Racism

I grew up in a predominantly white, upper-middle class neighborhood. Half of my elementary, middle school, and high school was bussed in from the inner city and were predominantly black.

I remember being in elementary school and having a close friend who was from the inner city. She had asthma and would often miss school because of asthma attacks. She missed school one day. When she came back the following day, I asked if she was OK, was it another asthma attack. Her house had been shot up in the middle of the night because her older brother was in a gang. Nobody was hurt, but her grandmother (who she lived with) insisted that everyone put their mattresses on the floor from now on.

I had a friend in high school who I would sneak into my house late at night because he was scared to go home. He hopped from friends house to friends house in the county trying to stay away from a gang he was once a member of. Halfway through my senior year, nobody ever heard from him again. To this day, I have no idea if he is alive or dead.

Today, I read a blog that I could not understand. I don't believe that this person is a bad person. I have seen no sign of that. Nor do I believe they are racist. They told a story of growing up in a community where they peered at black people from their car windows. They stared at them in awe, thinking to themselves that, wow, they were real. This blogger actually said "I wanted to poke them in the face to see what they felt like."

Now, OK. I realize that my childhood was probably different than most, for more reasons than one. I realize that I am a very open minded person. But, when did that become OK to say? Like, when? I read that and seriously, I wanted to find this person and punch them repeatedly in the face. Nobody can help how or where they are raised. I know that there will always be ignorance in this world, despite my failing campaign to rid the earth of it. (I call it Erratic's Natural Selection.) What I do NOT understand is CHOOSING to be ignorant. CHOOSING to say things like that, with no real thought as to how it will affect the people around you.

Let's play a little game called PUT YOURSELF IN THE OTHER PERSON'S SHOES. Would you be offended/hurt/angry/homicidal if someone said that about you? The answer is yes, yes you would.

It is possible that I misunderstood the tone of the blog. I do not offend easily. I really don't. If that is the case, well, get better at being funny. Either way, I will never read it again.