Society: Anger and Sadness

I was sitting outside on my porch this morning having my first cup of joe when two African American males walked by me. One was young, probably late teens or early twenties, the other older and most likely the young man's father. We exchanged hello's and agreed it was too early in the morning to be awake, being that it was just gone five-thirty am.

 

As they walked next-door the older gentleman turned and said to me, "We come in peace and don't want any trouble." I was flummoxed for a moment and said "Of course, no worries," and they continued to enter the house next door. The house next door is an Air B&B my landlord runs so I expect strangers to be there on a fairly regular basis. But, that's not the point.

 

I am furious and incredibly sad that people of color in our country have to constantly be on guard because they aren't safe due to the systemic racism that is threaded throughout our society, socially, economically, and politically. I have worked for an interracial institution for over fifteen years. With what my African American colleagues have to put up with daily, and what I see in the news about what people of color are experiencing and have been experiencing for decades; I shouldn't have been surprised by the fact that two African American males were worried the middle-aged white lady sipping coffee on her front porch at five-thirty in the morning might call the cops due to their presence next-door.

 

Racism is one of the great tragedies of our society.

 

Best, The Nut.