A third of Black Americans say they have been victims of racial discrimination at some point in their lives, 45% say they have at some point been afraid their life was in danger because of their race, and 53% say they have been treated unfairly because of their race in the past month alone.
About a quarter of Hispanic Americans say they’ve been discriminated against, 20% say they have been afraid their life was in danger, and 36% say they’ve been treated unfairly in the past month because of their race.
About 7 in 10 blacks say they have experienced recent unfair treatment due to their race. Half say their race has been a disadvantage in their life rather than an advantage, while 61% of whites 56% of Hispanics feel their race has been an advantage.
For the most part, white people can go to any store, any park, any restaurant, any neighborhood and not have the police called or be followed because someone is suspicious of them.
When my dad was still in Georgia and looking for houses here, I met his agent at a potential house. She was a blond haired, white woman. She showed up in really casual clothes--capris and a sleeveless shirt. I got there early, and she got there late, so I was sitting in my car in the driveway of this house for a good 30 minutes. No one called the cops on me even though I was pretty suspicious with my car running and me constantly looking around to see if she was there yet. I can bet that she hasn’t had anyone call the police when showing houses to clients because neighbors didn't think she belonged.
In contrast, a friend of mine is a black man and a real estate agent. Despite wearing professional attire and a for sale sign in the yard, he has had neighbors call 911 with claims of a suspicious black man in the neighborhood.
Many times, I think, we white people don't really believe people of color when they talk about flat out discrimination, and we certainly don't believe them when they talk about microaggressions. They're being too sensitive. Not everything is about race. Who knows if the neighbor that called 911 on my realtor friend didn't call 911 on every realtor that showed that house? We explain away what they know is true.
My radar is not as finely tuned as a person of color, but it has definitely kicked in with having a black daughter. I can tell that the stares and glares we got at one all-white grocery store (including employees) was absolutely about the color of her skin and not for any other reason.
Because white people rarely have to think about their race or the color of their skin, we don't have the gut instincts that tell us that a situation is because of race. So, it's hard for us to understand how anyone else's gut reaction to discrimination is telling them it's because of race.
Regardless, when that many people of color are saying that they've been discriminated against because of the color of their skin, I think it's time we actually sit back and listen to them instead of trying to dismiss their experiences.
Reference:
Discrimination poll -
http://kff.org/other/report/survey-of-americans-on-race/
No comments:
Post a Comment