes some courage to step out of a comfortable blanket of false teachings about civil war culture, racial superiority and white privilege.
overcome their cultural conditioning.
I'm sorry. 
The weird thing about the popular perception that we're in more danger each year, is the fact that it's 180° from the truth.
Some of our pink friends just don't understand. Its okay. Since the rise of a false generic so called tea party republicans. Who are merely nothing but the Money Arm of the right wing. They are doing the bidding of people they can never please. People who have enticed them into voting against their own self interest. You have some Dems who follow the same meme. This branch of the party has more money than they know what to do with. They purchase think tanks and lobbying firms and whole economic departments at colleges, Supreme court Justices and their spouses, to get the point across that rich people should stay rich. And they will use race, class, gender, and ignorance to get their point across. Those that are based in fact don't give a rats ass what color you are. When you take the high road in those type settings, it shows valor and responsibility. I have found the best way to handle it is to not be what they expect. Tell Grandma time to get headphones or a book to pass the time while waiting to be serviced at appointments. Believe it or not I take repug reading material just to see the looks.
Jones, of course,,was just minding his own business when he noticed an older white woman clutching her purse and recoiling in fear from him. The inner monologue Toole wrote for Jones is both hilarious and sad.
A Confederacy of Dunces was written in 1963. It's a shame, but somehow not surprising, that this still happens though I am hopeful that those two people were a very small percentage of the white people you've encountered ... despite all evidence, I still believe most people aren't totally bad
Hope your back feels better.
Seeing people contort themselves into pretzles to try to spin the glaringly obvious into something it is not reminds me of how a child who wishes to continue to play outside might argue that it isn't raining, all the while wiping the raindrops from his face.
Want to malign an entire race of people? Here, have this extremely vague account of a second hand impression of a perceived undefined action of a stranger, and knock yourself out. Don't let reality or logic or common sense intrude.
against white people.
If a big, aggressive or belligerent dude with a Mike Tyson tat on his face sat down and gave me the evil eye, I'd be scared too.
In nearly any other case, everyone gets a glance, then I'm back to the whatever app on my phone is currently holding my interest.
This lily-white fraidycat in the US wants to know.
I'm in the "blue bubble" of Durham/Chapel Hill, so I tend to not see that so much. Although I definitely hear about how horrible/awful/scary/crime-ridden Durham is all the time from outsiders, which of course is code for "OMG LOTS OF SCARY MINORITIES LIVE THERE." If you step outside to other areas of the state that aren't so...um.....liberally inclined...you're gonna encounter attitudes like that, unfortunately.
One of my best friend's mother is so afraid of any minority it's just ridiculous. She lives in one of the outlying rural areas. She is just to-the-bone terrified of all minorities and convinced they are all out to get her. It's ridiculous, and it's absolutely ingrained in her tiny little brain and unchangeable at this point unfortunately.
I don't know how it feels to be in your body and to have experienced what you've experienced. I'm very sorry that happened to you, but please know that all of NC isn't like that, really and truly.
