I had an encounter with a racist, and I wanted to share.
I was at the tire shop a couple weeks ago, picking up my car at 11 pm, end of shift. Nobody else around, just this guy and me. As I open my wallet and start looking through it, he asks me before I've even pulled out a card "is that a status card?" (*SIDENOTE: Canada identifies Native people and gives them Native status cards so they don't need to pay sales taxes... a token gesture to broken treaties, but that's one thing a status card does.) I hand him my debit card and respond, awkwardly and regretably, "I have a really dark tan right now, but I'm not Native." He responds by holding his hands up in the "don't shoot" gesture, and says "I wasn't going to say anything" (even though he already did by asking about the status card, but I digress...). I say something dumb, akin to 90's Seinfeld "not that there's anything wrong with that... I mean, it's all good, being a Native or not... so that's good that you didn't say anything because you should avoid making jokes about race in general."
I don't know what about my last statement made him think he could confide in me, but here's what he said:
"The truth is, I am a racist. I just know that you have to be careful about what you say around certain people."
He launches into a story about harassment that he finds funny.
"I used to work at Fat Guys, and I have this little joke that I like to tell any Native customer that I have. When they go to show me their status card, I take whatever day of the week it is, and I say 'sorry, we don't accept status cards on wednesdays, you're out of luck.' Most of the time, they have a laugh, y'know... but this one time... this one time these folks didn't appreciate the joke, and they flipped right out. Just lost it on me, shouting and swearing..."
I reply, again clumsily and half-heartedly, "well... you can see how a Native person would be upset by being told that their card isn't eligible for a benefit they're entitled to, right?"
He doesn't really respond, just shaking his head at the memory of being called out for his racist "joke".
So now I'm thinking... this guy seems like he's still pulling this harassment thing, because he asked me about the status card as soon as I opened my wallet. He was eager to play the prank. So how does this get resolved, this shitstain 120 lb soaking wet, 5'5 of his imagined superior race? Some might think that this joke is a minor offense, asking every Native person to jump through his hoops, forcing them to co-operate in his joke, otherwise they're in the wrong to be upset... I feel it's telling Native people they don't deserve their status card benefits, and they should be ashamed to be using their status card. But maybe I'm reading into it because of his prior declaration of being racist, who knows. I still feel it's harassment based on race, and well worth firing.
I have the number for the Ontario Better Business Bureau that I've been hesitant to call. I guess the longer I wait to call, the more I support white supremacy. I went into Fat Guys Auto Parts the other day, and the setup was a giant semi-circle desk with 5-6 staff side-by-side... how many of those racist jokes were told by this prick while standing alongside multiple big beefy mechanic dudes? How many times do you suppose this guy's co-workers have told him to STFU? Honestly... it's insane to me that this is considered normal in this racist little town. I wanted to explain to him how much it hurts to hear this... how I wonder about how my wife, a half-black woman, would have been treated by him... if he would have shared the racist joke with her, or if she's one of the ones you "need to be careful what you say around"...
It's just depressing to be told so directly, "I am a racist, here is how I f*ck with minorities." Depressing because I'm now forced to take action and engage in the muck of humanity... but moreso depressing to know we have at least 5 more years to tough it out here.
Interested to hear others' thoughts on this. My conclusion: I don't believe any type of mediation can cure this guy of his biases... so if he needs to be fired and find a less public-facing role, so be it. The owner of the tire shop should know at the very least... but I feel more like taking it to a higher authority first. The owner has a vested interest to not have this become public knowledge. I just want appropriate repercussions, which I feel more confident will be achieved through government agency involvement than a hands-holding sitdown with the little weasel and his boss. I'm open on these points though.
I was at the tire shop a couple weeks ago, picking up my car at 11 pm, end of shift. Nobody else around, just this guy and me. As I open my wallet and start looking through it, he asks me before I've even pulled out a card "is that a status card?" (*SIDENOTE: Canada identifies Native people and gives them Native status cards so they don't need to pay sales taxes... a token gesture to broken treaties, but that's one thing a status card does.) I hand him my debit card and respond, awkwardly and regretably, "I have a really dark tan right now, but I'm not Native." He responds by holding his hands up in the "don't shoot" gesture, and says "I wasn't going to say anything" (even though he already did by asking about the status card, but I digress...). I say something dumb, akin to 90's Seinfeld "not that there's anything wrong with that... I mean, it's all good, being a Native or not... so that's good that you didn't say anything because you should avoid making jokes about race in general."
I don't know what about my last statement made him think he could confide in me, but here's what he said:
"The truth is, I am a racist. I just know that you have to be careful about what you say around certain people."
He launches into a story about harassment that he finds funny.
"I used to work at Fat Guys, and I have this little joke that I like to tell any Native customer that I have. When they go to show me their status card, I take whatever day of the week it is, and I say 'sorry, we don't accept status cards on wednesdays, you're out of luck.' Most of the time, they have a laugh, y'know... but this one time... this one time these folks didn't appreciate the joke, and they flipped right out. Just lost it on me, shouting and swearing..."
I reply, again clumsily and half-heartedly, "well... you can see how a Native person would be upset by being told that their card isn't eligible for a benefit they're entitled to, right?"
He doesn't really respond, just shaking his head at the memory of being called out for his racist "joke".
So now I'm thinking... this guy seems like he's still pulling this harassment thing, because he asked me about the status card as soon as I opened my wallet. He was eager to play the prank. So how does this get resolved, this shitstain 120 lb soaking wet, 5'5 of his imagined superior race? Some might think that this joke is a minor offense, asking every Native person to jump through his hoops, forcing them to co-operate in his joke, otherwise they're in the wrong to be upset... I feel it's telling Native people they don't deserve their status card benefits, and they should be ashamed to be using their status card. But maybe I'm reading into it because of his prior declaration of being racist, who knows. I still feel it's harassment based on race, and well worth firing.
I have the number for the Ontario Better Business Bureau that I've been hesitant to call. I guess the longer I wait to call, the more I support white supremacy. I went into Fat Guys Auto Parts the other day, and the setup was a giant semi-circle desk with 5-6 staff side-by-side... how many of those racist jokes were told by this prick while standing alongside multiple big beefy mechanic dudes? How many times do you suppose this guy's co-workers have told him to STFU? Honestly... it's insane to me that this is considered normal in this racist little town. I wanted to explain to him how much it hurts to hear this... how I wonder about how my wife, a half-black woman, would have been treated by him... if he would have shared the racist joke with her, or if she's one of the ones you "need to be careful what you say around"...
It's just depressing to be told so directly, "I am a racist, here is how I f*ck with minorities." Depressing because I'm now forced to take action and engage in the muck of humanity... but moreso depressing to know we have at least 5 more years to tough it out here.
Interested to hear others' thoughts on this. My conclusion: I don't believe any type of mediation can cure this guy of his biases... so if he needs to be fired and find a less public-facing role, so be it. The owner of the tire shop should know at the very least... but I feel more like taking it to a higher authority first. The owner has a vested interest to not have this become public knowledge. I just want appropriate repercussions, which I feel more confident will be achieved through government agency involvement than a hands-holding sitdown with the little weasel and his boss. I'm open on these points though.
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