My husband and I ran up to Home Depot to pick up some paint this evening. While we were waiting for the guy behind the counter to mix the cans of paint, a complete stranger walked over to my husband and told him a very racist Barack Obama joke. He stood there proudly waiting for the laughter he anticipated.
My husband's hair is long, half way down his back and streaked with gray, worn in a pony tail. He was wearing a tee shirt from the Boot Hill Saloon in Daytona Beach. I guess he fit the profile of a racist...at least in this guy's opinion. The guy was older so I'm assuming he's a very unhappy long time Republican...kinda like us...but we obviously took a different route. My husband chose to walk away from this man.
I realize that a lot of folks in the state of Florida are upset that the Democrats took the state for the first time in I forget how many years but is this giant step backwards in behavior something we can anticipate for the next 4 to 8 years? I would imagine that, under normal circumstances, this man would never have told a racist joke to a stranger in a store. Has anyone else encountered this type of racism yet?
[question posted by spalladino]responses and comments:
Well I think this guy has not been able to recover from his election fever. I really think that we have to think more in the coming days what to do and accepot how the election came about and if we lost in the battle then maybe wait for the next time election season comes around. I am not from your country though but I think your election is one of the best election that can everyone else should follow. In my place it may become so chaotic and disorderly at times. [rsa101]
Well I also agree with you on there. It is pretty obvious. [rsa101]
Well in my neck of the woods (so to speak) there was a white pastor who stood up this past sunday and announced he was glad Obama won and he was glad it happened in his lifetime. The conserative church immediately held a "meeting" and by sunday night convinced him to resign. On a more personal note, the ultra conserative organization I work for needless to say has been very "icy" to me since election night. I stand my ground and I will find another job if necessary. I have heard several racial jokes in my hometown that is going around but it is not strange at all and not a suprise...look right here on mylot. Everyone is saying this is not about race but since the election notice how many posts are now about race and the black president. In my minds eye, racism is very real and always will be. There was a post on here that called Obama a monkey and said it was funny (really???), then there was the watermelon, fried chicken and kool-aid food stamp (again it was just funny), then the skin heads wanted to kill him (some pretend outrage but no big deal) and who can forget the Obama waffles. All these things were right here on mylot and it was par for the course and no big deal. But it was and is all ignorance and there will always be ignorant people. [cjrwells]
thedogshrink, my husband was the one with the long hair and the biker bar tee shirt. He's ridden motorcycles for over 40 years. I guess bikers are supposedly racists...I don't know. I kept my attention focused on one of the color combination brouchures until he went on his way. [spalladino]
How inappropriate! I don't tell jokes to strangers and I am very selected which friends I tell which jokes when I do tell them. [newtondak]
What is good for goose is good for the gander,people complaining about jokes in regard to B.O. do the same thing in regard to Gov Palin. Many of the same people complaining run down Gov Palin twenty-four seven and seem to think that is acceptable behavior. But far as racial jokes with me that is off limits at any time. [kennyrose]
Well I guess that's why the saying goes: "When you assume, you make an a** out of u and me". Which he surely did for himself, and tried to do for your husband. No matter what anybody says about how many strides forward this country has taken, there is still racism. Racism is enbedded into the minds of many people from the generations before, and it is a hard behaviour to let go of whether we do it intentionally, or unintentionally. It goes both ways, whether we're black, white, yellow, or red, prejudice is a bad habit that seems to never go away... The election of Barack Obama has just brought it out into the light a little more. [creative_angel312]
I agree, racism still lives and is still as ugly as I've always found it to be. Hopefully the election of Barack Obama will help to enlighten us all. [spalladino]
My brother is a small-town barber up here in good ol' liberal Massachusetts. (He's also working two full time jobs which almost covers the household expenses when his wife's full-time job is added in.) Last night, he sat here in my living room and read me text messages that had come in on his phone during his shift at work. Almost every one of them was a joke with racial overtones. Obviously, it's not the same as a stranger walking up to you in a store and doing the same, but my brother says that people have been very comfortable telling racial jokes while he cuts their hair. I give your husband a lot of credit for just walking away. I'm not sure I could have done it. [chameleonsdream]
My husband has PTSD and that encounter could have gone a number of ways, especially the night before Veteran's Day with Vietnam running through his mind. That's why he decided to keep himself busy today painting. Believe me, it was hard for him to walk away but he didn't want to upset me by punching the guy in the mouth. He's a good husband. wub [spalladino]
McCain is in idiot and never should have even ran for president. Did you actually want to have Palin in office? I can't believe that anyone in the US even voted for the guy. Plus, he's like 73!? the guy could barely even talk. [niqbloo]
I have to agree with the others who have said that kind of remark doesn't do anyone any good. I think it was Bill Clinton who said something to the effect of "Why can't we support one person without saying bad things about the other?" and I totally agree with that. Let's face it, for anyone to have reached the point of being his or her party's nominee for President of the United States they have to have more going for them than the average person, or at least I sure HOPE they do because if not that doesn't say much for us as voters, does it? Annie [anniepa]
Oh yes indeed! I live in a red state (Kentucky) and some people just skip the jokes and go straight to just racism. Not a LOT of course, but too many in my opinion. This whole past election was awful to me. It was either racism towards President Elect Obama, or sexism towards Governor Palin, or ageism towards Senator McCain. It's getting worse and worse with every election I fear. Now it's not enough to just support or not support a candidate. Now it's encouraged to despise and ridicule the person you don't support. Poking fun is one thing but I think everyone here has read comments in response to the election that just baffle the mind at the hatefulness. [Childofares]
I haven't seen the passion and fear mongering this election has provoked in a very long time. I still don't know whether it was good or bad but it did get people off their butts and into the voting booths. [spalladino]
thumbdownLiving in NY we still hear thigs like that once in awhile, sadly. I walk away also, but sometimes I will say something to the effect, that it is offensive. [Barbietre]
My husband did say something to one of his nephews this evening for using the "n" word in a conversation about the gun ban rumors. I guess it's going to take some folks more time than others to let go of old prejudices. [spalladino]
wow, completely out of the blue! well i guess he was very disgruntled..still horrid behavior from someone who SHOULD be an adult (im assuming at least lol!). i certainly HOPE that more petty and vindictive racist acts, be they racist jokes or burning of a cross on someones front lawn, is NOT what we should continue to expect!! man i hope not. i guess he chose your husband because he figured there was less of a chance he'd get his a$$ kicked. LOL! something tells me its gonna get worse before it gets better though. [CinderInMySoul]
I guess he thought my husband was just as racist as he was. He thought wrong. rolleyes [spalladino]
i think wat ur husband did was the right thing. even tough every thing goes on right way there people who don accept it [boomingguy]
yeah i've been hearing alot of them, what funnier my black friend will send me stuff about him. one thing he sent me said "all white people report to the cotton feild by 7 am" to me it was funny since my friend is black. [syankee525]
I personally haven't but, I'm in a big city and we have a large black population. There are areas of the city that do have the neo-nazis but they tend to keep to themselves unless the national members come here to protest. While I was working on the campaign there was a black woman that knocked on a door to be told that the "they would never vote for a n*gger". They had to vote for McCain. I would have lost it but she was like ok well don't forget to get out and vote lol [ZephyrSun]
Only here on mylot in some discussions. I think it's pathetic. I hate racists. [camomom]
I think joking about a very dangerous man is very dangerous. And it does not matter what the person he tells it to wears or looks like, if an Obamamite had heard it, that man would have been in trouble, not because of the racism but because he insulted the great demigod Obama. [suspenseful]
Suspenseful, you've got to be kidding me! Racism is ugly and despicable no matter who is guilty of it or who is the target and to use this discussion to get an unnecessary dig in at Obama and his supporters is uncalled for. If he's dangerous, what would you call the man who got us into an unnecessary war and has made the rest of the world hate our guts? Annie [anniepa]
I live in Florida too and I have encountered many many racism even way before the election. I am part of a sport league with, I would say, a lot of rich people (a lot more than me...) and although they are never going to admit it, they are racist. they wouldn't say racist jokes but the way they talk on some subect, it is quite obvious. I have always wondered if I should say something and react but I never dared. This is not my country of origin and I know I tend to react a lot more than people here in the states. But yes, there are a lot of racist people in Florida, and those people are going be worse than with the election. I can't compare with other sates though. [frenchmom]
Yes, the rich folk down here were more in favor of McCain...mostly because of his tax plan. We have Joe the Developer tee shirts that my brother-in-law in Vero Beach sent us, assuming that we were voting for McCain. He's in land development and real estate. [spalladino]
I can not believe someone had the nerve to walk up to a complete stranger and say a racist joke. For one, what if this caused a huge fight saying it to the wrong person who would not have reacted as mature as your husband. The man could have been seriously hurt, he was stupid to do this. I think it was smart for your husband to just walk away. I have gotten email forwards and such that are of the racist nature. I just delete them and move on with my mail. It's not worth my time. [samijo719]
You hit the nail on the head - "he was stupid to do this". I've never met an intelligent racist! Annie [anniepa]
That's really weird!! I hate that sort of thing too.. As to the next 4 years, I'm supposing it can't be any worse than the Bush and Conservative bashing that went on for the last eight years, even by our own media! And universities.. The amount of hatred as been a terrible thing to witness. It's sad that too often vilifying another is seen as the best means to garner votes. Yes, I hope the Republican agenda will not be merely a focus upon garnering votes for the next big election like the media (and even some education?) has been single minded on for some time now.. [flowerchilde]
Whether you like it or not, you have to live with Obam as president. Making racist jokes is not going to change the situation. Such folks are making a fool of themselves by resorting to such silly ways of expressing their resentment. They might as well learn to accept that the skin colour has nothing to do with your capabilities. [mercuryman3a]
Yeah, I bet that man thought your husband was on his side and would crack a racist joke back to him. Your husband did the correct thing and walked away. People need to let it go, Obama won and that is that. I just pray for the President elect, for his safety and his families, because unfortunately there are many nuts out there. [sudalunts]
I have occasionally had people tell me racist jokes, perhaps not total strangers out of the blue, but people in bars or at parties. My response to a black, arab or jewish joke is to look at the idiot stoney-faced for as long as it takes to sink in that I am not going to laugh, then say, coldly, "I happen to be (aboriginal, arab, jewish)." (One out of 3 ain't bad lol.) Then I puff myself up - don't know how else to put it, but people rarely try to pick fights with me when I do it and larger aggressive men have walked away nervously when I do it - and make a move toward them. It probably doesn't stop them telling racist jokes to other people, and certainly won't do anything about their racism, but it sure as hell makes me feel good. Lash [grandpa_lash]
When my husband arrived at work the day after the election his boss, who is also a lifelong family friend, said "Well, we've got a (N-word) for President." My husband said, "Good, he got my vote. What ignorant name do you have for the dumb-a$$ white guy that's been there for eight years?" His boss didn't say another word about it. I think it's disgusting there are people like that but what gives me hope is that there are people like both of our husbands who don't go along with their crap. They say misery loves company and I sure believe racists are very miserable people in many ways so if they don't get the reactions they want maybe they'll go away. Annie [anniepa]
The fear of the unknown makes us racist. It is a pity that guys turn to such sour tactics. All of us should be respected no matter what our skin colour is. © ronaldinu 2008 [ronaldinu]