I Guess I'm A Racist

SecretNeverTold recently wrote a post about hidden racial bias. I took the test she referenced and I fell into the group that has a "strong preference for white people." In one way, I was a little surprised. One of my best friends is Hispanic and I have a sister-in-law that is Filipino. I get along great with both of them and have never had any ill or biased opionions about them.

I imagine that my upbringing in an all white community plays pretty heavily in the results. I had never had any personal interaction with a black individual until I took a part-time job in a neighboring city during high school. That was a positive exerience.

I've never really thought of myself as a racist, but I have to admit that, lately, I've become more and more aware of the different opinions I have --and ones that have obviously been supressed. We had a Hispanic/Black (mixed) family move next door several years ago. They were terrible neighbors, always playing their music loud--the walls in OUR house would vibrate from their stereo...and we don't live in apartments. These are single family homes on seperate lots! They threw trash in our yard, they were rude and vulgar, and they had no respect the property or privacy of anyone in the area. Their kids have since moved out and it's pretty quiet over there now, but as you can imagine, the confrontations didn't do much to help with "race relations."

Since the election, it's seems like EVERYTHING is a race thing, from the Post cartoon to using the term "black hole" when discussing astronomy. I work in an office that until last month, had never had a black person working in the office. I/we find ourselves being very much aware of our conversations, etc. We make it a point to never discuss politics around the "new guy." I guess it's biased/racist, but we all assume he voted for BO.

Maybe this is racist, but I think that BO's election has done more to fuel racism/racist talk than to heal it. It seems like the NAACP and other ethnic groups are waiting around every corner to complain about a word or image or something that they determine is racist.

I've pretty much quit watching the news or reading the newspaper since before the election. Here we are over half-way through the month, and I didn't even know it was Black History Month. I guess that's another thing that makes me a racist.

I'm guessing now would not be the time to push for a "Miss White America" contest.