Man, if that guy was that old, I just would have walked away. It's waaay too late to try and reason with him; he's too set in his way of thinking. The guy is practically at death's door! But that's just my opinion.....
So 03 comes on here to tell this outrageous story, says he's ashamed of how he behaved and wants reactions and people actually tell him that old guys should be left alone because they're old and won't change and he should just roll over. I don't know anyone an inch to the right of Jesus who has that kind of control and capacity for forgiveness. I'm white. I've never experienced anything close to the sort of discrimination people of color might be exposed to. And I still wouldn't have been as level headed in my response to that kind of unwarranted attack as 3 was. I would probably regret it later, letting a moron like that get to me, but if I'd witnessed anything like that kind of abuse towards the clerk I would have done everything I could to make that old racist feel as small as possible. If that didn't work, I would have thrown a rock through his window. I wouldn't have had a kid with me, though. If I did, I'd ask my girlfriend to take the kid away and done the exact same thing. Some things are worth getting upset over. This is one of them. Guys like that make me wish I believed in Hell. And guys who apologize for them make me wish I believed in Purgatory.
You would have been better off just saying something sarcastically like "ummm yeah, we'll move right on back right now." Then turned your back to that old geezer and left him standing there looking even more sillier. As a white guy, I hate stuff like this beuase it gives those that are already insecure about their race, an excuse to confirm their distorted views on "how ALL whites thinks towards other races." It's just one old frustrated silly geezer that didnt want to pay $2.50 for some chips. Forget him
This thread asked: "How should I have responded to a racist comment?" So people are giving their "opinions" on how he should have responded. Seems like some people are getting upset becuz NOT everyone is saying to "shoot or beat-up" the old racist guy. 03's question asked for opinions and he's getting a "variety" of answers. Just becuz some of the answers aren't on the "beat the old racist guy" bandwagon, it doesn't mean that we condone the old guy's actions in any way. Some of us would have handled it differently, that's all. That's just my opinion.....
I'm surprised this is the first time you've run into racism. I'm Hispanic and my first time I was in about 2nd grade but it's always shocking and numbing to actually hear it directed at you. In my experience the best way to handle it from strangers is to give them a dirty look and simply walk away especially with all of the gun totting fools running around these days.
That sucks. It really never works to make logical arguments to people like that. Instead I try to hit them where it hurts. In front of his wife you might try... 'Sir, that is not a very Christian attitude.' Of course I'm assuming he is Christian, but old white guy at some country gas station in Texas? I think its a good bet.
Nice, Hayes Street. Racists make me infuriated, but I can only hope that I could control myself in such a situation (my wife is Japanese). I agree with some of the more level heads in here that you win nothing by arguing, and possibly put yourselves and others into danger. Remember, everything you do is an example to your kids as well. You don't want to teach them behaviour that could be harmful to them in the future either. For the record, however, I completely understand your actions and can't condemn you for them.
My reply? "Haha! Your an old geyser buyin a bag of chips!" or "Oh yeah! Yo Momma!" or The give him the "are u cynical" look and say: "Sure thing pop. Sure thing."
i really like HayesStreet response... i think he's right, a elderly caucasian man in a small Texas town is, in all probability, a Christian... and a zinger like his would put this idiot in his place. I think that would be the best possible way to handle the situation.
Just blow up on him. Try to talk some sense into him will only make you thirsty. Make him mad, make him angry, let him know the feeling you feel so he'll think about it twice before he picks on other persons first. Plz be aware of the situation for your own safety though, it's better when he's a 70 year old guy instead of some white football player, and no matter how pissed off you get, don't say things that can get you in trouble, especially now that TIPS are to be enforecd, everything you said can be taped against you later. It's no use to be reasonable with racists, if they are reasonable they won't be racists in the first place. I'll either take my leave or confront them, instead of wasting my time trying to educate him.
"Stand for something or you will fall for anything" The point is this . . . For those of your more level headed type . .. it is this kind of soft peddling that makes the problem continued. This guy did not become a 80 yr old racist in a vacuum. It is because those of you that are not racist allow it to happen, by telling minorities to sit on their hands and say nothing or ignore them. And by ignoring them yourselves saying. . . they not worth the effort. THAT IS A SOUL THAT NEEDS SAVING AND ENLIGHTENING. I'm black. and my reactions are not always the best. I probably would have laughed at the old cogers until i was crying. I would have made him feel so stupid or tried to. OR I may have screamed at him. Honestly EVERY RACIST SITUATION IS DIFFERENT. the problem we have is that we do not address these issues EVERTYTIME. We let it pass and surprisingly. . . it continues I applaud the original Poster [03] for not beating the tobacco juice out of the old f*cker. I want to say to those that say he descended to the old f*ckers level that THAT IS A LIE. 1. He did not start it to begin with . . .infact he did not come to the situation with malice in his heart . .. while the old man did. . therefore it is impossible for him to 'descend' to the old bitter *sshole's level. STOP RACISM NOW Rocket River
I think it's fun to analyze people's behavior when they are outraged, like this convenience store owner was. When people are mad, are they more likely to speak their mind, or are they just spouting non-sense because their emotions are all cluttered up? an interesting debate. I know that there are a lot of people out there that think that Indians and Pakistani's should be deported. Yes they actually think this (despite most of the hijackers on 9/11 being Saudi). Think about it though, if you live in a small Texas town, the only time you really see or hear about arabs is on the news when violence/terrorism is present. It can lead to people feeling this way. I'm not saying they should feel this way, I'm just trying to explain it.
Trader J the problem is. . . nowadays 'explainations' seem to sound an aweful lot like justifications. I think we all understand that this guys is ignorant. I doubt any of us here would think that this guy is enlightened and has met many 'foreigners' [I'm willin to bet he has met a fair number of black folx. . . but i doubt that changed his mind any about them.] I think it is time for the ignorant to educate themselves and take some responsibility. I think it is time for the educated to EDUCATE! To inform the ignorance. . . maybe we should not tolerate intolerance. Rocket River
Rocket River -- I was not justifying his behavior. I apologize if it sounded that way. That was not my intent. Your first post on the other hand, sounded filled with hatred. "beating the tobacco juice" out of someone is a slur. practice what you preach
1. I did not say you tried to jusitify it. . . but most 'explainations' tend to sound that way. 2. 'Beating the Tobacco Juice' is an obscure reference to an old CALVIN AND HOBBES comic strip. So IF it is a slur . . .please direct it to them. [BTW what kind of slur is it?] 3. Hatred. . . . HATRED? Rocket River
Rockets03, even though walking away might have made you feel like "the better man," imagine if you hadn't said anything. The whole way back to Houston you'd be regretting not putting that old fart in his place. You'd be thinking of snide little remarks you could have made to him and made him look foolish.
You should have offered to buy his chips for him....tell him that you make enough money to afford $5.00 bags of chips...and just smile.... I think you did ok, but you should have a talk with the kid to explain what happened. Make sure he understands that this is not the norm and that bad people come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Glad you did not come to blows....Texas is a concealed hand gun state. DaDakota
This has happened to me twice ... once near last Christmas and then once on Spring Break this year. First time, in the mall this old lady came up and said things to the same effect 'go back' 'why don't you let us live in peace' 'look at you, you don't belong in America, take your people back' blah blah blah ... my first reaction 'whoa! this is actually happening to me!' Like you hear about folks dealing with racism, but I kinda thought it wouldn't happen to me. So I was kinda surprised, didn't know what to say. I am the most unemotional person out there ... you can say ANYTHING to me, insult me, intelligence, family ... whatever, it doesn't bother me. I always think 'why should I get worked up, thats what the person wants anyways' My response to her was 'Wow, sorry you feel that way.' and walked off. But as Baqui99 said, I kept thinking that maybe I should have said something ... too late. The other time was at the airport and that really made me mad (didn't do anything, but made me mad all the same). Was heading out, had a Paki passport ... the lady at the counter (who has NOTHING to do with immigration) spent literally 15-20 minutes going thru every page of my passport, then at me. Then she goes somewhere with it, talks to another counter-person, looks at it some more and then finally gave it back and checked me in. DaDakota ... I like your idea too! Good stuff, shut him up right there. --rockit
read this only if you have time, not 100% relevant to topic at hand. subtle racism happens to me all the time in Austin, especially at restaurants... there are 2 restaurants the I have frequented a few times during lunch hours with former co-workers (all of whom were of Indian descent like me or African American)... b/c i despise the restaurants for their practices, i will mention them by name: Cool River Cafe and North by Northwest... Anyways, the few times we tried to go there for lunch, we rarely got a table.... At Cool River Cafe (the first time), they wouldn't seat us (a party of 4) for 30 minutes (remember we were on our lunch break from work, so we didn't have all day!)... in addition, other parties of four were seated before us and entered after us... it helped that they were all caucasians parties... (no they didn't have reservations, b/c i checked with the people about whether or not they had them)and service was horrendous... the lunch took nearly 2 hours! now, b/c i've experiences racism throughout my life, perhaps i'm jaded... so we gave it another shot the next week... same 4 people (2 indians, 2 african americans) and the precise same results, this time a 2.5 hour lunch b/c of awful service... i thought i would give them one more shot before boycotting the restaurant (b/c i don't want to be one of those people filled with hatred all the time) so i took my family there (4 indians) for dinner... well, we were NEVER seated! parties came in and were seated, my dad and i continually asked about why we were never being seated... the matre'd (sp?) kept telling us our table wasn't ready... finally i told my family to forget this mess and to leave... i gave the manager a good piece of my mind, but in a tactful and eloquent manner, as to not further perpetuate any stereotypical myths about minorities that he my harness... the same thing happened at North by Northwest, except we also had one caucasian member in our party (again during lunch hours from work)... we waited 45 minutes, while other parties (of the same number) were seated before us (while entering the premises after us)... the 3 minorities in the group were accostomed to the treatment and just wanted to leave after 45 minutes, but our caucasian friend was outraged! he had never experienced such coldness from restaurant help before. he went up to the matre'd and demanded to know why other parties of the same number were being seated before us while we entered the restaurant first. The matre'd, with a HUGE smirk, just said that our table was being cleaned... well our friend just walked into the restaurant's main dining hall and saw SEVERAL open 4 seated tables! The matre'd said they were all reserved, but the restaurant didn't take reservations... finally, our caucasian friend told the guy off in a way that even made US BLUSH! morale of this lengthy tale... i don't know... but i just felt like getting that off my chest... continue with your day... hope i didn't waste too much of your time!
