Yep, racism is alive and well in many places including among those folks who swear they’re not racist. In this recent piece on Fox News the report highlights an affluent “liberal” community that don’t want “those people” moving in.
There’s plenty of history, some blatant some less so, in which white folks did their darndest to keep neighborhoods segregated. I’m not just talkin about lynching and burning crosses and such, I’m talking about the less obvious crap.
One of the best docu-dramas on the issue was the HBO mini-series “Some Kind Of Hero” that documented the efforts of the white residents of Yonkers NY to keep “those people” out of their neighborhoods. Find it and watch it if you can.
But, there are also those individual, personal encounters that leave lasting impressions, for sometimes the racism manifests in other nefarious ways.
The most obvious example I remember was in Phoenix when I was looking to buy my first house, circa 1980. It was a new housing development and, to keep it brief, I remember standing in the sales office looking at a map of available lots when I overheard a salesman say, and I quote, “Uh oh, here comes a spear chucker,” as a man and woman of color approached the office. Yeah, imagine that.
Another personal example. Some years ago, my late best friend was visiting me in Tucson with his wife, who is a beautiful woman of the Philippines. We were out looking at an open house when I overheard one realtor in the home say to another, with a racist smirk on her face, and I quote, “Those people need to go back where they came from.” My friend and his wife did not hear this remark but we left the home as my blood boiled.
Yes, I contacted the Arizona Board of Realtors and reported both incidents. And don’t fucking give me kudos for doing the right thing. I could have done more including confronting these racist assholes on the spot.
So now, here’s Fox News making sure everyone understands that there are affluent liberal racists too. No kidding.
Liberal … conservative? Who gives a shit. Look in the mirror folks. Our president doesn’t have the monopoly on this stupid stuff.
Of course, I could be wrong again, but I doubt it.
icouldbewrong.blog 