7/22/2010

Racist!


To say I grew up poor is almost an understatement. I grew up in a neighborhood in east Wichita that was almost completely segregated. I am not sure if it was all the poor white trailer trash that kept the blacks out or the fact that most of the blacks in Wichita were too proud to live in Dog Patch. I went from kindergarten to the ninth grade attending Minneha and I either can't or don't remember any blacks attending school there. Was I racist because I didn't know any blacks, live near any blacks or meet any in my daily activities? I do tell people that the only blacks that came into our neighborhood drove a new Chevy Trash Truck and collected once a month in a Cadillac. There was also a couple of old blacks that drove a Chevy panel delivery and sold fruit and produce door to door. Did I know them? Nah, I hardly met them. I do remember that they almost always had some bananas that were over ripe and would give them to us.

All of a sudden, the city of Wichita looked around and realized that the baby boomers were about to hit the high schools and they lacked the capacity. My sisters graduated from a new high School Southeast and I expected to go there. Nope, I wound up in Wichita East, a school that was at least 50% black. Culture shock central. I got all the cross culture experience I could handle. One of my class mates was robbed at knife point in our locker room after gym class. They could have robbed me but not if they wanted any money.

It took me a lot of years to grow to understand that most people are more like me than I wanted to admit. I think we all want to have enough money to live without hunger, cold or too much heat. Love is just a thing that we all feel and no one has a monopoly on it because of race, color or creed. Pretty much you are either happy or not because what you have inside.

I'll bet that everyone out there has some prejudice they don't understand. I happen to like DelMonte Ketchup, McDonald's french fries and BBQ. Given free choice, those items would get picked for a lot of my eating. At one time I would have said Chevrolet but after having my GM stock was killed, I am not near as crazy for Chevy's. I am prejudiced but I don't think I'm a racist. Wait, I need to go look up what that word means so - stand by - Here is one book solution:

the term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

I would like to think that I am not a racist but I really don't know. Is it possible that through my reaction I might have done something that was racist? Not on purpose, but hey, no one is perfect. I do wish people would really stop and look at themselves before they throw the term Racist around.

MUD

5 comments:

  1. I don't understand. Did someone call you a racist?

    I would like to think that I never have a prejudiced thought, but I have caught myself prejudging others more often than I care to admit. That prejudice is usually not based upon race. I'm much more likely to jump to conclusions about rich white people. It's not the white I find suspect, but the rich. Perhaps that's because, like you, I grew up poor and proud of my blue collar roots. In more recent years I've met some wealthy people who are the complete opposite of that stereotype I'd established without even knowing it.

    My family, firmly planted in the middle class (which would be wealthy to my younger self), has even been subject at least once to thoughts akin to but much worse than any I've ever had about rich folks. (I've never been jealous or mean, just suspicious of their motives.) It got real ugly.

    On the other hand, my kids have told me a time or two that I am prejudiced against poor people. Not so. I am prejudiced against lazy people. I know from experience that you can be poor and still take care of yourself and what little you have. You don't have to live in squalor just because you are poor. I'm also prejudiced against people who continually make poor decisions such as resorting to drugs and/or crime and who repeatedly refuse to avail themselves of opportunities set before them. I'm thankful my kids have compassion and want to help their friends, but when a person refuses to help themselves and step away from their destructive habits, there is little you can do. Free will is one of the greatest gifts we have been given, and it is a great tragedy that more folks can't seem to use it wisely.

    Another prejudice I have is against prejudiced people. Rednecks (in the worst sense of the word), religious extremists of any stripe, and gossips are just a few examples among them. I could go on here, but I find it's leading into a blog post I've been meaning to write, so hopefully I'll continue the thought on my own blog within a few days:o)

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  2. I don't understand. Did someone call you a racist?

    I would like to think that I never have a prejudiced thought, but I have caught myself prejudging others more often than I care to admit. That prejudice is usually not based upon race. I'm much more likely to jump to conclusions about rich white people. It's not the white I find suspect, but the rich. Perhaps that's because, like you, I grew up poor and proud of my blue collar roots. In more recent years I've met some wealthy people who are the complete opposite of that stereotype I'd established without even knowing it.

    My family, firmly planted in the middle class (which would be wealthy to my younger self), has even been subject at least once to thoughts akin to but much worse than any I've ever had about rich folks. (I've never been jealous or mean, just suspicious of their motives.) It got real ugly.

    On the other hand, my kids have told me a time or two that I am prejudiced against poor people. Not so. I am prejudiced against lazy people. I know from experience that you can be poor and still take care of yourself and what little you have. You don't have to live in squalor just because you are poor. I'm also prejudiced against people who continually make poor decisions such as resorting to drugs and/or crime and who repeatedly refuse to avail themselves of opportunities set before them. I'm thankful my kids have compassion and want to help their friends, but when a person refuses to help themselves and step away from their destructive habits, there is little you can do. Free will is one of the greatest gifts we have been given, and it is a great tragedy that more folks can't seem to use it wisely.

    Another prejudice I have is against prejudiced people. Rednecks (in the worst sense of the word), religious extremists of any stripe, and gossips are just a few examples among them. I could go on here, but I find it's leading into a blog post I've been meaning to write, so hopefully I'll continue the thought on my own blog within a few days:o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well said, MUD! I know without a doubt that I am prejudiced, yet I am not racist.

    We all make pre-judgments of folks based on our bank account filled with experience. Well, maybe not all of us...but most all.

    But, a "racist" is someone that believes one race to be superior to another. I don't think anyone can argue that Asians do better on tests, black folks do better in athletics, and white folks do better at making money (on balance). So, no race is really superior, or inferior. At least in my mind.

    I grew up in the desegregated South in the days when a lot of it was happening. I'd write a million paragraphs here, but there is no need.

    Many of my "prejudices" have been blown to hell by either good, or bad experiences with folks of all races. And, those experiences go right in the account with the others.

    I am human. I've got lots of history with folks of all races, creeds, colors (as have you). They're all human, too...

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  4. Every human being on this planet has prejudice. It is just human nature. The fact of the matter is that everyones is diffrent from everyone else. Just because the color of your skin or how much money you have makes that diffrence less obvious doesn't change the facts. I have almost always been proven wrong when I judged a book by its cover.

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  5. Sort of goes along the lines of...........Let he who is with out sin, cast the first stone, Ya think?

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