I was telling you earlier, that we’ll discuss some taboo subject that float around here in the US.
As I would not like to use ‘strong’ language I think that the best way for you to get an idea is to present some situations and let your imagination do the rest.
Today topic: Afro-Americans. How do they fit into the American Society and what they go through sometimes because of prejudice?
Scene 1:
I’m at home waiting for some workers to come and do some work (it doesn’t matter what). The crew arrives. It’s formed from 3 people: two white guys and an Afro-American. One of the white guys (the oldest) is the boss. You can see that the younger ones don’t have very much experience and they are guided sometime by the boss. Everything should work, right? But wait… the white apprentice benefits from the boss’s patience and is helped in a detailed way all the time he needs it. The other apprentice though, is constantly being pushed around and the boss’s acid remarks make him look silly. Top that with the fact that both white guys treat him like he’s dumb (although that is not the case).
Scene 2:
At a local DMV office, trying to get some paperwork done. The clerk, and Afro-American women, doesn’t think to much of my presence there. She acts as I should know the answer to all the ‘stupid’ questions I ask and I really bother her by being there. She’s not even trying to do what she’s paid to do in a timely fashion. Now replace the DMV clerk with the supermarket clerk, with the customs officer of the national park ranger (but keep her Afro-American). Same ‘I am better than you and doing you a favor’ rotten attitude.
A bit of history:
It’s incredible how many things Afro-Americans have gone through since the birth of the US and still go through in some situations. I guess some of the memories are still alive and the way they sometime treat white people is probably a response to that. Other times they are simply rude and get away with it based on political correctness.
It’s also incredible the level of racism still present in the US, in the 21st century. It’s because of such attitudes that laws were put in place to assure us that we are all equal. And it’s those laws that make protect and at the same time do harm by constantly dividing people based on ethnic origin. It’s time to move on.