Racism Today

I am a person who chooses my friends not by their skin color, sexuality, religion or political views but by criteria that actually matter like ethics and morals. I feel like the ideas and cultural differences that a diverse group of friends can share with me bring so much to my life. On top of that, truthfully, I believe that biggotry is ignorant. Plain and simple.

I live in the South. I am well aware of the prejudices that exist here and I try to ignore them. I was raised differently. My mom was a hippie in every sense of the word so I was raised in a very liberal house during the Civil Rights movement. So, imagine my surprise when someone I considered a friend used the "N" word when referring to President Obama. Now, to be clear, this is not a political issue for me. I knew long ago that she was very conservative and would never vote for a Democrat; however, it never occurred to me that she would never vote for an African-American. How could this be possible in this day and age? If Colin Powell was a candidate for the Republican party, I guess she would need to seek therapy to come to the decision to go to the polls.

She recently moved to Boston and was back in town for a visit. I was very anxious to see her and we ended up getting together at my favorite watering hole on a Saturday night. Within the first several minutes of being there, we were having a discussion about her trip and how long she would be staying in town. She looked at us and very casually said "I'll be here about three weeks. I am here on that nigger, Obama's, dime" meaning unelmployment. My jaw hit the floor. I know that people have these feelings, but do they really talk like this? The next thing she said sent me into a complete tailspin. "Oh blacks are ok-everybody should own one." She dropped the "N" word once more in the time it took me to pay my tab and get the hell out of there. I haven't bothered to tell her that our friendship is over. I think she will eventually figure it out. I consider myself a smart woman and want to surround myself with the same.

I am so disappointed in her, but more disappointed to be reminded of how far this country has to go when it comes to racism. I thought about it when I got home that night and I know that these types of people are great in number. We need to do better in America. We need to do better FOR America.