Racism Is Not Okay

Racism is not okay. To me, it never has been. Some people are raised in racist environments but I wasn't. The first time I heard the "N word", I had to go home and ask my mom what it meant. Even then, in elementary school, I didn't understand. That word, or any other racial slur, wasn't used in our house.

As I got older, I learned all sorts of racial slurs including being called a "cracker". It goes both ways. When Paul and I first started dating, he used the "N word" all the time. He didn't use it in a racial sense, but somehow he'd allowed it to be a part of common phrases that had nothing to do with race. Still, I felt it was wrong. Like a cuss word, I didn't want him using it around me. It was offensive, regardless of it's meaning to him, and it made me uncomfortable. I haven't heard him say that word in 7 years. Racism is not okay.

In college, I overheard tons of conversations about "towel head" professors who graded their tests too hard, or were impossible to understand. During my nursing school clinicals, I had a black family who made fun of me as I learned, called me a "whitey" and wouldn't speak to me but would only  answer the questions of the black nurse I was working with. Racism is not okay.

When Paul and I moved here, we stopped along our route for supper in a small town along the interstate. When we walked in, we were the only white people among a crowd of Native Americans. Turns out, we had come upon an Indian reservation and there was definite tension. I haven't quite figured out which race dislikes the other race more, but we've been told to steer clear of the reservations. Racism is not okay.

And yesterday, in an event that inspired this post, a man working at the restaurant we were eating at called Mexicans "wetbacks" and then laughed. It was inappropriate and uncalled for and offensive to me. Racism it not okay.

I wish race didn't have to be an issue. If you don't like someone, fine. I don't like everyone either. But when I don't like someone it's because of their personality, their actions or their attitude not because of the color of their skin. How can we act like EVERYONE in a race can represent the same personalities, beliefs and attitudes? Believe me, I don't want MY character to be judge based off of how other white people act! Just saying.

Racism is not okay. I just wanted you to know....

Love and Happiness,
Bethany