Racism Essay

I am a wonder bread, honky, poppin' fresh, uncle daddy, vanilla, and mayonnaise mama. At least, according to the Racial Slur Data Base (www.rsdb.org). There are many, many more slurs on this website for every heritage and culture. It was really shocking to read some of the terms, as I was only familiar with maybe 10% of the slurs. The definitions are posted along side the terms, thankfully (I guess?), as I would have been completely lost as to what most of them meant. They range from being very funny, to being completely disgusting, and after researching this website for my paper, it really just made me feel very sad. There is so much ignorance in this world, and this website more than solidifies my statement.
In all actuality, I am a thirty-five year old Caucasian female from Irish/German/Polish decent. My grandfather was Irish, and my grandmother was German, on my mother's side. My grandfather was German, and my grandmother is Polish, on my father's side. None of my ancestors arrived in America until the early 1900's. However, I recall an episode where I was at a gas station, and was approached by a man who was carrying a gas can, who wanted money from me for gas. I told him I didn't carry cash that I was using my debit card to pay. I was in the middle of pumping my own gas, when he asked if I would fill up his can for him. I would have, but then he followed that request with"...that's the least you owe me!" This did not resonate very well with me, and I was shocked at his accusation. Maybe I misunderstood what he meant by how I "owed" him, but I know how I took it, and I was not very polite, and he did not get his gas.
One of my favorite books is a collection of essays by Hollis Gillespie, titled "Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch". She took this title for her book, from an incident she had while driving, and almost ran over a man. He then screamed her aforementioned book title at her. She was amazed at the speed of the man's judgment of her, in the mere seconds they shared of this incident. The speed of judgment is almost as fast as the speed of light, sound, and a moving vehicle through a bad neighborhood.
I feel "white people" are generally perceived as intelligent, morally sound, and are less likely to commit a crime or victimize someone. Yet, our economy has suffered greatly due to decisions made by the majority rule "white people" of the banking industry. Will any of these participants be held accountable for this financial collapse? If so, would they be sent off to same type of prison system, your common thug is committed too, or would they more than likely end up in a minimum security facility, with private cells? John Edwards, Steve Phillips, and Mark Sanford have selfishly challenged the "moral standards" of themselves and their families. Some of our notorious historical figures such as Adolf Hitler, Jim Jones, and Slobodan Milosevic are responsible for human atrocities. What I have always been surprised by is the length of time; these figures were in power, before they were finally dealt with.
"White women" are perceived as victimized, damsels in distress trophies, in constant need of rescuing. I hate that because I am a woman, it's assumed that I know nothing of cars. $37 for an air filter, really Jiffy Lube? They are $11 at AutoZone. I am still a girl, meaning I do shop around. When my grandmother was a nurse in World War II, she was trained to drive ambulances. One event she recounted to us was when she had to get under the vehicle to assist with repairing a tie rod, in the middle of a live combat zone! That was in 1943, and still, over sixty years later, I need to take a man with me to buy a car, because I know I will be treated more seriously as a customer, if I do. I feel "white people" are also perceived as supreme elitists, entitled, and in my one, isolated case, former slave owners. Unfortunately, this is a history there. My own experiences with racism are not as extreme as most. I have not been the victim of a violent crime due to the color of my skin, and like everyone, certainly hope never to be. However, I have been singled out, or felt people have erroneously judged me to quickly.