conversation about racism
October 26, 2003, 10:54 pm

"I think I'm a racist."

"Um, why do you say that?"

"Because everyone I hate everyone I work with."

"That doesn't make you a racist; that just means you hate those people. Now, if you let those people color your view of an entire race of people based on their behavior, that would make you a racist."

"I think they hate me."

"Why?"

"Because they say I'm ignorant. What does that mean? Is this a Baltimore thing? Ignorant DOES NOT mean rude; it means uneducated or not knowledgeable; I am neither of these things. I may be RUDE, but I'm not ignorant...and when I tried to tell these women that..."

"See, that's probably why they hate you. Some people don't want to be corrected. It's insulting to them."

"Don't they want to make themselves better? Don't they want to learn?"

"No, I don't think so. Trust me, this is not a race issue; I see it in all kinds of people. It's not a class issue, either. It's just sad."

"I think I'm a racist. I never was before this job. I believe in stereotypes now."

"There are many more stereotypes that exist beyond black and white, dear. I mean, while working at the movie theater I was famous for calling what everyone would order before they came up to the concession stand: any white, mid-30s woman alone on a Friday night would order a medium diet coke and a small popcorn with no butter; teenagers at the midnight movie would order twizzlers and a soda and a large popcorn; a young black man in his 20s would order a large fruit punch, a hot dog, and some goobers; it came down to a science, dude. It's those who don't fit into stereotypes that make people uncomfortable."

"Like a fat chick who is well-read, owns too many purses, loves football and baseball, and can still drink anyone under the table on the eastern seaboard, and who is super hot?"

"Yeah. Kind of like that."

"Okay, I'm not a racist. I love everyone...except those people that I work with."

"That's my boy."