MY SWEET OLD RACIST CUSTOMER
For most people who are connected with me on social media, you may have seen, read or probably simply just sighed at a post recently uploaded on my Facebook page.
No matter your nationality, race,personality or even your physical attributes, we have all being subjected to some form of racism. It is all around us and we can never seem to escape it.
An individual would be brutally lying to you if they were to tell you they had never either, witnessed or been victimised themselves when it comes to racism.
My current line of work in retail enables me to meet and interact with all different characteristics and individuals. As a victim of racism myself, i have gone through of phases of hate, acceptance and now i'm the point where i'm trying to understand why racism exists in some people. However that does not mean i have become immune in any way to the act or ideology.
It's clear racism occur in most nationalities or even cultures but that should never be justified in anyway, no mater the circumstances.
Many would agree, morally it is wrong but yet still even with that mentality it still happens and i wonder why some part of our society still feel the need to alienate another based on either it being on their ethnicity, sexuality, or mostly commonly, their skin colour or sometimes a combination of all three.
In saying that, there is more to racism than people actually are aware of. Multicultural Australia defines racism as a term, which describes the views and actions of one group of people toward another based on the idea that the two groups are distinguished by “race” and that the group with racist views believes itself to be superior to the other.
That belief in superiority is usually followed by exclusion of the other group from some or many aspects of the society in which the “superior race” is either in the majority or has economic and political power.
Hypocritical or not, however you like to view it, but i genuinely believe based on this definition and personal encountered experiences. I believe the superior race in this circumstance is more directed to the 'white race' or for the like of better word, 'Caucasian race', because lets face, in most cases, white people tend to rule the world. What am I kidding myself...They do rule the world!
Now, i'm not scorning all white people, because i appreciate and hold high respect for majority of them but that does not mean i appreciate their fellow counterparts racial actions.
These actions also includes what i like to call, "subtle racist Caucasians". This category of people are those who thinks it's acceptable to make racial remarks to others and feel they're in the right by simply adding at the end "I'm not racist though, I love black people, I have black friends".
I have heard this statement countless of times and it's frustrating! This is no excuse! In fact this is viewed the worst type of racism.
As a woman of colour i would prefer if you wish to be feeble-minded and further degrade me or others on complexion, then you might as well go all the way and say it as you feel and not try to disguise your ignorance.
However, there seems to be some form of light at the end of the tunnel for this generation. Unfortunately it's not as bright as we had hoped but we're grateful and we continue to pray for those who lack knowledge and understanding of other cultures and races.
Unfortunate again this can not be said for the elderly generation and i'm talking Baby Boomer days. It seems this generation and most probably those before and after them are so fixated on the idea of looking down on all other races. However understanding why they've come to have such a rigid mindset is what has brought me to "My Sweet Racist Customer".
I had an incident that started to put it all into perspective for me. This is what was posted on my Facebook page and the following are the responses.
Had a customer come in today. One of my regulars of course. Sweet old lady. I've served her for the past 5 years now. During this time i have somewhat establish some form of friendship (which i tend to do with most of my regulars).
She's expressed her life story to me so many times that i feel as though i'm re-living it myself at times. I won't go into details about it but to cut the long-story short.
Most of her children have obviously left home but rarely keep in contact with her so she feels quite lonely at times (hence why she's always at my work).
Over the years I've learnt that not only does she play bingo on a weekly basis but she dislikes the idea of playing the game with her elderly counterparts but for the life of me i never understood why.
However because she does most of the talking (which is quite a lot), i try not to interrupt and simply allow her vent out all her emotions (yes, i'm like a therapist at my work).
Nevertheless, moving on, today i found out the reason as to why she dislikes other elderly people so much.
In her own words and i quote : "It's because the buggers are all racist and i can't stand racist people. Though in saying that, my best friend is racist. I've tried to change her mindset all these years, to view others equally but i just can't seem to".
Me: " how long have you been friends for?" Her: "well we've been friends for over 40 years" Me: " That's interesting, why do you think she's racist?" Her: " oh, just the type of garbage that comes out of her mouth sometimes, she views other cultures so differently, it disgusts me" Me: "I see, but what have you done to change her mindset?" Her: " well I've tried talking to her, letting her know that everyone is equal, but she just won't listen. Her parents were pretty much the same, God bless them"
THEN IT HIT ME!
Of course the theory stands, 'people are not born racists', it's based on the environment in which they grow up in that pollutes their mind to think racists thoughts and view others differently.
Additionally it doesn't matter the circle of people you encounter in later life, that way of thinking will still remain clouded in your mind.
Me: "It's a shame she thinks this way, perhaps you should bring her in one of these days, or if you have another ethnic friend, you could all go for a coffee.
Let her spend time with other races, when she learns that other ethnicity aren't so bad perhaps that could help change her attitude and mindset all together" (THIS WAS MY INITIAL RESPONSE TO HER)
BUT...MY QUESTION TO YOU GUYS IS HOW DO YOU CHANGE A PERSONS MINDSET OF RACISM? CREATING AWARENESS IS GREAT BUT YOU'VE ALL HEARD THE SAYING ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS....
From this question i received many constructive responses and because they're too long to write I've incorporate a print screen version on them below.
It was an intriguing discussion, though I'm not completely convinced that the act of racism is the result of a persons past or present environment. Change is indeed an occurrent factor that we are all subjected to everyday.
Hell, just like many ethnic groups who were forced to flee their countries were subjected to change to fit into the lifestyle of their new environment of first world counties, which in this case are heavily populated with Caucasians.
I don't believe i would ever completely understand a racist peoples motives, but i do believe generating positivity, kindness and if possible spitting knowledge for them to understand would begin to help cleanse their mindsets.
Or if that does not work, tell them "Well perhaps if YOUR people didn't go around bombing every other country, all these other races wouldn't be here...Deal with it!".
