Proof and Evidence

Day 14

I maintain that I still have not gotten pulled into internet nonsense and drama.  Sure, I've engaged in discussions, but I haven't gotten upset or angry.  That's what matters, right?  Keeping my cool?  I surely think so.

Today, something interesting happened.

I woke up and looked at my news feed.  There were all these hateful posts by this one guy.  I've never seen so much ugliness and so many uses of the N word in one place.  Basically, this guy is a huge racist.  Part of his rantings were about the "black" neighborhood he lives or lived in.  I can't remember which.  Being who I am, I decided to offer some perspective or an alternate point of view.

comments may be slightly ad-libbed, but they are true to the spirit of the conversation.

Me:  "well, I grew up in one of the worst ghettos in Akron, and, to be honest with you, I was more afraid of the white people who lived there."

Him:  "look at you being all trendy.  Isn't it the trendy thing now to be anti-white?"

Me:  "It has nothing to do with being trendy and everything to do with what I experienced growing up. Period."

I'd resolved to not go back to the conversation because, apparently, this person was not in the mood to hear an experience that didn't jibe with his own.  Plus?  I needed to take a step back and think about whether or not I even wanted to keep someone like that around.  BUT... I saw in my notifications that he'd replied to me, and me being the nosy person I am had to take a peek.  Yeah... the whole thread was gone.  Well...  I decided to peruse my email to see what the reply said because I get notifications to my email when someone replies...  He said something to the effect that I wanted to say this and that but I didn't want to offer any proof.

WHAAAAT???  how does one offer PROOF to the things they experienced as a child?  Then I thought...  Really?  and I went back to his page again just to make sure the thread was really gone, and I realized... this dude had put me on the "restricted" list.  Really?  How cowardly does it get to ask someone for something and then not give them the chance to provide it?

You want it, buddy, you've got it.  So, here ya go.  An all inclusive list as to WHY I was more fearful of the white people living in my neighborhood than I was of the black people:

1.)  The psychopath who tried to get my friend and I to get in his car with him by asking directions was WHITE.  I noticed the gun on the front seat and his pants down around his ankles and jerked my friend away and we ran back to her house, which was only about half a block away.

2.)  All the kids in my school who thought their shit didn't stink and did 99% of the berating and bullying were WHITE.

3.)  The hillbilly who beat his wife in the street at least once a week was WHITE.

4.)  The creeper who peeped on my family while we were eating dinner in our kitchen was WHITE.

5.)  The corner store owner who shoved me in the back room and tried to feel me up when I was TEN YEARS OLD was WHITE.

6.)  The person I thought was a lifelong FRIEND that came into my house one night when my mom wasn't home and tried to force himself on me was WHITE.

7.)  The old fucker who tried to pull me into his house one day while I was walking to my friend's house was WHITE.

8.)  The person who walked up to my car and tried to get inside while I was stopped at a red light was WHITE.

By that same token... Most times, when someone stood up for me, it was a black person.  In that neighborhood, on any given street, there were at least 2 houses where I could go and be safe if someone was bothering me.  At least half of them were black folks.  At my school bus stop, my black friend's mother had us come inside and wait in the warmth during the winter.  I lived next door to some of the most decent, awesome people you could ever hope to meet.  Were they white?  Nope.

That's my experience in the ghetto of Akron.