glass bottles on a lawn mower

[anyabananya]

I've only seen my dad cry once. Today he teared up at the dinner table when he told me a story of Omaha when he was only 11...

He lived in a poor neighborhood that had a lot of black families. The boy next door asked my dad if he could help him with a project and he would give my dad a little bit of money. The two of them piled about 40-pounds of

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My first encounter with racism.

[bikutaseidaku]

I was in Texas during Jr. High. My Grandmother was dying so my brother and I flew out there to say goodbye. One day I was standing in line at a gas station with my mom, in front of us was a white lady and infront of her was a black lady. The black lady was digging in her purse to get the correct change and the white lady yelled at her, "Hurry up you n****r!" My mom snapped on her, "Don't you ever talk to her that way" but as we were leaving the black lady turned to my mom and told her "you better not talk to people like that, they'll beat you up too."

Re: My first encounter with racism.

[anyabananya]

wow. thanks for sharing this with me! that's an amazing story and really makes me realize what a complex issue racism is... and the role we play as the white majority. texas is an interesting place, like i suppose most of the south, an intermingling of the poor black and white communities. i am working on a project now about racial identity in los angeles. it seems like the perfect place. but sometimes i just wonder, who am i as a white girl? and why would i speak out about these issues? and will people take me seriously or shrug at another white-sponsored-project?

this stuff is on my mind all the time. how are youuu??