Casual Racism in America

Guess Chlorine Can’t Kill Those Germs « The Poor Man Institute

Despite my rugged exterior, Jay Z-like street cred and remarkable penchant for being down at all times - and as unlikely as this may sound to you dear reader - I grew up in a rich white burb (of NYC mind you, not Alabama or Mississippi). And by white, I mean police-enforced, purest white.

The next town over was the inverse (lower income scale, minority population, knowledge among locals that life had progressed past 1952, etc). Thus, as it was known to the locals, the police would make a regular habit of pulling over/stopping minorities that had the nerve to cross the border into Pristineville. Just for being there.

Even minority children got harassed.

My town had a bunch of parks that were little Meccas for the snot-nose set, and so it wasn’t uncommon to see the occasional young black or Hispanic kid showing up at the front gate with wide eyes. Of course, the park tenders would snap into action, halt the interlopers before they entered and let them know that you had to be a resident of the town – or the guest of a resident – in order to be let in. Obviously, by virtue of their melanin count, they weren’t residents.

This actually doesn't surprise me one iota. I have lived full-time in the US for the last 2 and a half years and I have been struck by the level of casual racism in this country. I am not saying that everyone is a KKK member,far from it. Most Americans that I meet are wonderful people and it would never occur to them to say something that they think is overtly racist. I am merely saying that it is so subtly ingrained in the society that people honestly do not see it and thus think that it doesn't exist. Sadly, it does.

If you doubt this, ask your friends of color. I think you will be surprised at their answers.

And by the way, before you tell me to go back where I came from, I quite like it here. It is, for the most part, a wonderful place to live. It just isn't perfect. But what place is?