On Prejudice/Racism and Racial Slurs
Have we become so used to inequality and racist attitudes that we are now desensitized? I was watching an episode of Law & Order where a Caucasian woman was married to an interracial man for many years without knowing. The man had grown up in Tennessee during a time when his mother thought it was better for him that he was able to pass for Caucasian. When his wife found out (his sister who could not pass came looking for him), she wanted a divorce as well as to give up custody of their son. One of the stipulations of the divorce stated that the husband was not to reveal the nature of his racial background. Later, the man remarried and his wife became pregnant. The couple decided to give the child up for adoption, but after some time, the wife decided that she wanted the child back. The first wife killed the second wife. Her defense was that she did not want her son to suffer the pain and stigma attached to being Black/African-American. She wanted him to succeed in life and she felt that because of the discrimination that people of color face, specifically African-American males, the best way for him to do that was to be seen as being Caucasian. However, her real reason as she so eloquently stated to someone was, “No nappy-headed little monkey was going to ruin her good name.”
A week ago, I was having a conversation with my mother and one of her friends about racism in today’s world. They were both of the mindset that the young people of today are more prejudiced/racist and less open-minded than their generation. For some reason, I disagreed and pointed to the fact that beginning with the “Me” generation, interracial relationships/marriages have become more prevalent.
Also, a week ago, the NAACP held a funeral service for the word “nigger” as part of their annual convention. A cessation in the use of any racial slurs has been called, especially in the entertainment industry.
A friend of mine, her mother and her boyfriend were on vacation last week in a small beach town in North Carolina and enjoyed themselves with the exception of two or three incidents. One where they went to a local restaurant, were seated by a hostess and then told (after the hostess had been spoken to by another staff member) that they would have to wait 25 minutes to be seated even though there were no other people waiting. A second incident occurred at an ice cream shop, where she was told that she was in the wrong store after trying to place her order.
For none of these situations, could I dredge up any strong feelings of outrage or disappointment. When I realized this, the first thing I thought was the question I posed at the beginning of this commentary. Have we become so used to inequality and racist attitudes that we are now desensitized? If the answer to that question is yes, then how well does that bode for the future/future generations? My aunt said to me in the last year that she has watched the pendulum swing in the opposite direction, then swing back. She said that her generation made strides, but the generations after hers have become complacent in the fight for equality. Do we simply not care? Or is it so commonplace that we no longer feel that there is anything we can do to make change? That nothing will ever change no matter how much we fight? Do we feel that because interracial relationships are more prevalent and there are more people of color in prominent positions that we no longer need to fight?