Jim Zeirke,
Sussex, WI.
I’ve faced more overt racism than most blacks. While much of black racism is discreet, I’ve been told to my face that I’m not getting opportunities because I’m white. In the mid-1970’s I applied for a job and when went to the job interview a guy came out and told all of us gathered there that “…white males can leave now. We aren’t even interested in talking to you.” I applied for a scholarship when I was in college and was told that, while I was one of the top two candidates that I was denied the scholarship because the committee had decided that a black person would get one of the two awards. I applied for a job with a city and was told that I couldn’t even fill out an application because I was white. When I complained to the EEOC the black person that I talked to laughed and basically told me to get over it. There have been other cases where I was told flat out that they did not want a white person for the job or other opportunity. When whites are discriminated against it is always overt. Yet, despite the discrimination that I’ve faced, I have no problems with black folks in general. As another white guy told me once “If a guy does me wrong, it is him and not his race, that I have a problem with.”
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