When I moved down to South Carolina to help my sister-in-law out while she was pregnant with Mara Beth (my brother was doing a stint overseas as a civilian something-or-other), I was absolutely floored by people's attitudes down there.
And while no one really talked about it, it was obvious that those of Caucasian origin were far more favored over the other races. My first time to Arby's was an eye-opener as I could subconsciously register that something was odd about the restaurant as soon as I entered it, but it took me a couple of minutes to realize that the only white worker was the manager- everyone else was either black or mexican.
There were other small things that showed the racial prejudices, too- one day I was standing in line at Wal*Mart and another register opened up. A black woman and myself scurried over to her line and the other woman got there first. The cashier told me to come on up and she'd help me first, of which, I declined, telling her the other woman was first. "No, no darlin, you were. I'll take you first." That was her reply. I told her I was in no hurry and to go ahead and take the other woman. The look of confusion, astonishment and surprise on the other lady's face was saddening to me as... well, it's just not the way things should be.
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branchandroot
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Date: Feb. 3rd, 2010 01:07 am (UTC)And while no one really talked about it, it was obvious that those of Caucasian origin were far more favored over the other races. My first time to Arby's was an eye-opener as I could subconsciously register that something was odd about the restaurant as soon as I entered it, but it took me a couple of minutes to realize that the only white worker was the manager- everyone else was either black or mexican.
There were other small things that showed the racial prejudices, too- one day I was standing in line at Wal*Mart and another register opened up. A black woman and myself scurried over to her line and the other woman got there first. The cashier told me to come on up and she'd help me first, of which, I declined, telling her the other woman was first. "No, no darlin, you were. I'll take you first." That was her reply. I told her I was in no hurry and to go ahead and take the other woman. The look of confusion, astonishment and surprise on the other lady's face was saddening to me as... well, it's just not the way things should be.