Tuesday, September 13, 2005
CompUSA
We needed to get some electronic equipment today. We went to Bust Buy and would have been better off staying there, but my husband thought what he needed may be cheaper at CompUSA. We tend to stay away from there because employees tend to follow my husband around the store. (Shhhh! Don't tell anyone. He's brown.) We weren't really in the mood for their particular brand of racism, but it was enough savings to warrant the trip. I wanted a computer program, so I wandered away to get what I needed. About five people approached me in the course of my 20 minute visit to ask me if I needed help. Though an employee was never more than five feet away from my husband, no one approached him. They stared at him. They followed him. But they didn't ask if he needed help. While we walked to the cashier, my husband and I were discussing the marked differences in our shopping experience. We passed by a manager on the way who asked if we had a problem with the service. We related how many times each of us had been approached and the manner in which he had been followed around the store, all the while, the Hispanic cashiers behind the manager nodded in agreement with our story. We also mentioned that we didn't like to shop at CompUSA because we had the same experience every time we went there. The manager went through great lengths to try to convince us that they didn't practice profiling, while the cashiers made expressions to indicate just the opposite. How can anyone say that we are living in the "land of the free" when some of our citizens experience racism in some form on a daily basis? Why hasn't our education system corrected the problem of stereotyping the races? If a Russian, Israelite, Palestinian, and Korean all live on the continent of Asia, aren't they all Asian?
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Technically yes, they would all be asians. But of course many of the Russians are of european descent, so they wouldn't consider themselves asian, and let's not even get nto the massive levels of racial discrimination that exists in Korea and Japan. I don't know about China but I suspect they are equally biased against the hairy white apes.
Unfortunetly people have always been suspicious about others who are different. It is gradually getting better. Maybe your complaints to the manager will make a difference.
xmqog
At the very least it made them think. If you love someone, it's hard to watch them being treated badly.
Oh I definately agree with this. I think racism has lessened greatly, but it certainly exists.
I am in a bi-racial relationship (but he's not black) and it's not so obvious with us. But people definately notice the skintone difference!
Years ago I was engaged to a Filipino. He almost looked Korean. I remember being in a store and noticing this old couple staring at us and whispering. Being completely oblivious (I've always been color blind), I nudged my fiance and asked what was going on!? He told me they were probably scandalized because we were a bi-racial couple. I was actually floored. I never considered Asians or Hispanics to be of another RACE for crying out loud.
I almost walked up to them to confront it, but he grabbed me and begged me not to. "Why?" I asked, surprised. "Because I confront it all the time, and saying something to them won't make any difference at all," he said. "They probably are of a different generation where all asians are seen as the bad guys."
It had a great impact on me, and taught me that even if racism doesn't exist within me, it does exist within others.
PC this type of racism is so common, that most of us tend to either overlook or excuses it ---
I make it a practice, ever so often, to choose a store that practices this type of open racism, and me and my grandchildren have a day of shopping. We spend a few hundreds, then we walk out the door, turn around and return it --- when ask why I always ask for the manager and he stands there as each of my grandchildren explain in their own words --- Sir, the employees in your store practice racism.
I don't know if this makes a different, but it make us feel real good!
I'm glad you talked to the manager, I don't know if it will make a difference but if it is never brought to their attention then it will continue unchecked. And Liquid Plastic! It cracks me up that you go on those shopping trips! Good for you!
I see racism all the time, usually from people who would be floored if you accused them of being racist. Houston is a very racially diverse city but you see very little socializing across racial boundaries. It's almost self-imposed segregation. It seems to be a matter of rising above the natural suspicion and fear that we as humans feel toward anyone who is different and trying to find the common ground. The problem is, those who fear the most are the ones who will never try to reach out and understand. It becomes self-perpetuating.
I only confront it when it is people of my generation. Otherwise I just tell them to get lost and leave us alone, or I gove my husband a great, big, wet kiss right in front of them. That always pisses them off.
Liquid, Great idea. We're going to start doing that.
there are days it is just so f***ing frustrating to be an Amerian!
Yup. I get that all the time from cops. People wonder why I have such little respect for law enforcement, I offer to change skin colors with them.
We get it from cops all the time! We get pulled over more than most people.
maybe you all should move to the west coast.
Earthquakes. Who's going to help me when my house falls down?
TS - I am on the West Coast. The cops here are more racist than the ones in the South. California cops suck.
Surprisingly though, I never had problems with the Oakland Police. They're generally pretty cool.
Mmm... so what?
I'm a straight up white boy and I can't count the many many times that I have been pulled over. I obey all the rules of the road. I almost never get a ticket when I do get pulled over because its always just harrasment and its not warrented. Once I got a ticket for a tag light out and I told the officer I had just replaced it 2 days ago and that maybe it was lose and if he would let me tap on it it would probably come back on. He said "no" and wrote me a ticket. Afterwords I got out of my car and tapped the tag light and it came on. The officer seen me and started his car. I motioned him with my hands and he seen my tag light on. What an asshole. He just looked at me again and shook his head and drove off leaving me standing in the street. Not to say racism doesn't exist but a lot of cops just eventually let their authority go to there head and there just assholes. Because the number of cops are largely white that can make a person feel as if they are being profiled. Oh I forgot to mention something I grew up as a minority in my school mostly Hispanic Indian (native americans)and blacks (african americans. Lowriders were a big thing and I was always involved in the lowrider scene. Did I also mention that in all cases I was driving one and it was after I moved to a more prominetly white town. Hmmm?
Just for those of you who want to know what a lowrider is. It's largley the mid 80's GM cars such as cutlass, regal, and monte carlo that have been lowered and fixed up to look nice. They are larglely popular in hispanic and black youth culture and cops know who are usually driving them. So in some cases I guess even though I'm white I still go through racial profiling but since I'm white that doesn't make any sence so I call it automobile profiling. lol.
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