Week 48 of #TWmemorymondays. I have a shorter post today for a change! This time it is a very good account of an uber (or it might have been a lyft?) ride.
Everytime I get into a ride share I hope that I won't have to engage in conversation OR have to engage a racist white person. This time I was happy to be in a conversation where there was genuine connection.
We talked about a lot of things...one of things was about his son - how has a 7 yr old son who was bullied, how difficult it is to try to equip his son about the realities of racism (they're black), how to protect his son from fear of the world while not being naive of being black in america. And then he told me this story of a recent uber/lyft passenger:
He picked up this white man, and after chatting alittle, the passenger asked the driver where he's from. He replied that he's from Toronto, but has immigrated to the states many years ago. The white man pushed further by asking where he REALLY was from. We all know how this goes. So the driver said, "I'm from toronto - born and raised - like what I just said." OK then the white guy gets MAD. He gets aggressive and said "no that's not where you're from! I can hear that you have an accent, and that's not where you're from!" Then the driver gives him the lowdown of how that's racist, and demanded him to leave his car.
The passenger is flustered and said that he's not a racist - and that he misunderstood him. He tries to shake the driver's hand!! Haha!
The driver wouldn't have it, and told him to get out. And the white guy left.
Isn't that so insane?? Racists always tell you that they're not racist. It's so crazy to have that much confidence to tell someone that they are LYING about their origins. It's so bold to get mad about not having your assumptions confirmed. To have that kind of confidence!! Talking about white fragility...so white people can cry and get angry about having their privilege and assumptions challenged, but black people and POC are immediately pegged as angry + dangerous + too sensitive when standing up against racism??
And to think that many people think that racism doesn't exist. ALSO if a white person says they aren't racist, 99.9999999% of the time they are the worst kind. The kind that this country's white supremacy needs to stay alive and thriving. That kind of blindness to white privilege and institutional racism is dangerous.
On that note, have a great rest of your week!
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#TWmemorymondays: A painting inspired by a memory every Monday of 2018. Connecting abstract art to real life. Week 48/53. 'Really' / 8x8 in / mixed media on paper