Depends on just what you mean by racist. But yes, I have had racist friends. No, I did not try to change their views, but I refused to take part in jokes or conversations tinged with racism. Neither did I end the friendships. Had someone actually been a serious neo-nazi, KKK type racist, then I would never have been friends with them.

My son was at a family reunion with my first husbands side of the family. He was staying in a hotel and there was some sort of sports convention in town and more “diversity” than the cousins were used to. They started to make some off color comments.
My son said, “Hey, you shouldn’t be saying crap like that!! You know, if you google our last name most of the people that come up are black. I think we probably have black in our ancestry! I mean, hey” as he points to his nose “How can you look at this schnoz and think we DON“T have some black blood in us?!!”
They laughed and shut up pretty quick. They realized that there are some members of the family that just won’t tolerate that crap.

I’ve had some ignoramus acquaintances, but I could never be friends with a racist.

I have some racist friends, but the only opinions I am responsible for are my own.

life is about choices, your results may vary.

My dad could use a crash course in racial sensitivity training. I can’t take him anywhere.

It’s not a religion, dude. What the hell?

I had a really good friend in high school, who I use to spend time with at her house, and her father never knew that I was half black, until my mother came to pick me up. I knew he was racist, but he accepted me, and my mother, and I was told that he doesn’t have any inappropriate comments to say about others.

No, ‘fraid not. This is San Francisco, remember. I couldn’t be friends with a truly racist person.

I know plenty of racists. None of them are my friends. I know plenty of people who make racist comments. I don’t like them either but they’re housing me, so I don’t say anything.

If they’re racist they’re not my friend.

I’m with @SpatzieLover on this. Sometimes i’ve had an ignorant acquaintance of even an ignorant friend. But I would not be friends with a racist. In addition, If someone makes racist comments in my presence I absolutely have to speak up and say something, friend or no friend.

I have an extremely racist family member….I do not speak with him. I choose to surround myself with positive and open minded people :)

No, but I have plenty of racist family. Probably, anyway…I don’t keep in contact much.

I love raisins.

@ChazMaz No Emily Litella, they said “ray-CisTs”.

One of my best friends who I’ve known forever went to a different school than me. I moved to Nashville and he moved to downtown Cincinnati.

While there he definitely became more racist. He has been mugged twice, and stabbed once. All by black people on the street at night. He says they have a totally different culture where they don’t care about school.

While I know his views are wrong, I definitely have a better understanding for where racists views come from.

Wow, so many confident “no“s. I wonder if you have a very limited social circle, or if you don’t know your friends as well as you think.

@jackm He moved to downtown Cincinnati? When was this? What school?

@jackm Don’t worry, I won’t know him, just curious about where exactly he was. Nobody moves to downtown Cincinnati.

No, but I do have some family members who exhibit some racist behaviors. My grandparents will say the n word every once in a while or talk about “the Mexicans.” I have expressed to that I don’t like it and they all know how I feel about it and respect it. In fact, I actually believe they may have taken a second look at their beliefs. Maybe not necessarily changed their minds altogether, but become more tolerant and realized the attitude they were exposed to when they were children was not exactly right. Fact is, I love my grandparents and would never disown them. They do not treat people of other races differently and are never unkind. They also accept me, faults and all, and love me unconditionally.

Now, I would happily get rid of my brother-in-law who is the first person I have ever met who genuinely appears to believe another race is sub-human. I find him disgusting and cannot fathom how he and my husband came out of the same household. I avoid him as much as possible, but severing ties with a member of my husband’s family is not my decision to make. I have NO problem expressing to my daughter than her father and I do not find it appropriate and I will say so in front of him if necessary even though I know it will cause drama. I will take no chances on her picking that up. (I would also speak up in front of my grandparents, but they would never put me in that position.)

My Dad, who died in 1971, was a racist and a civil rights advocate all in one. He lost his career because he testified against his employer for discrimination against one of his hispanic co-workers, but, as was the case with a lot of people of his generation, he believed in “separate but equal.” He really meant the equal part though. He made sure that my childhood heroes were George Washington Carver and Harriet Tubman.
I like to believe that, had he lived, he would have come around and realized how his “separate” argument didn’t make sense.

@gussnarp

I don’t think it’s a matter of having a “limited social circle”; I think it’s just a matter of not living in an area where racism is more prevalent and not hearing or seeing any evidence that any of my friends are truly racist. Excuse me for not having friends that view other races as inherently inferior.

Furthermore, my white friend jokingly calling me “nigga” is not racist.

@gussnarp I didn’t talk about relatives…just friends. cuz that’s what the Q asked. If we were mentioning family, that’d be another story. I like to limit my social circle to open-minded individuals

@gussnarp I am not saying I don’t know racist people, but I do take the term “friend” lightly. My network of social connections is large, but my circle of actual friends is not.

As is the case with gossipy secrets, if you know me, you know I will not tolerate racist remarks…... and I have no problem taking leave of anyone that pulls that shit.
See ya…Gary/wtf

A limited social circle means that the people you associate with on a daily basis mostly come from the same social classes, educational backgrounds, and geographic areas. In a modern sense the geographical areas can be multiple, but for example you may be interact with people across the country or across the globe, but not with people three neighborhoods over. In this case your social circle is just as limited.

I have worked in jobs in which my coworkers lived in all sorts of neighborhoods, had all sorts of educational backgrounds and, while we mostly made the same amount of money, they came from different social classes. When you work with these people every day and they are basically good and decent folks, you become friends. I for one was not going to suddenly stop being friends with the guy I worked side by side with because he made some comments that I considered racist. I know some of those people, in spite of their racist attitudes in general, had individual friends who were black and who they would have gone to the mat for in almost any circumstance.

@gussnarp

Sorry, it’s just that usually when someone says something I have is “limited” it means it’s a problem and it needs to be changed. Yes, most of my friends are Californian middle-to-upper class and I do not know any of them to be racist. I do know people in New York, Russia, Germany, Nevada, and even The Bahamas. I still haven’t known any of them to be racist. I’m pretty sure my paternal grandfather has something against Mormons, but other than that, no one in my family has ever indicated to me that they were racist either.

My dad returned form Australia and was commenting to a coworker how different it was that almost everyone in Melbourne was white and there were barely any black people or other non-white people and the coworker said “oh, well, there must be a lot less crime, then”. That guy was a perfectly good guy and I don’t think he even realized that his comment was a little racist. My friend’s new boyfriend is a little on the racist side, but coming from Oakland, he’s probably had experience with black/Hispanic criminals and uses that as an excuse to make assumptions about black/Hispanic people. I still don’t think it’s right.

Come on guys. Deep down aren’t we all a little racist.

@Sabotage82 Deep down our DNA tells us we ALL descend from Africa…so NO!

I have a very good friend who is a little bit racist. She likes actual people, but her vocabulary and ideas are terrible. She said the n-word, repeatedly and in reference to people, in front of her 8 month old daughter the last time I hung out with her. I’ve been distancing myself from her, and it’s a weird situation.

@gussnarp Just to clear things up my social circle consists of all different classes and ethnicity and still no racists, hmm… maybe that is because our social circle is so wide and with familiarity racism decreases.

That doesn’t mean I don’t know racist people, I just choose not to include them in my social life.

@RedPowerLady I hope you won’t take this personally, but I find that unlikely. Either you have a different standard than I do for racist, or there are things about some of these people that you don’t know. Or your wide social circle is a stunning statistical anomaly.

@gussnarp What makes you think that there can exist a wide social circle that doesn’t contain racism? It seems like you have an inherent belief that racism must exist. I see your point about not knowing if someone has racist tendencies, perhaps they are a closet racist. Of course I could never know that so it is somewhat a mute point. However in my social circle we talk about race issues all the time. Perhaps because most of us are in fact people of color. So if someone were racist it is likely I would have heard it come out in one of those conversations.

@RedPowerLady I don’t think racism must exist, but I know that it _does_exist. I’ve just seen too much of it to think that any sufficiently large and diverse group will not contain some racists. But then you say most of your social circle are people of color, so therein lies the limitation in your social circle. Mine, sadly, is far too white and therefore racism is probably over-represented. Then again, non-whites can be racist too.

All my friends and I are racist to some degree. So are all of yours, unless you grew up in a tunnel somewhere. I include my Black, Latino and Asian friends. They are racist, too.

@gussnarp I don’t think it is a limitation as I said most not nearly all. We still “white” people in the social circle. I understand the point you are getting at and I believe it has some relevance. At the same time I think you should give credit where credit is due instead of trying to tell those of us in this thread who choose not to have racist friends that we are somehow lying or at least are so ignorant we don’t know if our friends are indeed racist.

I don’t subscribe to the ideology that everyone is inherently racist in some way. Perhaps that is where we differ.

@pdworkin All of us may believe in certain stereotypes yes. But I don’t believe this ideology that we are all inherently racist in some way. I know the following definition does not define me.

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

I would hear the most ridiculous things about Hispanic people from my friends as a kid, and when a Hispanic family moved onto our block, the kids of that family got no end of harassment from the rest of the kids on the block, including my cousin.

I never understood it. “Hey,” I’d say, “If you know people talk about us and that pisses you off, why’re you talking shit about Hispanic people? Why are you picking on those kids?” No one ever had an answer for me, yet would continue to talk shit and bully. I no longer speak to those people.

@RedPowerLady I’ve taken this line far enough, so I’ll try not to antagonize you or anyone else any further. I do think that almost everyone has some racism in them, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I also should clarify a couple of things. First, I’m using a pretty broad definition of friend here. Second, when I speak of a limited social circle, it’s not meant to be insulting, nor are the limits absolute. It’s just that I have been thrust into close association with people I likely would not ordinarily have been friends with, and came to know them better than I otherwise would, and found that aside from their racism, they were good people. That doesn’t make the racism OK, but these aren’t people who would persecute people in any way for their race, they just have some ignorant ideas. I’m not willing to say, “you’re not my friend and I will not associate with you” over that. Third, I in no way mean to imply lying or even real ignorance. I just am one of those people that believes that even the best of us (myself included) don’t always see things as they really are, and that even someone you know well may have some hidden racism that you don’t know about and would be shocked by.

I suppose in the end making the statements I have made here may strike some as reeking of hubris, and of gross generalization. I apologize for that, but I assure you I meant it only in the quest for self understanding that I for one am always in the process of.

@RedPowerLady That is definitely a narrower definition of racism than I am using here. Not that I could really offer my definition clearly at the moment.

@gussnarp Thank you for clarifying. That was very well-written.

@RedPowerLady My opinion is that if you think you are not a racist in this society, then you are both a racist and delusional.

I think the best moment I ever saw in someone very subtly calling someone else out on their racism was in my barber shop. I have discovered some very racist comments by people in my neighborhood. Particularly the older folks. This guy was going on about the Mexicans taking over the neighborhood, while the owner of a local restaurant, a well respected man in the area who happened to be a Greek immigrant was in the shop. The racist was telling the barber he would have to learn to cut afros or some such ridiculousness (yes, apparently “the blacks” were taking over along with the Mexicans). Then he said to the restaurant owner “pretty soon none of your customers will speak English”. I imagine the irony is lost on them, but I hope the look on the mans face and the quiet way he said, “as long as they buy my food, what do I care?” with his Greek accent had at least some effect on the fool. At any rate he dropped the line of conversation.

@pdworkin My opinion is if you think everyone else must be a racist (especially given said definition) then you are probably trying to compensate for your own belief system.

But that was pretty funny anyhow.

I have my own definition, and I try very hard not to behave like a racist, nor do I admire racism, but I am white, and 60 years old, and have enjoyed the privileges that come with being white all my life, so I am in no position to believe that racism doesn’t color my experience in some ways at the very least.

One example: No policeman will ever arrest me in my own home for no good reason the way a “non-racist” police officer arrested Skip Gates at his home in Cambridge. I will never have to worry about that. Nor do I ever have any trouble hailing a cab in NYC except during rush hour.

@pdworkin Having privilege that you cannot control is not racism. If you are aware of said privilege, as you are , and fight against it when reasonable then that is not being racist. That is living in a racist society. Now if you use your privilege to your advantage then that could be considered racism. If you are completely ignorant of your privelege then that is ignorance bordering on racism.

Do you think we are all aware of the nature and extent of our privileges all of the time? You live in a very idealized world.

@pdworkin You cannot consider someone individually racist for a privilege society has put upon them. That is institutional racism. There is a big difference between the two. You are essentially saying that every “white” person is racist just by having “white” skin. You do not have to be aware or your privilege at every second of the day. You have to be aware of it when it counts.

I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation as I am usually the one on Fluther saying something is racist and others are the ones telling me it is not.

We must agree to disagree.

I suppose so but I must say I am completely confounded by this conversation. Completely.

Maybe this will help: if I never consciously allowed myself to be advantaged by my privilege, then maybe I would not be a racist. But I enjoy it all the time. Just last week I was stopped by a local policeman, who waved me on when he saw my face.

@pdworkin That does help quite a bit.

However the line gets a bit fuzzy. No person (white-skinned or otherwise) would beg a cop to please punish me. What I would say is when the “issue” comes up of racial profiling do you skid by it or do you join locals who fight against it? Or when you see cops racial profiling someone do you step in as an advocate? Those types of behaviors would work against your privilege.

Now if someone allowed a cop to arrest the black man when they, the white man, was clearly at fault. Now that would clearly be taking advantage of your privilege. As opposed to having a copy let you drive by which doesn’t hurt anyone.

Silliest poem ever.
People are the way they are. Some of them won’t ever change. I can’t hate someone for ignorance.

@pinkparaluies You don’t have to hate them but you can choose to either educate them or not support their ignorance.

@RedPowerLady‘s correct. I have called ‘em to the carpet if I suspected this were going on. I did it to one of my BF’s in HS. She took offense, claimed “she had a black friend in her youth…blah, blah,blah”. It did change her approach/demeanor to the “new girl” in our school after I did so, too.

@RedPowerLady Well the poem is basically.. racist? You can’t be their friend.

A racist is someone who believes certain races are inherently inferior to others. If you do not believe that, which I don’t, then you are not a racist. The word means nothing else. If you are trying to express something else, then use a different word. Of course not everyone in this society is racist; that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Not everyone in this society believes some races are inherently inferior to others, therefore not eveyone is a racist. By saying everyone is a racist, you’re cheapening the word and lessening the power of true destructive racism.

@pinkparaluies How?

@RedPowerLady “If you have a racist friend
Now is the time, now is the time
For your friendship to end”

Kind of extreme, I think.

@pinkparaluies I guess we all have different ideas of what to do with racism. I prefer not to have racist friends. Some others said they overlook the racism and still enjoy their friendship. It’s all a matter of personal choice. But even if the song were extreme I don’t think it is racist.

@RedPowerLady I think we’re confusing each other :P. Its all different in every city. I hate to say that its really common people to be like that where I’m from.

@pinkparaluies That sucks.

@RedPowerLady You said it. :/

I grew up in a small town that was about 99% white. Strangley, I never heard much of anything in the way of racist comments about black people (probably because the TV tells them black people are cool) but asians, jews, hispanics, and especially those of middle eastern descent were fair game for racist jokes. I was never friendly with people who talked like that. This town was also located near a native reserve, and strangley, I never heard anyone badmouthing it. Whats weird is some of the natives were blatantly racist towards white people and didn’t mind admitting it. Obviously, I wasn’t friends with them either.

An interesting note on cops only stopping people of colour: when I moved to a multicultural city about 2 years ago, I have never been stopped by a cop. When I lived in the town that was almost all white people. I was stopped for no reason at least half a dozen times to be questioned about random shit. I guess because I was young or something, I don’t know.

@majorrich In the future please do not use racist terminology.

[Mod Says] Flame off folks. Do not use racist terminology. Keep to topic or your quip will be removed.

@Dog thank you

@all
From a fellow flutherite please quite quoting that specific racial slur.

I’m sorry, I must come from a different background than you. I’ll pretend the entire system of this thread is based on a Black/Non-Black bias. My own friends call each other (Rhymes with Tigger) happy redpowerlady. We have an entire vegetable soup of people in this world. In the Middle east each faction of a religion has a hate-name for it. I have been called slant-eye, kyke, gook, slope, jap, and NOBODY has ever said word one about it.
Now back to the question, does my assessment of the 20/80 rule—of which I consider @RedPowerLady and @DominicX part of the 20 for bending over wayyyyy to backward to be PC bear any merit? And Am I a racist? I don’t hate people, I hate what they do. And what they do to each other.

@majorrich

I’m not saying the 20/80 rule is “racist”, I’m saying it’s completely unfair and lazy. You do it because you don’t want to bother looking at people as individuals. You want to group them together and make assumptions about them because it’s easier that way.

@majorrich Many people don’t hate people, they just dislike what some of them do. I bet 99% of the people on this thread could say that.

The difference between that and your original comment is that most people don’t use a historically hateful and despised word to lump together people of a specific skin tone.

Anyone who, in this day and age, uses that word without realizing how they sound when they say it (or type it) has some serious learning and growing up to do, imho.

@majorrich I agree with you. I’ve been called honkey and white boy and no one gives shit one, its only unnacceptable if certain groups are targeted.

Way too many people to assess and too little time sunshine. I have had to make life and death decisions in the blink of an eye. I am alive because I have been put into situations where I have had to forego an encounter group where I can interview the man with a weapon pointed at me. And those people have been from every color of the rainbow.

@hookecho

The n-word and “redneck” do not have the same power. One was used by an oppressor as a means of oppressing, the other was not. Same goes for “white boy”. (I get called that as a joke sometimes and I do not mind it). Not the same history, not the same context, not the same thing. Additionally, “redneck” refers to a specific type of white person, the n-word is a racial slur referring to all black people, whether you like it or not. It doesn’t mean “bad black people” just like “fag” doesn’t mean “bad gay people”; it refers to all gay people, whether you like it or not. Words have meanings and they don’t change because you want them to.

@Likeradar

Yes, I’m sure most people could say they dislike what some people do. But there’s a difference between “I judge thieves because I do not like their actions of thievery” and “I judge black people because some of them are thieves”.

See @hookecho part of the 20 I am sure.

@DominicX Well said!

@majorrich Yippie for you. You still sound ignorant when you use the n word.

@DominicX words in themselves mean nothing. It’s all about the intent behind them. If someone calls you or me white boy with the intent to demean us, then sorry, thats racist, no matter how PC you want to be about it.

@hookecho

Yes, I agree. I did not indicate that I did not feel that way. I was simply saying that some words have more power (and more frequent usage) than others which explains the heightened sensitivity to certain words. Racism is racism still, no matter what.

@majorrich I don’t even get how you’re saying me, dominic, and redpowerlady are all part of the 20 when we were disagreeing. You’re not making much sense anymore.

@DominicX yes, I agree, the n word is a very charged word. I was trying to make a point, but I guess you already got it.

In Somalia, I would have to pick out from a crowd of people around my truck militia people from the people I was there to help. Back at the base they were all called ‘skinnies’ because they were so thin and wan (I assume). We got visitors once for a day or so by a group of well meaning people who put huge pressure on my CO that we cease this practice. The next day, I lost 4 men to militia personnel who were stealing and hoarding freaking bags of rice! A vocal minority (20) cost me 4 friends for whom I would give my own life for theirs back. They had wives and kids, I didn’t yet. But I was the officer and I had to give the order only to fire if fired on. I still haven’t gotten over it, and probably never will.
The 20 is the vocal minority that made me kill 4 men, and deny others life.

Not at all. I make no neck assumption. I dislike it when people go overboard to not use a simple word which sprouts from a disability to say Negro and say that is an evil word. My black friends even call each other (Tigger)

I also dislike it when people assume I take a word or an idea lightly when my life depended on it. And it worked a heckuva lot better than their alternative bend over backward way.

well, I don’t know why you said that then, because as I said before, I believe words in themselves are meaningless, and it’s all about the intent of how they are used.

I probably missed it. I dont see very well anymore

I’ll answer the original question: I do not have any racist friends, partly because I am part of a minority myself, so tend to attract those who don’t have an issue with race. My friends are from just about every background, and I’ve been lucky to hang out with friends from so many different cultures.

The other reason is because, like similarly-minded individuals embracing diversity, I weed the racists out pretty quickly through daily life chitchat or deep conversations—I believe it’s hard for a racist to not express their sentiments publicly (racists out there, correct me if I’m wrong). I don’t plan to be anyone’s token “ethnic” friend either, so if I detect racism, the friendship doesn’t go very far. I have no tolerance for racism, against me or any race, period. Variety is the spice of life, when you can get it!

To follow some of this thread, I could also honestly answer that I DO know someone who is racist. Unfortunately, they are a family member, so it’s not anyone I chose to befriend. :) This also lends testimony to the fact that racists come from all backgrounds. To say one group only is racist, is racist in itself.

“now is the time
For your friendship to end”

Bull. Accepting people for who they are means more than accepting them for their race, gender, and other things they can’t change.

@Siren

(racists out there, correct me if I’m wrong)

I lol’d. It would be pretty funny if someone responded to you and said “As a racist, I believe that…”. I have yet to come across someone online who actually admitted to being a racist, but I suppose anything’s possible.

@DominicX as a racist, I believe that black homosexuals are superior to white homosexuals.~

I kinda hate everybody! Equally. If I were walking in an ally and another were walking the other way, I would present a defensive/aggressive posture. So, because I hate some part of people of all races (like ludefisk) am I an omni racist?

Nuke a Gay Whale for Jesus! did I leave anyone out

Groundskeeper Willie: Brothers and sisters are natural enemies! Like Englishmen and Scots! Or Welshmen and Scots! Or Japanese and Scots! Or Scots and other Scots! Damn Scots, they ruined Scotland!

Wow, I’m so glad I left this thread. Better leave again.

@gussnarp i’d like to see this entire thing taken down

<<Shakes head>>

I am very sensitive to racial prejudice. I see it when many do not. Thus, most people I know (and most people in general) still hold prejudicial views about certain types of people. I try not to make too much out of the small stuff, but if the moment seems right I might engage someone about their views. As far as true racism, I don’t know anyone that I could classify as such.

I don’t understand why @avvooooooo‘s comment was removed. From what I remember, it said something about how one of the lines in the poem was bull and explained why for maybe one line of text. Why would that get removed? You can’t remove a comment because you disagree with it…let’s move away from fascism, plox…

What I find interesting about racism is that what an individual considers “racist” depends on which side of the fence that individual is on.

There are many government funded programs here (NT Australia) which favor one race over another. In this scenario the people who are receiving the funding do not consider this racist but the ones who are not on the receiving side do. When it is vice versa or perceived to be vice versa then of course the ones crying racism exchange places.

So to answer the question, I do have racist acquaintances and they come in all colors.
I am white and I have been discriminated against and it does not feel nice.

Interesting discussion of racism here.

@DominicX Look up that @avvoooooo post is still there.

@avvooooooo Actually, I found this thread was more in depth

@SpatzieLover

Whoopsy-daisy… :(

@SpatzieLover The one I posted had to do with the ambiguous nature of racist actions. :P

I have had friends that were pretty nationalistic, though “racist” can be a very broad term, including anyone from SS Ubermachtfuhrers (not a real word) at concentration camps to that old lady that accidentally used the word “negro” at the supermarket once.

No, I could never imagine having a friend who belongs to a neo-nazi group that burns blacks alive, but my best friend actually sees Zionist conspiracies everywhere and doesn’t particularly like Jews. And I don’t mean the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which is an issue I also feel very strongly about (let’s not start that one again). I mean trying to find connections to prove that the current crisis is a result of some banker who happens to be a Jew collaborating with some Jewish politician and 3 businessmen whose wives had a Jewish cousin or something, all to bring down the economy and make money. I just find the whole thing funny, even if it is true. He seems to be obsessed.

And no, I don’t think you can really change anyone’s mind.

@DominicX That’s what I was getting at. :)

@gussnarp I was just about to type the same thing.

I don’t think either of those questions referenced were more in-depth than this one. Which is why, even after seeing quite a few posts already, I still decided to contribute too.

Of course, I didn’t add to the last trail of discussion before mine.

@DominicX: Yes, it would be pretty funny indeed.

Yes.
We get along quite well.

I don’t believe that just because someone is a racist, that your friendship should end.

First of all, everyone is biased, possibly even racist… it is just a matter of degree. That being said, I have a very good friend who is far more racist than me, and he knows that. We don’t talk about that at all and everything is fine.

I also admit that when I worked in the prison system, I felt myself becoming more and more racist every day, simply because I saw the worst of the worst, and sadly almost everyone in the prison systems is a minority. That is why I got out of there. I didn’t like who it was making me. It was hard, being insulted and ridiculed every day by people who were all minorities, fitting every single stereotype… logically I knew this was just a small group of people making things worse for a larger one. But, emotionally I couldn’t ignore it.