You could say
prejudice is dead and you would be wrong.
While the mayor of New York is making sure the laws are changed in that
state so that young black men are not stopped on the streets without probable cause,
there are people who still participate in or demonstrate subtle acts of
prejudice. When asked if they are
racist, they would be the first to shout that they are not and have never been
prejudiced.
If you are
walking with a friend who is of another ethnicity, don’t shut out the world
while communicating. Pay attention to
the people around you and notice their reactions to your association. Sometimes it is so elusive that just might
miss their reaction to your being with and enjoying the company of someone, not
of your race.
Having survived
in this country for 64 years, as a black woman, and having experienced blatant/
overt and hidden/ covert racism, I can say that I prefer the latter as I know
what to expect of this person and I know what they expect of me. Consider the bogeyman, he scared you as a
child because it is the unknown/uncanny, but as an adult you realize there is
no bogeyman but there are scary people.
Would you not prefer the scary people that you can see and know and not the
unknown?
I am writing this
text and putting words to it but continue to see this as text and draw your own
conclusions. This discourse should be a
platform for thought and consideration to be consumed by you for your
edification and critical thinking. Just
modify your field of view.
One way to
experience this phenomenon is to do an experiment with a friend. Go to a makeup shop (especially a Halloween
shop and not in October) and get some makeup that would make your face and
hands appear to have hideous warts or pimples.
Take turns wearing this makeup for only 2 days and please pay attention
to the people around you. If this is
done, for instance, on a college campus, you will instantaneously see the
reactions of the people around both of you.
This is not the same as being black, but this is a way for the ordinary
people to experience what it means to be different or not the normative of
society. This is only a temporary view
of your world but think if you have to be like this the rest of your life and
face society each day with your stigma in place to distinguish you from
everyone else.
Now you can
appreciate your fellow man in all their glorious differences, which make up our
cosmopolitan society (which is purported to be without prejudice).
2/17/2014
