A letter
To the guy at King Soopers with the White Pride tattoos:
You do not make me proud of my race. In fact, you have the opposite effect. You make me ashamed to be white, and I wish there was some way to differentiate myself from you at first glance. I have the same color skin as you, but only by luck of the draw. We are not the same.
I know it's wrong to make snap judgments based on outward appearances. But when your outward appearance is a middle-aged, poorly dressed man with sleeve tattoos reading "White Pride," and I'm seeing you in the context of some guy loitering outside of King Soopers, it's hard not to judge. I have a lot of information already.
Here's an idea: Do something to be proud of. Do something to make others proud of you. Do good work, leave a legacy, make the world better for having had you.
Don't you dare blame any group of people (with the possible exception of your own family, but that can be overcome) for your lot in life. Neither African Americans, Hispanics, Jews, nor any other ethnic group are responsible for the fact that you have nothing better to do than strike up conversations with strangers at the grocery store. That's all you. Maybe you should have thought about that before you got thousands of dollars worth of ink on your arms. You could have a life to be proud of instead of having to hide behind your race, the most advantageous race in the world to have.
In short, I am not impressed.
Jen
You do not make me proud of my race. In fact, you have the opposite effect. You make me ashamed to be white, and I wish there was some way to differentiate myself from you at first glance. I have the same color skin as you, but only by luck of the draw. We are not the same.
I know it's wrong to make snap judgments based on outward appearances. But when your outward appearance is a middle-aged, poorly dressed man with sleeve tattoos reading "White Pride," and I'm seeing you in the context of some guy loitering outside of King Soopers, it's hard not to judge. I have a lot of information already.
Here's an idea: Do something to be proud of. Do something to make others proud of you. Do good work, leave a legacy, make the world better for having had you.
Don't you dare blame any group of people (with the possible exception of your own family, but that can be overcome) for your lot in life. Neither African Americans, Hispanics, Jews, nor any other ethnic group are responsible for the fact that you have nothing better to do than strike up conversations with strangers at the grocery store. That's all you. Maybe you should have thought about that before you got thousands of dollars worth of ink on your arms. You could have a life to be proud of instead of having to hide behind your race, the most advantageous race in the world to have.
In short, I am not impressed.
Jen