Last night we visited with Aaron’s dad and stepmom, who had just come back from a trip to Israel. On the way to their house, Aaron asked me to stop and get some sodas.
Now, Aaron’s parents live in the inner-city of Columbus. Stop laughing, we really do have an inner-city. It’s certainly no Detroit, but this neighborhood has a high crime rate and you can still see the prostitutes walking the streets at dusk. It’s also still primarily a minority neighborhood, although it is currently undergoing a “revitalization” where people are buying these large Victorian houses and restoring them to their former glory. Aaron’s parents were some of the first to start this, years ago. Aaron would love to eventually move back to that neighborhood, but he’s getting a lot of resistance from me, the small-town girl.
When I stopped at the gas station near their house last night, I was reminded why I’m not ready to move there yet. I grabbed a few sodas and got in line to pay for them. A minute or so later, when there was only one man in front of me, a short, round African-American woman walked up next to me and looked me up and down with a gruff look on her face. Then, she stepped ahead of me in line, muttering something involving the word “white…” I didn’t hear the second word, so I have no idea what she referred to me as, other than white.
I was so shocked I didn’t say anything as she put her Combos on the counter to pay for them. I glanced around and realized I was the only white person in the store. I hadn’t even noticed until this woman made race such an issue. Why did she cut in front of me? Why did she think I was less of a person than her?
Even though I have a racist father (who I wasn’t raised by, thank goodness!), I’ve never thought much about the color of a person’s skin. Sure, I’m white as a ghost, but I certainly don’t think that makes me different somehow, other than needing to be in the sun less than others. Truthfully, I envy those who can stay in the sun longer! What the hell is up with people thinking skin color has anything to do with you as a person? We’re all people, right?
If I’m going to judge anyone, I do it based on what comes out of their mouth, not by what they look like. And I’m certainly not referring to what language or dialect a person speaks, either. I do categorize people based on whether I think they can rub two brain cells together and create a spark. (And I’m talking about a person’s intelligence, not education, which are two different things entirely.) Even then, I still think we all deserve to be treated with respect.
Racism is silly to me. Should I ever think I’m better than someone because of my race, I only need to think back to the history of my people: “Irish need not apply.”
To end this rant, I want to thank the other African-American lady I met yesterday as we were leaving Aaron’s parent’s house. I was still feeling hurt and stunned by the woman at the gas station, when this lady with a large smile walked by, took one look at Cordy and said, “Look at that beautiful baby! You are so blessed!” She stopped and we chatted for a minute about babies and laughed about Cordy’s temper while we put Cordy in the car. And I left thinking, “Maybe someday we can consider moving here.”
And, for those who wanted to see the JC Penney pictures, here are the good ones. Yes, I did send a complaint letter about the horrible service we had with them.
Oh those curls!
I can imagine that was an unnerving experience. Sad too. I expect that woman has had some bad experiences, but I wish she hadn’t treated you poorly.
Now that is a dress!!
WOW!
You are right. Racism sucks.
The pictures though. Gorgeous! What a cutie pie!
Racism is a weird beast. We get a lot of reverse discrimination (not sure if that’s really what it is…) because we DON’T have a Southern accent. And I’m not privvy to many of the connections that the African American folks have down here – they’ll be so friendly with each other, but then with me, not a word.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand why. I just don’t like it.
Cute pics. Glad you wrote them a letter!
Where did you get that dress? She looks so cute in it!
Its really unfortunate that the first encounter was so horrible but I’m so glad the second went as well as it did. I’d like to think that someday we can all live life with blinders on (at least, in the race, creed, etc. department). Perhaps in our children’s lifetime?
aww- she looks adorable
It recently happened to us and I wrote about it elsewhere. A not-very-nice neighbor on our otherwise super quiet street announced, loudly, that she “hates the color white. Literally.” Having dated interracially before, I STILL had never been a direct victim of a racist comment until then.
Gah. Still upset about it.
Racism is frustrating. I was raised to believe that color was only skin deep. What mattered was what was in their heads and hearts. It baffles me that people think otherwise, people of any color.
Those Victorian homes are a dream. How I would love to own and restore one some day.
The pics look great…she is so stinkin’ cute! I love her hair!
I am glad that you wrote a letter. A company that truly cares about their business will want to hear from dissatisfied customers. I hope they reply.
Happy birthday tomorrow! The big 3-0 is not that bad.
Happy happy birthday baby!!!
The sepia one is AWESOME.
An inner-city in Columbus? From a Dee-troit girl, all I can say is who knew?
I love the pictures, especially the sepia tone one. Oh and about the lady at the gas station, some people have a lot of nerve regardless of color. That was messed up.
That is sad. Not something anyone
should have to go thru.
Cute pic’s. She is a doll!! 🙂
Cordy is such a looker & good at posing! Did she do it voluntarily?
Talk about racism, that B**** should pay a visit to my country, Malaysia and learn how we all live harmoniously despite our “colours”, race, religion, etc.
Awww…those pix are super cute and I LOVE that yellow sundress. Do they make that in my size?
I live in an area where I am the minority and usually once they realize I am not “One of THOSE white chics” they are really nice to me!
Awesome pics!
Happy happy birthday! (Did you still wanna throw something together this weekend?)
Yay! Cordy pics! I’m sooooo glad I got her that dress, she’s simply adorable. My favorite would have the be the crawling one. So cute! XD
I miss seeing Cordy on Mondays… stupid job! Maybe we should just get together more often on the weekends.
Oh, those pictures came out GREAT–much better than our last JC Penny’s portraits.
Sorry you had a bad experience at the gas station, but it sounds like the last woman you met was very nice. Focus on that conversation. I’m sure that most of the people there are like her and not like the meanie who cut in line in front of you!
I’m sorry you had such a horrible experience, but it just goes to show for every one not-so-nice person, there’s at least one lovely person.
The photos are lovely!
I think that racism is still among us in many forms. Last March I went to Chicago to visit a friend and we went to a bar and were dancing. An african-american girl told me I needed to learn to dance better because white women look like cheerleaders. I had no idea what to say. Did she want me to bounce my butt like Beyonce or J. Lo?? I thought my Madonna dance was fine. Okay, maybe not, but still.
Anyway….the pictures look good, but I am still kind of mad FOR you. Penney’s obviously was not doing their job and I’m happy to hear you sent the complaint letter.
Did your inlaws enjoy Israel?
Gorgeous pics!