RACE AND ENLIGHTENMENT AT THE LAUNDROMAT

I was in a very large NY laundromat recently and was searching for washing machines. The aundry I went to was packed. Most of the people at the facility were of Mexican, Pakistani or Indian. There were also a handful of African Americans there. I was amused when the only White person in the Laundromat motioned to me and then surreptitiously asked me if I wanted to use her four washing machines. Anyone watching her would have thought she was trying to sell me crystal meth or heroine. She was being absolutely sneaky in her approach and conversation. But, I didn’t gripe. I took her up on her offer because the place was overcrowded. I didn’t realize I chose to do my wash on “free dryer day.”

What amused me about my encounter with the White woman was that years ago, when the clientele at this Laundromat was predominately White, she would have never offered me her machines. She would have offered them to another White person. How do I know? Well, she kind of dimed herself out. After the White woman also held her dryers for me she said, “Look at all these people [referring to the Mexicans, Pakistanis, and Indians]. They come here in packs and hog all the machines. They’ve got everyone with them…grandma, the kids. You can’t compete. We have to look out for each other or we’ll be in here all day.” Yes, she referred to the two of us as “we.” You’ve got to love it. Years ago, I would have been one of those people she was referring to as part of a “pack.” But, the “pack” has changed race and color over time. I was her fellow American, for the moment, and not a nig*er. The White woman winked at me as she walked out the door.

The point in sharing this story is that we need to give up the notion that we are living as one happy family in America. We each come from individual homes with different upbringings and belief systems that will impact our ability to navigate in a diverse society.

And, to make matters worse, separate from race, some people behave as if they were literally raised by a pack of wolves. You’ve seen the children in public who have zero social skills and make a disturbance everywhere they go, demanding this and that, throwing tantrums, etc. All the while, their parents laugh the behavior away or ignore it. Well, these people grow up! When you add the crime of racism with a person’s potential for having an overall lack of overall social skills, it’s like having live sticks of dynamite in the workplace. Your chances for race-based problems at work will go up exponentially.

And, we haven’t even discussed the issue of how African Americans have been depicted in American cinema and on television:

Black Face! Sambo! Pickaninny! Mammy! The Servant! The Criminal! The Rapist! The Shoe Shine Man! The Whore! The Eye-Bugging, Big-Smiling Fool! Slow! Stupid! Dirty! Lazy! Wild! Hard-Partying! Sex Obsessed! Drug Addicted! The Single Parent! The Neglectful Parent! The Pissy Drunk! The Crack Whore!

The list of stereotypes could go on and on. When we keep this in perspective, including this country’s dirty laundry of slavery and segregation, it should not be considered shocking that an African American encounters, is tormented by or loses their job, promotion, home, etc. because of the racist perceptions of someone who was holding a position of authority over that person’s life.

Let’s be real, America. Let’s admit that we have issues. Let’s stop pretending that some of us feel we are innately superior to others. Let’s confess that some of us believe that other races automatically represent the dregs of society and should be treated as such (avoided, marginalized, pigeon-holed, etc.)

Only in admitting our deficiencies in thoughts and actions, can we ever have a chance to eradicate the disease of active racism and inequality in American society. If we don’t own it, we can’t change it.