An Open Letter To White People.....

Dear White People,

I love all you guys soooooo much...but it is high time we have a sit down conversation (pats seat next to me). You see bb's.....I've noticed a disturbing trend that really, really needs to be nipped in the bud like yesterday.

Please, allow me to be the first to let you know that.......ALL BLACK PEOPLE DO NOT LOOK THE SAME!!!!!!!!!

I repeat.......

ALL BLACK PEOPLE DO NOT LOOK THE SAME!!!!!!!!!

I know, I know, it is a shocker!!!!

Because of this, I will definitely give you some time to process it. But please....now that you have been put on notice, I expect that you take care to properly identify the correct African American/African/Afro-Caribbean/Black person when you are prompted to do so....lest you embarrass yourself in public and make an ass out of yourself for being so ridiculous.

Thank you so very, very much.

Sincerely,

Your Token Black Friend
-K

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So with that out of the way, let's discuss what happened to me at work today. I had the horrible misfortune of working at our flagship store on 5th Avenue this afternoon. They were severely understaffed and our SoHo location had enough people for the day so I was sent over to help out.

Now y'all should know that the store on 5th is ridiculously enormous and always packed to the brim with Upper East Side mom's who are utterly helpless and totally over-demanding. Anywho.....let's discuss one in particular....

I'm gonna call her "Sheila"....because that name has always grated on my nerves so it would be absolutely fitting for this heffa.

So, I'm working one of the registers, ringing up a customer and my co-worker (let's call her Cindy) started ringing up Shelia next to me. Now, I was focusing on my customer so I wasn't paying Shelia much attention....I mean, her hair was kinda ratty as if she hadn't combed it this morning, but that might have just been the "boho sheik" look that she saw in her US Weekly mag and decided would be cute. What really caught my attention however (as I was folding a shirt) was when I saw her pointing to me out of the corner of my eye. Obviously I focused my attention on what was going on between Cindy and Shelia and I hear Cindy say......


Cindy: I'm sorry, who helped you?
Shelia: Oh he did (dismissively pointing as she rummages thru her purse)
Cindy: Oh, it couldn't have been K, he has been at the register all afternoon. It must have been someone else.....
Shelia: Oh no, I'm pretty sure it was him.
Me: Haha, I appreciate the credit for the sale, but it wasn't me ma'am
Shelia: Oh..... (vacant stare)

Voice from the corner: "It was me." (We all turn around)

Before I even turned around, I just KNEW it was gonna be another black guy that she was talking about.

AND LOOKY HERE...the voice that we heard was coming from none other than a black associate who looked suspiciously.......NOT LIKE ME AT ALL!!!!!!!!

Now guys, I wasn't upset at all. I mean, this happens to me all the time....so I learn to laugh off lil' silly slights like this and just chalk it up to whatever. But then...........the bitch REALLY DONE TOOK IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL Y'ALL!!!!

Sheila: (waves hands as if swatting a fly) HAHA, that's alright.....YOU GUYS ALL KINDA LOOK THE SAME WAY ANYWAYS..........



Cindy: (nervous laugh....looks at me) Uhhhhhh...
Me: (narrows eyes questioningly and tilts head to the side) You Guys?!?!?
Shelia: (looks at my face, slowly recognizes the implication of her last statement and subsequently gets red and flustered)
Me: (purses lip and waits for a GOOD response)
Shelia: Ummm, ummm, well, ahhh......YOU GUYS ARE WEARING THE SAME EXACT THING, IT'S KINDA CONFUSING!!!!!! (nervous laugh)
Me: HAHA...well we have uniforms ma'am....we all are kinda wearing the same thing (knowing laugh)
Shelia: Oh, I guess your right. (a look of deflation crosses her face as she realizes that her seeming clever attempt to cover up her ignorant gaffe doesn't work)

So, seeing as tho I was sufficiently pleased that I brought her ignorant statement to her attention, I picked some items that needed to go downstairs, cocked my head to the side, smiled at her (insincerely of course), and said.....

Me: "I hope you enjoy the rest of your day....the weather is sooo great outside!"

And then I walked off

Poor thing, she was so confused...she just looked at me embarrassingly.....very much like when little children soil their clothes and they look at you to clean them up but they can't bring themselves to say sorry, or much less anything else, so they just look at you and hope that you forgive them and help em out........


Anyways,

I know some less cynical people out there might be reading this and saying to themselves, "well K, perhaps when she said you people she was really just referring to the employees of the store." Um yea.....as convenient a cop out as this sounds, I really don't think that is what she meant by her statement. Not only did she insist that it was me at first (even after Cindy TOLD her I was behind the register the entire time) she was visibly flustered and embarrassed after I asked her to clarify her "you people" statement. And then there was the whole follow-up conversation about our uniforms, which I believe further proves my point. Now of course no one will ever be able to prove exactly what she meant when she said that, as your own personal thoughts are.....personal. But as far as I am concerned, her reaction indicates that she realized what she said, recognized the negative implications of said statement and is throughly shamed for showing her ass in such a horribly ignorant fashion.

This whole incident brought back undergraduate memories for me as well. At UF I was a sociology minor and I remember my one of my social theory professors talking extensively about the cross-race effect. This is a phenomenon wherein people of one race can more easily distinguish between people of their own race than people of other races. In other words, if you are white, it is easier to tell the difference between other white people than it is to tell the difference between other black people or other Asian people or hispanic people...etc etc.

Curiously, research has shown that, in general, White people demonstrate a larger cross-race effect than Black people with respect to measures of discrimination accuracy, and "majority group" individuals demonstrate a more robust cross-race effect than "minority group" individuals (see above link for article).

Also check out this study conducted with hispanic participants.

So basically, research suggests that this lady just couldn't help herself.

LMAO!

I for one totally believe that there is much truth in CRE's, although I don't find it true for me at all. White people look totally different to me and I can easily discern between individuals. Same goes for Blacks, Asians, Hispanics and basically every other racial/ethnic group on this planet. LOLOL! I do not understand why some people find it so difficult.

The research is as interesting as it is disturbing. Personally, I think this should be required reading across the board. If we are gonna tackle racism and prejudice in society, we are really going to have to face it head on and realize that even on a subconscious level, we harbor all this shit.

Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox now. To be honest, the situation in the store wasn't that big of a deal...I'm just using it to illustrate a problem that I've seen in society since......well since forever. LOL!

Thoughts?