The other day, a friend told me about a HandyMan that she knows who is so much of a Bigot that he will not do work for certain ethnic groups.  THAT made me very angry.

I know and have known for a long time that blaten Prejudice, Racism, and Bigotry exists among many people.  It exists not only in the southern United States (where I live), but all over the world.

The discussion that I had with my friend got me to thinking about my own experiences with Bigotry.

Is it crazy to actually consider myself LUCKY to have experienced Bigotry, Racism, and moreover – Stupidity from so many people in my lifetime?

My experiences have been eye-opening and have been an important part of my personal growth.  Through the years, I have grown in my ability to relate to all sorts of people despite their Racism, Bigotry, and/or Prejudice.

I can remember being called a “Nigger” by a neighborhood boy when I was 5 years old.  My family lived on base at Altus, AFB, Oklahoma… It was 1967.   At that age, I was not even sure what the word meant, but THAT’s what the White kid called me when I pointed at him after the AP {Air Force Policeman} asked me who I’d seen riding away on my bicycle.

I didn’t personally know that White kid, all I knew was:

–  I had seen him take my bike out of my family’s garage.

–  He rode away on my brand new bicycle (Training Wheels still attached).

–  He had just been confronted about the theft.

–  Obviously, he wasn’t very happy that he had been caught.

–  He was in BIG trouble.

–  He used the “N” word to “fight back”.

Later, when my Daddy explained to me what the word actually meant, I told him: “I’m not a Nigger.”

Daddy smiled at me and said: “No, Gina, You definitely are not!”

Nowadays, I think and wonder how a bigoted person handles life knowing that:

WE prepare his food in restaurants.

WE supply blood for the Red Cross or even possibly his life saving blood transfusion.

WE work at many health providers. Yes, WE are Doctors and Nurses.

WE count his money at the bank.

WE fix his BrokeDown Car, etc, etc, etc…???

Unlike my Grandparents, Parents, or even my Siblings, I’ve never experienced any type of Bigotry or Racism where I felt my life might be in danger.  But I have experienced racist situations where I felt very uneasy and had my feelings hurt pretty badly.

Luckily, the experiences that I’ve had have not been daily occurences, nor have they happened very often.  The unfortunate thing is that when I have experienced them –  they have stung like a Hornet.

I will be 51 years old next month… I expect I will be stung many more times before my life is over.

Have you ever been stung by a Hornet? It hurts like Hell and once it happens, you’ll not soon forget it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

According to my references:

Bigotry is the state of mind of a bigot: someone who, as a result of their prejudices, treats other people with hatred, contempt, and intolerance on the basis of a person’s  race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, language,  socioeconomic status, or other status.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. described bigotry in the following quotation: “The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.”

{From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia}

The term Nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English. Its degree of offensiveness has increased markedly in recent years, although it has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary War. The senses labeled Extremely Disparaging and Offensive  represent meanings that are deeply insulting and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense. It is so profoundly offensive that a euphemism has developed for those occasions when the word itself must be be discussed, as in court or in a newspaper editorial: “the n-word.”

Despite this, the sense referring to a “black person” is sometimes used among African Americans in a neutral or familiar way. The sense referring to other victims often used descriptively, as to denounce that prejudice, is not normally considered disparaging—as in “The Irish   niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments —but the other uses are   and hostile.

noun

1.

Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

a.

a black person.

b.

a member of any dark-skinned people.

2.

Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible,inferior, ignorant, etc.

3.

a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, orsocially disenfranchised.

{Dictionary.com Unabridged – Based on the Random House Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2013}