Keith F Thompson,
Brookline, NH.
Growing up as a white male in generally liberal surroundings, I assumed so much. I assumed I knew what racism looked like, and I assumed I would never witness it firsthand.Seeing the Oprah Winfrey Show do the Blue Eye/Brown Eye experiment on their audience was very revealng to me. Overt racism may be dying, but subtle, everyday slights have flooded into the vacuum
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Then I moved from all-white New Hampshire to greater Los Angeles, and I saw minorities treated differently all the time. By police, by banks, by retail personnel, by landlords.
It’s not always about Confederate Flags and hoods. It’s about the pettiness required to denh even the smallest courtesy, to make the slightest accomodation.
As demonstrated by the Blue Eye/Brown Eye Experiment, minorities endure a thousand small cuts every day, with a general grace and strength. Subjected to the same slights, people used to privelage notice their abscence quickly and will not stand for it.
It’s not about demonizing people,it’s about asking everyone to be thoughtful, to be kind, and to consider others in our actions.
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