I am of Europian descent. I am white. What should I do when I see racist behavior perpetrated against African Americans? I asked a friend to hijack her Facebook to pose the question to her majority black pool of FB friends. There was no need to do that. Her answer was very definitive. If you see something, speak up. What if the person at whom the comments or behavior was directed is kicking you under the table or says for you to say nothing. We need to speak up. Every person that sees another being the target of any behavior that is racist needs to speak up.
Here is what precipitated this post. Last Saturday I was in Western New York on a party bus with friends and family. The demographic mix was 1 African- American man, his 2 mixed race sons and 21 white men and woman. . The last place we stopped at was more of a sales venue that offered group tastings. This was the 5th winery, so I wasn’t tasting, but taking pictures and buying. I didn’t hear what was said, and only found out about it when we returned to my brothers house. At every winery we were asked to pay attention. For the most part we did, but of course there was socializing and conversing going on. Allen had been talking to my sister. He missed one of the tastings, and said something to the bartender about having a taste of the last wine. She said you need to pay attention!. Then she proceeded to pour the wine into his glass, then add the last selection to the glass. My sister and sister in law were about to jump the bar and get in her face. Allen’s wife Ellen said if he has a problem with it, let him speak up. I would like to think that I would have said something if I had heard and seen what had happened, despite being asked not to. I shy away from all confrontation. So I am not sure what I would have done. I realize that it is time for me to to take a stand. We all need to call out racism when we see it. It doesn’t matter the degree of the comment or the action, its time for us all to step up to the plate, even if it means stepping on some toes. All of us need to take action, no matter how small that action is. If one of us steps up, maybe others will too. So Speak up for all other people in this world that we share.
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