Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’ve been called a chink a lot. The first time was by these underprivileged children I was mentoring when I was in high school. During that gig, I dropped a stack of quarters on the floor. I forgot why I had them. Just a bunch of loose change that had piled up.
A mom seemed to help pick them up. I was able to thank her, only she kept them. A middle-aged woman kept a 16-year-old’s quarters. I was stunned. In my community, middle-aged women looked after young people.
It felt like there was a barrier between our worlds. I knew I did not want to part through to theirs. I wondered if they wanted to pass through to mine. Mine had safety, healthcare, kindness, greenery.
It wasn’t fair that they couldn’t pass through. But also, since they couldn’t pass through, it felt like their words and actions couldn’t pass through either. I remember feeling not hurt at all. They couldn’t even hurt me. It seemed terribly sad. I still feel sad for those kids.
Handling alurs and bias cannot be boiled downto to "well at least my people group/community is better than theirs and poor things they just don't even know it!"
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:it would be helpful if DC police would arrest the homeless person for a hate crime as usually they threaten and get aggressive if you don't give them money and call you a racist slur. This way we can get them off the streets and into prison.
What crime do you think they’ve committed? Loudly calling someone a racial slur isn’t a crime.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:it would be helpful if DC police would arrest the homeless person for a hate crime as usually they threaten and get aggressive if you don't give them money and call you a racist slur. This way we can get them off the streets and into prison.
Anonymous wrote:it would be helpful if DC police would arrest the homeless person for a hate crime as usually they threaten and get aggressive if you don't give them money and call you a racist slur. This way we can get them off the streets and into prison.
Anonymous wrote:I’ve been called a chink a lot. The first time was by these underprivileged children I was mentoring when I was in high school. During that gig, I dropped a stack of quarters on the floor. I forgot why I had them. Just a bunch of loose change that had piled up.
A mom seemed to help pick them up. I was able to thank her, only she kept them. A middle-aged woman kept a 16-year-old’s quarters. I was stunned. In my community, middle-aged women looked after young people.
It felt like there was a barrier between our worlds. I knew I did not want to part through to theirs. I wondered if they wanted to pass through to mine. Mine had safety, healthcare, kindness, greenery.
It wasn’t fair that they couldn’t pass through. But also, since they couldn’t pass through, it felt like their words and actions couldn’t pass through either. I remember feeling not hurt at all. They couldn’t even hurt me. It seemed terribly sad. I still feel sad for those kids.
Anonymous wrote:OP- so I know it's not a laughing matter and I'm so sorry that this sicko unleased on you.
You're not alone though--
NSFW video- enjoy
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This actually happened to DH a few years ago. A homeless man who was visibly impaired (drugs/alcohol and/or severe mental health issues) yelled across the street “you f**king n*****”. It was really rattling for him, too. I think he was surprised at how shaken he was by the encounter given that this man was clearly not of sound mind. I think he also felt uncomfortable or somehow embarrassed talking about the experience afterward.
Anyway, just sharing this to say I’m sorry this man spewed hate at you and I’m sorry people write it off because it’s “just a crazy guy” and I’m sorry victims of this end up the ones feeling ashamed.
All the people who say to shrug it off - that's how we got to this point. The normalization of uncivil public behavior.
On the one hand, yes, ignore the nutcase.
On the other hand, nutcase behavior is enabled.
Isn't there some other thread on here today about how people in this day and age are just plain mean? I feel like these two threads are connected.
I live in NYC and have been practicing the art of ignoring vagrants for several decades. The need to create invisible public boundaries (absolutely NO eye contact, pretend you don't see them, the quick summation of how loony or dangerous a particular walking zombie is) contributes to the dissolution of community. When people celebrate the new addition to the Museum of Natural History, I see the privatization of public space because public space has become so unpredictably unpleasant. There is a corollation (ugh, I can't spell) between the rise of homelessness and secured semi-public spaces sponsored by corporations.
Anonymous wrote:This actually happened to DH a few years ago. A homeless man who was visibly impaired (drugs/alcohol and/or severe mental health issues) yelled across the street “you f**king n*****”. It was really rattling for him, too. I think he was surprised at how shaken he was by the encounter given that this man was clearly not of sound mind. I think he also felt uncomfortable or somehow embarrassed talking about the experience afterward.
Anyway, just sharing this to say I’m sorry this man spewed hate at you and I’m sorry people write it off because it’s “just a crazy guy” and I’m sorry victims of this end up the ones feeling ashamed.