"I am white, and today I hired an Uber, and the driver was a Black man. We were chatting on the ride, and he mentioned that he was from St Louis. I blurted out, "They've got the best barbecue in St Louis!" As soon as I said it, I just cringed inside. I know it sounded racist, shallow, stereotypical, and like a classic microaggression, dressed up in a pitiful attempt to connect with a Black person."
"My first boyfriend was a Black boy, and my parents were not OK with it. I've spent many years accepting that my family was and is racist. I've been working as hard as I can to unlearn the things I was conditioned to believe about Black people and to just listen to their experiences. I've really been trying to understand the criticisms that Black people have about white people, and I was shocked at myself for what I said."
A white passenger praised St. Louis barbecue to a Black Uber driver and immediately felt that the comment sounded racist, shallow, and like a microaggression. The passenger explains deep personal affection for barbecue and soul food rooted in Virginia upbringing and family traditions. The passenger recounts a history of family racism, an early interracial relationship, and active efforts to unlearn conditioned beliefs and listen to Black experiences. The passenger worries the remark undid progress, struggles with guilt, and faces a dilemma about whether to apologize for possibly offending the driver.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]