Racism: still alive and well (too deep for the lounge?)

[Bouncy Ball]

I was at the mall today. There was this guy who looked to be in his early 20s, and he kept trying to walk up to people and ask them something. They would veer around him quickly and sort of shoo him off.

I wondered what he was trying to ask, as he didn't look like he was selling anything or taking a survey, so I walked over to him.

Turns out, he's here visiting from Kenya and couldn't find the shop he was looking for in the mall (he had to meet his friends there). His English was really rough, but I did understand "Foley's" and his explanation of how he got lost.

We told him which way to go. Now, why wouldn't anyone help him? He didn't look dangerous or crazed or anything. He was dressed nicely. Very polite. But everyone I saw took one glance and went alllll the way the hell around him. I swear, just out of sociological curiosity I wanted to ask all of them, were you just in a hurry? Did you think he was selling something? Did you just avoid him as a reaction or what?

It also made me wonder if I'VE ever done that. :-( When we won't even stop to help each other with a simple request, we're lost.

[jpgray]

1. Homeless people of any race are treated the same way

I think it's more an idea of social separation than racism. Of course, that social prejudice has always been a component of racism.

[Bouncy Ball]

8. Yep. One time I was talking about

class warfare with a friend and we were trying to boil it ALL down to socio-economic factors, then we very suddenly realized (and felt stupid for having forgotten this) that you simply CANNOT divorce race from socioeconomic factors. They are most defintely intertwined.

Sigh.

[GOPisEvil]

2. I think too many of us are self-absorbed to the point that we don't care.

That's the royal we and the royal us of course. :-)

[lenidog]

5. I have to agree with you

I would say that any person of any race would probably get the same result these days.

[Bouncy Ball]

7. I wondered that, too.

But then I wondered if skin color/ethnicity makes it even MORE unlikely you'll get a response/help from others?

:shrug:

[lenidog]

15. I do not doubt that it will add to some peoples

reluctance to answer someone who approached them

[BrklynLiberal]

3. It is very sad.......

[KitchenWitch]

4. It is a sad state of affairs

I really try not to prejudge others based upon appearance.

[tjdee]

6. It's the race *and* the accent....*and* the mall.

It's the mall, first of all, so I'd think a stranger coming up to me was trying to sell me something.

Second, some people get very stupid about accents. Very, very stupid. So a guy coming up to them with a strange accent, too hard to deal with.

And then of course there's the fact that all of that came together in a dark man.

[Bouncy Ball]

10. True.

He was doomed.

My daughter kept looking for him after that, to make sure he found his friends.

[RevolutionaryActs]

9. I've noticed things like that.

I was at the Costco here, and I live in small county, and it's fairly Conservative. But anyway the lines were all long and the wait was crazy. Then I saw one that was short, and I thought they must be closing or something? They weren't, it was open, but the checker was black.
He's a really nice guy, my mom loves him because he carded her once when she bought wine. But no one was going to his line, even though it was short. I know it's because he's black.

My brother saw the same thing back when the Costco first opened, long lines except for this guys, and no one would go to it.

It's so stupid.

I do not understand bigotry, I just can't comprehend it.

[Bouncy Ball]

12. Eh??? Dang, around here

if it meant a shorter wait, people wouldn't give a shit WHAT color the checker was!

LOL! Crazy people!

[RevolutionaryActs]

14. I know!

I was like, "ooh short line! Yay for me!"


It's sad how some people are though. :(

[EstimatedProphet]

11. Absolutely racism is alive and well

It's stronger every day. The entire country has been operating on racist fuel since 9/11, and that's what's driving our foreign policy for the average 'Murikan. Your story doesn't surprise me at all-so many people live in a constant state of fear now that they are automatically afraid whenever anything even slightly out of the ordinary happens.

[Bouncy Ball]

17. Last night we were in Subway eating sandwiches

and a guy in line turned to the woman behind him and said "Your daughter has a cute hair cut." The woman just grabbed her daughter's shoulder and physically put her BEHIND her and didn't say thank you, or look at him, or anything.

The guy was black. The woman was white. He looked annoyed. Guess that'll teach him to compliment a little white child.

:-(

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Sorry, I live in the city, I don't stop for ANYONE.

Doesn't matter what their race is. I don't care. If I don't know them, I don't care if they're handing out flyers or asking for change, I don't stop.

[Bouncy Ball]

16. I live in a big metropolitan area, too.

I'm not faulting you, though. I don't stop if I see that you have a clipboard, or something you are selling. I say "no thanks" and keep going.

But he LOOKED lost. I dunno. At least you are an equal-opportunity walk on by-er! LOL!

[Chovexani]

27. Me too.

That's just plain street smarts.

[JohnKleeb]

18. That sucks

There is still some racial bigotry around here mostly to middle eastern people. I got a friend, a guy in one of my classes who is Afghani and Ive helped him out before, I dont know if he faces racism but makes me feel good to help someone out and help them learn about our country. I and a classmate did the same for another classmate who is foreign born and only recently moved here.

[sundog]

19. of course racism is alive

I'm in small town NM - it's a fucking cesspool of racism... I won't go into details here... let's just say I know the taste of racism far too well
:puke:

[Bouncy Ball]

20. ...

:hug: I'm so sorry. Peace to you......

[SOteric]

21. It's hard to say what all might contribute to such a response

I remember some video-taped experiments showing some cities were populated with people more likely to give directions to strangers, return lost money to the individual who'd 'dropped' it, etc.

I suspect most of us do go around fairly self-absorbed. A lot of those of us who are city dwellers have become somewhat jaded and hardened to strangers of every description who seem perpetually to be asking us for money.

Additionally, I'm sure race does play a factor. In the most liberal areas of the country it's still quite often the case that even a well-dressed black man cannot get a cab as quickly as a somewhat down at the heels white man.

I speculate that the events of 9/11 have made many an easily frightened individual reluctant to trust or befriend strangers with obvious accents of any sort.

And last but not least, we seem to have taken mean-spirited behaviour to a new high in the popular socio-cultural avenues of modern America. We listen to talk radio which essentially teaches us to hate one another, we watch 'reality' television essentially glorifying our ability to be backbiting bullies, we shout insults to one another in our cars and in the grocery check out line. Politeness, once the rule, has become the rarity.

"This is the greatest country in the world," sayeth the masses. And we who live here are a bunch of hard-hearted, nasty, self-obsessed poopyheads.

[VelmaD]

22. Have I told you lately...

that you rock? "And we who live here are a bunch of hard-hearted, nasty, self-obsessed poopyheads." Sums it right up.

[SOteric]

23. *snerk*

Always a compliment coming from you, Velma darlin'.

:hug:

[VelmaD]

29. Woohoo...

I got a *snerk*. My work here is done. :) :hug: back atcha

[johnnie]

24. Thank you for that response

I was writing one, but you did a lot better than I so I didn't even bother.
But I do want to add that there are also many wonderful people in this world.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

25. Great post!

:thumbsup:

We're seeing the demise of 'civil society', which is important in maintaining democracy.

[Bouncy Ball]

26. Self-obsessed poopyhead.

I love it.

I'm going to be sure to instruct my daughter to always be polite because "you don't want to be a self-obsessed poopyhead." That'll make her laugh.

[Megahurtz]

28. Maybe they were afraid of the guy for some reason.

Who knows?:shrug: