![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Race Card
Apr. 1st, 2013 12:53 pmIt is, perhaps, one of the dirtiest tricks that a person can play. Why? Because in a very paranoid society (and let’s face it, that is what we’ve become), it is a trump card that sadly always manages to win. And in a way, the Race Card is doubly-dirty not only because you can win even when you are in the wrong, but because you are taking advantage of the hard-fought battle of your own honestly-and-truly-persecuted ancestors.
“OK, wait, huh?” you may be thinking to yourself. “What has the guppyman all spun out today?”
I keep running into case after case of people playing the race or religion or minority card, and it just really ticks me off. And having run into it too often, I think back to a scene that I witnessed many years ago that pretty much demonstrated just how ugly it can be.
While running errands one day at lunch, I needed to run by a copy center to have a blow-up made of a design idea. It should have been a pretty simple task, except that the blow-up I ended up seeing was far from the blow-up that I had planned on getting.
Standing at the counter, two African-American women were discussing a copy job with the guy behind the counter. There, they had a box of what looked like brochures or some sort of publications. I’m not sure if the job was for a church or a club or some sort of organization. But in any case, the women were not happy. They began to argue with the little guy behind the counter about how they should have been done. He calmly explained to them how he had made a sample print, given it to their group to review, and that they signed the “OK”. Now, to my outside eye, this pretty much looks like the guy behind the counter had properly done his job and that the goof was on the part of the customer. But no. These women were not accepting that. The conversation began to grow louder and faster, and the poor little guy behind the counter was clearly becoming intimidated – especially when the women began throwing out the race-cards.
They tried to deny that they had signed off on the approval form. The employee, who was clearly beginning to shake, again showed them the signature on the form. Both women denied having signed it. The employee told them that another woman had come in the previous week to sign it. “And I BET you can’t tell me who that woman WAS, CAN YOU?!” said one of the women, followed almost on cue by the other saying, “PROBABLY because you think WE… ALL… LOOK… ALIKE. DON’T YOU?!”
“Ma’am!!!!” said the employee with a shaky voice. “I did not say that. And I would never say such a thing.”
As the women continued to pounce on the employee, the manager/owner came out, defensive of his employee, just as one of the women stormed out while hurling out an array of loud expletives about the white men behind the counter. The employee blanched, seemingly unable to speak or react, while the manager told the other woman to just take the print-jobs, free of charge, and to leave his store. That was when the other woman had a complete fit, shoving the box back over the counter, sending papers everywhere, leaving the owner no choice but to scream at the woman to leave his shop before he called the police. She left, but not before making further scene by pointing out how the white man was going to call in the police to come and arrest the big black woman just like his honky parents woulda done. And as the manager screamed one last time, “GET OUT OF MY STORE!!!!!” she finally left, slamming the door behind her.
Really? REALLY?!!!! Was any of that necessary?
As I think back upon this episode, I realize that it is just a no-win situation. Personally, I side with the employee and the manager. Why? Because from what I witnessed, it appears that they were not only trying their best to be polite and make the best out of the situation; but because they showed proof that they did everything they were supposed to do. But to someone playing the race card, it would be all too easy to just claim that I was siding with my fellow anglo-males in an effort to oppress women, or blacks, or both.
Siiiiiiigh.
I don’t care about race, color, creed, sexuality, or any of it. There are both good people and asshats in every single classification of people. And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If I don’t like you, it isn’t because you are (fill-in-the-classification). It is because you are an ASSHAT. And asshats come in all shapes, colors, sizes, genders and ethnicities. So there.
“OK, wait, huh?” you may be thinking to yourself. “What has the guppyman all spun out today?”
I keep running into case after case of people playing the race or religion or minority card, and it just really ticks me off. And having run into it too often, I think back to a scene that I witnessed many years ago that pretty much demonstrated just how ugly it can be.
While running errands one day at lunch, I needed to run by a copy center to have a blow-up made of a design idea. It should have been a pretty simple task, except that the blow-up I ended up seeing was far from the blow-up that I had planned on getting.
Standing at the counter, two African-American women were discussing a copy job with the guy behind the counter. There, they had a box of what looked like brochures or some sort of publications. I’m not sure if the job was for a church or a club or some sort of organization. But in any case, the women were not happy. They began to argue with the little guy behind the counter about how they should have been done. He calmly explained to them how he had made a sample print, given it to their group to review, and that they signed the “OK”. Now, to my outside eye, this pretty much looks like the guy behind the counter had properly done his job and that the goof was on the part of the customer. But no. These women were not accepting that. The conversation began to grow louder and faster, and the poor little guy behind the counter was clearly becoming intimidated – especially when the women began throwing out the race-cards.
They tried to deny that they had signed off on the approval form. The employee, who was clearly beginning to shake, again showed them the signature on the form. Both women denied having signed it. The employee told them that another woman had come in the previous week to sign it. “And I BET you can’t tell me who that woman WAS, CAN YOU?!” said one of the women, followed almost on cue by the other saying, “PROBABLY because you think WE… ALL… LOOK… ALIKE. DON’T YOU?!”
“Ma’am!!!!” said the employee with a shaky voice. “I did not say that. And I would never say such a thing.”
As the women continued to pounce on the employee, the manager/owner came out, defensive of his employee, just as one of the women stormed out while hurling out an array of loud expletives about the white men behind the counter. The employee blanched, seemingly unable to speak or react, while the manager told the other woman to just take the print-jobs, free of charge, and to leave his store. That was when the other woman had a complete fit, shoving the box back over the counter, sending papers everywhere, leaving the owner no choice but to scream at the woman to leave his shop before he called the police. She left, but not before making further scene by pointing out how the white man was going to call in the police to come and arrest the big black woman just like his honky parents woulda done. And as the manager screamed one last time, “GET OUT OF MY STORE!!!!!” she finally left, slamming the door behind her.
Really? REALLY?!!!! Was any of that necessary?
As I think back upon this episode, I realize that it is just a no-win situation. Personally, I side with the employee and the manager. Why? Because from what I witnessed, it appears that they were not only trying their best to be polite and make the best out of the situation; but because they showed proof that they did everything they were supposed to do. But to someone playing the race card, it would be all too easy to just claim that I was siding with my fellow anglo-males in an effort to oppress women, or blacks, or both.
Siiiiiiigh.
I don’t care about race, color, creed, sexuality, or any of it. There are both good people and asshats in every single classification of people. And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If I don’t like you, it isn’t because you are (fill-in-the-classification). It is because you are an ASSHAT. And asshats come in all shapes, colors, sizes, genders and ethnicities. So there.
