Racism; written 5/1/06

Earlier today I was filling up my car at a local gas station. A man next to me was just beginning to fill up his car. All of the sudden I heard the blaring of a car horn from behind the other car. I couldn’t tell why he was honking. He honked once more and then zoomed in front of me to an open pump where a car had just left. Still curious as to why he was honking, I watched out of the corner of my eye as he got out of his car and walked over to the other man and said, “all you had to do was pull forward!” To which that man replied, “get out of my face, just get out of my face.” As I finished filling up and was driving off, I saw the two men having words again. I paused to be sure there wasn’t going to be a fight. One of the men then walked away and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Why do I tell this story? Currently in the country there are immigration rallies scheduled for today protesting an inhumane immigration bill in Washington, and there are also counter protests against illegal immigrants. One of these men at the gas station today was Caucasian and the other Hispanic. A year ago this scene would have been settled very easily with a simple apology, or maybe the one man would have never blared his horn in the first place and would have just found an available pump. Right now there is so much racial tension in the country and especially in cities like mine, Greeley, CO.

This scene at the gas station scared me. It is only a small example of the hatred and fear of different races that seems may explode into something we haven’t seen since the Rodney King L.A. riots. The rapper Ice-T expressed in the following lyrics his fear of what can happen when so much tension builds up between races.

Race war, people getting killed in the street
Blood on your feet
The ends don’t meet.
Who they gonna’ blame it on, me?
Try the media, try the P.D.
Try your T.V.
Try your quest for wealth
Anybody but your self.
‘Cause when the bullets start flying
People start dying
It’s all because you’re lying.

The whole race issue in this country is extremely complicated and deep. There is a lot of history, and unfortunately it can not be solved by a simple “hey can’t we all just get along?” I don’t know all the answers and maybe not any of the answers. I could certainly argue that our nation’s economic and educational policies have created a form of legalized segregation. And when races are segregated, it produces a fear of the unknown. Then when races do meet, that fear accompanied with a lack of understanding, compassion, and grace produce hatred. I’ve seen on small scales that when races mix in a consistent atmosphere of community, conversation, and celebrating life, that racism slowly disappears. I recently witnessed two high school girls of different races at my church’s youth group become good friends. A month earlier they would not even acknowledge each other. Now they hug and laugh together.

I am convinced that this can happen on a larger scale. But it takes a desire and an effort to be in a community where races can mix and understand each other. I have a lot of hope for this, but I must admit I do question my own optimism. I don’t think many have a desire for this and of those who do have the desire, how many actually put forth the effort. One thing I love about big cities is that different races are at least forced to walk the same streets and ride the same subways, unfortunately though there is not much communication. One of the few place where communication between races and cultures does happen on a regular basis is in the market place. Saturday markets and every day street markets are wonderful things, but now with on-line shopping becoming so popular, people have less reason to leave the comfort of their home and be a part of a community. Most people don’t even know where a street market is or even if their city has one. Again I feel my optimism to be foolishness.

The issue of racism and now immigration has forced many to take sides. All the media attention has done more to divide people and communities than actually provide hope for an answer. The worst part is that the media has managed to distract us all from injustices we could be united against.

This morning while witnessing the confrontation between these two men at the gas station, I could not help but be struck by the irony of the situation. These two men were arguing at a gas station. For the past few years oil prices have been soaring, crippling the lower and middle class while oil companies like Exxon have been posting the largest profits in the history of our nation. If we are looking for common ground, there is some right there. How about a protest to take our country back from the corporations who have managed to become more powerful than the people of this country and thus our own government?

I know there will always be racism like other problems in this world. Should we just accept, move on and try not to think about it, or should we always be fighting for something better?