Thank you!
May I please ask a question (oh I am sorry to make this “about me”… however, you seem like a good person to ask this):
When I encounter bigotry, it’s usually more subtle than what you describe. It’s often in a ‘high social stakes’ situation. Example: in my workplace, there is a hard-working person in my organization who immigrated to the US many years ago; whose native culture is somewhat humble and self-effacing. Other (white, dominant) co-workers routinely disparage this worker in subtle ways, and it’s obviously due to the foreign origins of the humble co-worker. There is an unspoken, hushed-voice, wink-wink, ‘one-white-person-to-another’, flavor to it.
It’s work. I have to get along with all of these folks. But it makes me super-uncomfortable to witness this very subtle bigotry. It’s the kind of thing that if a white person chose not to see it, they could easily ignore it. They can easily deny they are doing it.
But when I don’t do/say anything, I feel like I’m part of the problem. Sure, I don’t drive around in a pick-up truck hollering racism out the window… but…
Your thoughts, please??
