Racial Prejudice
Written 9/2/06
I was waiting in line at the post office. I was second or third in line. There were two clerks helping out, one was helping a lady send something to an international destination. The other was helping a lady with her and her husbands P.O. Box. Apparently the two are separated and are trying to switch the name the P.O. Box was under so it is under her name and not his.
Because her husband was not there and she did not have matching ID's there was nothing the post office could do. The clerk attending to her was doing a great job explaining why it was a security issue that they could not switch the Box over without her husband present. She was doing her best to figure out a way to help her but it just didn't seem like it was going to work. The lady trying to get the box changed was getting more and more frustrated and starting to get a little rude with the clerk.
So this is the point were I guess I will relate my story to the Title of my blog. The lady trying to change the P.O. Box was a larger African American woman, with a number of piercings on her face. Everyone else in the place was white.
Written 2/13/07 as best as I could remember...
This is were things got really interesting, it seemed to me that all these racial stereotypes started to kick in. The manager took over at this point and was so rude with this woman. The people in line started to role their eyes and the mood became very uncomfortable. It was almost like they were thinking, "Well what do you expect." Then the woman started to act like there was a great offense being perpetrated against her like somehow the clerk was doing something wrong by not letting her switch the P.O Box.
In the end the lady left cursing and very upset. The manager made some comment about how unbelievable that was, and I sat there and thought... I would never assume I was being persecuted if a clerk couldn't help me. I have never had a manager yell at me. Both of these women and a couple of people in line just seemed to feed off each other’s disdain for each other. It was very sad...
Godspeed,
Caleb
I was waiting in line at the post office. I was second or third in line. There were two clerks helping out, one was helping a lady send something to an international destination. The other was helping a lady with her and her husbands P.O. Box. Apparently the two are separated and are trying to switch the name the P.O. Box was under so it is under her name and not his.
Because her husband was not there and she did not have matching ID's there was nothing the post office could do. The clerk attending to her was doing a great job explaining why it was a security issue that they could not switch the Box over without her husband present. She was doing her best to figure out a way to help her but it just didn't seem like it was going to work. The lady trying to get the box changed was getting more and more frustrated and starting to get a little rude with the clerk.
So this is the point were I guess I will relate my story to the Title of my blog. The lady trying to change the P.O. Box was a larger African American woman, with a number of piercings on her face. Everyone else in the place was white.
Written 2/13/07 as best as I could remember...
This is were things got really interesting, it seemed to me that all these racial stereotypes started to kick in. The manager took over at this point and was so rude with this woman. The people in line started to role their eyes and the mood became very uncomfortable. It was almost like they were thinking, "Well what do you expect." Then the woman started to act like there was a great offense being perpetrated against her like somehow the clerk was doing something wrong by not letting her switch the P.O Box.
In the end the lady left cursing and very upset. The manager made some comment about how unbelievable that was, and I sat there and thought... I would never assume I was being persecuted if a clerk couldn't help me. I have never had a manager yell at me. Both of these women and a couple of people in line just seemed to feed off each other’s disdain for each other. It was very sad...
Godspeed,
Caleb
Labels: Serious Stuff, Social Justice
posted by Caleb M. Saarela at 6:26 AM
1 Comments:
It is sad and disgusting to see people be treated with contempt, or suspicion.
It is also difficult as a white person to understand why situations that seem perfectly innocent to us are perceived as racially biased. But then it is worse to realize that in many ways our history justifies that perception.
The day may come when we are all to familiar with that kind of treatment. As Christians we are assured that "they" hated Christ, so how much more will they hate us. Our kids may well live to see the day that Christ's name is not only a curse, but a also basis for outright discrimination.
Peace.
Rustyspark
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