All my life I’ve lived in this world, some parts love, some parts dislike, some hate.  All these feelings toward me people have established from getting to know me, working, socializing, whatever else.  I, as we all would, would love to say all the hateful feelings others have  toward come from misguided misperceptions, ignorance, irrationality, there’s definitely something wrong with someone if they don’t like me…

      What if someone decided they didn’t you, just from looking at you, first glance, they see something that makes them uneasy, threatened, complete disdain? What  would you do? God forbid you might actually take something from them? Is it the way you wear your hair, your outfit, the way you walk, the color of your skin?  We have discussed and confronted these issues of what we call prejudice, what we establish as our own preconcieved notions about someone before we’ve even met, spoken to or spent some time with a person.

    I’ve grown up in enviroments  where the majority of people I lived around, went to school with  socialized   did not share my ethnic background, skin color. I came up during a time when everything from perceptions to written law when through drastic changes. A few short years before my time there were public places people like me were not able to go, much less be seen.  What would you have done? Even once laws were in place to change this, those like me were not allowed on certain school buses, to attend certain schools a few short miles from where I was educated.  There was persistence, and violence. Children were called names a child’s ear shouldnt have to hear. What was there to do.

               I am an adult now and the  Country has progressed. I came about in an area of the world and country where we are known as ‘Liberals’, we celebrate with intensity our Black President, Governor, Democratic Liberal Leftist ways. I was birthed in what is known as ‘The People’s Republic’ and always remained in the area, drive through, socialize, shop, family friends still remain, a bastion of  the open-minded,educated,  some hippes, super-Liberals and tree-huggers. Despite all this, where ever I am, on a bus and train to work, shopping at Target, crossing a street, driving my car, it’s still there. Car doors suddenly lock when I pass, I hear someone say to their (shopping) companion, ‘watch your bag’, I see a woman gesture to her elderly mother on the train to do so as I stand between them. I see stares, some glances. Sometimes I’m completely ignored by sales people when they instantly approach others. Sometimes I’m followed around.Once or twice the door was opened up on me in a dressing room, trying on clothes, by a sales person. Several times in one store visit. What would you do? Sometimes I go to places away from the City I like to go because there’s good seafood, icecream, a place to swim, a grassy hill on a beautiful Summer evening to watch the moon rise, only to hear  ‘are all the doors locked in the car? Can you go check? Watch the stuff;’.What would you have said? Trust me, I have no interest in your ‘stuff’, Im not going to jump you and  beat on you, my color won’t rub off on to you or your children. I have my own ( you should be grateful if some of my color did rub off onto you) I’m only here to be outside on a nice night, with my friends and do the same thing you’re doing. I should have said the same thing aloud to my friends, was their car locked, etc and say I was asking because I heard someone else ask and make sure that someone else heard me. I’ve dont that before, put people in their place,  in such incidences. I wonder if those folks learned anything, their lesson and stop preconceiving and misperceiving once something said to them in response to their actions. I often say to myself, come on all you super Liberals, open minds and educated,so open, yet so closed.  You voted for a Black President but yet, you think I want to steal your wallet. I’ve often thought about making a sign and pinning it to whatever shirt I wear, or my bag saying this’  I don’t want your stuff, I have my own’, in neon and flashing. I mean..what would you do?