As few of you may remember back in my glory here on this blog, I am of mix race. Even given the fact that I am half white and half black (why do I put white before black — my own inherent racism maybe) I get confused by many other identities such as Middle Eastern, Puerto Rican, Italian, etc. The overarching observation, however, is the fact that I am demonstrably NOT white. This is where my experience as a non-white American comes into play.
I live in a rather affluent village in the suburbs of Illinois. I like to say I live in the poor part of town. This is relative, as in many areas in Chicago and Chicago-land, they would call my apartment a palace. As you may have guessed, this village is extremely white and moderately affluent. Just a quick five minute walk, and I am surrounded by three story tall mini-mansions. This makes me feel out of place, especially when frequenting the public library and local establishments even across the street from me. Long story short, even in my village, I feel out of place. An experience I had cemented my feelings.
This was a very small and minor event, but it still sticks with me even three months later. At a local ice cream shop (Chicagoans may be able to guess the name — I am not going to share it). As I was buying ice cream tubs for my wife, a little kid no more than six years old started to talk to me. He seemed really nice until one small sentence made me do a double-take. He said “are you stealing those”? This may be just me and I may be writing this entry for no real reason. I do believe, however, that in that moment, that kid believed I was stealing simply because I WAS NOT WHITE.
I looked around to see if others heard it, and to my relief, I saw another affluent white family look at the kid, look at me, and shook their head. I said to them under muttered breath “that is covert racism right there”. They nodded their collective heads. This affirmation also stuck in my head because while this kid was only parroting what his parents taught him, I understood that I am also seen as a human being by others. That made me comfortable enough to complete my errand for my wife.
Just thought I would share it and see what other think. Maybe I am just seeing things that are not there?