,
8 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
My question for Bernie Sanders is whether he hesitated at all before using a racist epithet to add shock value to his argument that racism is a wedge dividing people who, if united, might work together as class allies. The reason I ask is whether he considered the cost of it.
I had an assistant where I worked who was calling the phone company about an obvious error on her phone bill. (This was acceptable in our work culture.) Suddenly she burst into tears. I went to comfort her and asked what happened. The CSR had called her that epithet
Yes, over the phone. She has a popular African American first name and while she can code switch for public speaking and writing, prefers not to on a day-to-day basis (also acceptable in our work culture.) So the CSR surmised she was Black and demeaned her rather than fix error
She was heartbroken, more so than I have seen in some of other indignities such as the two of us sitting, our order not taken, while people who came in after us were served at a cafe or the two of us in line at Starbucks & I am asked first though she is in front. Yes, I object
But this cut her in a different way than being asked to show her shopping bag at Bath and Body Works. She cried and cried. I called and complained and Qwest sent a rep to speak to her personally and apologize, but damn, that word has power. So it's not okay to use it ever.
I have to say that more than any Dismantling Racism curriculum or Anti-Bias workshop, my friendship with her opened my eyes to how ubiquitous racism is, how it is far more than the white sheets and burning crosses, but the bigotry of doctors who assume she will be noncompliant
My boss was also a Black woman who would occasionally schedule a meeting over lunch. The waiter always brought me the bill though she was always dressed far more professionally than me. She looked the boss except for her skin. Stupid waiters.
It's not enough to know Black people, you have to hang out, go shopping, go to a bar, go on a trip with Black people and wow! the ubiquity of disrespect is shocking.
