It involved a small comment made by one of my co-workers. A comment that I never thought I would hear from him. A comment that greatly disappointed, and saddened and also woke me back up.
I have worked with this person for over 5 years maybe going on to ten. A long time. I like (for me that is I get along) with this person but I would not consider him a "friend." We more that likely would never have gone out for a cup of coffee or a beer after work.
The comment saddened me not so much because he made it but what I think it says about our "American" society in general. I will tell you what he said and why I think it is not an unusually thought in a moment.
I was telling him of a problem that I had encountered in dealing with a truck they past Friday. It was they way it had been loaded at our distribution center.
Out of the blue this person says to me "do they have a lot of blacks working at the D.C. They way the trucks are loaded you would think so." At that point I am guessing that he saw the look on my face and them said that "maybe I should not have said that. Maybe they just have a lot of people that do not care working their."
Now I wish I could say that I was totally discussed with what he said and I challenged him on it. I did not challenge him other than the look. So now I must say that I have as much outrage for myself as I do for his saying what he said.
When I view what so many of the tea baggers have been saying and the signs and the pictures they display I do believe what he said and thought is not that unusual.
I am outraged towards my self for not saying anything. I am outrage at myself for staying quiet for the past twenty years. I am sad that I know believe that their are a large number of people in this country that have these same notions.
Anyway, I had to say this. Not that I think it will make a difference. I know that this person will not ever read it because he has "no time" for computers or for the internet. But here is what I do believe. We have not come that far from JIM CROW.
gordon
