Racism: It's Not Black and White

I try really really hard not to be racist. When you come into my store and stick a bottle of whiskey in your pants, I try really hard to believe you when you say you put it back while I was walking from the security camera to the liquor aisle. But when you ask "is it policy to search every black guy who comes in here?" I think "no, it's my policy to stop petty thieving fuckwits while I'm busy earning a living."

Oh, and when you get your two latino goons to come help suckerpunch a store clerk, I'm not judging you by the colour of your skin, but by your complete lack of character.

The whole experience got me thinking, though. Perhaps racism is part of healthy discrimination. On the outside, that looks bad, but it's important to understand what discrimination is. Discrimination is eating sealed candy at Halloween opposed to the free candied apples from the man on the street with the trenchcoat. Discrimination is sticking to the well lit streets than the dark alleys. Discrimination is hanging out with your friends in a crowd. Discrimination is voting one political candidate over another. Discrimination is the very foundation of our way of life. So, when you're punched in the gut for trying to stop a black guy from leaving with the bottle of whiskey stashed in his drawers, the hindsight reads that you should have been a little more discriminatory.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that racism is the only way in which we should discriminate. Far from it. One of my favourite customers is black. I love that guy! But he's an older, more respectable, and all around less suspicious guy. So upon judgement of his clothes, his age, his social standing, being black doesn't even factor into the equation. But when some teenage asshole comes in with pants off his ass and a hoodie two sizes too big, being black factors in. White assholes with big hoods and low pants are just trying to look cool when in truth they are just idiots; not to mention if they are stealing, they give up when you catch them.

I hate having to say that racial stereotypes are true, but they can be when combined with the right circumstances. Just the same, you can tell all the white kids who are bootlegging, drunk, on drugs, and/or trying to pass off fake IDs to some extend by virtue of their whiteness. I assume this because the only drunks, drug users, (obvious) bootleggers and (again, obvious) fake ID users are whiter than a 10 piece McNugget meal.

So, this is the part of the blog where I'd normally try and suggest ways to end racism or steer it in a more positive direction. But until the numbers balance out, I think racism is here to stay. I'm sure I'm discriminated against for the clothes I wear, the people I associate with, the car I drive, the things I pay for, and the blogs I write. But if I had a problem with it I could take actions to change the way people look at me.

My first change to deconstruct racism would be to not steal shit or punch store clerks.