While we might not like it racism still exits in our country. While I say there is not a racist bone in my body that is really not true. I used to travel every week to a different city for work and walked often alone, when I heard someone walking behind me I would check the person out. I noticed that I was more concerned, heart rate went up, if the person was male or a person of color. Not once, in 24 years, was I ever attacked, robbed or anything else. Now was I a racist, sexist or just being careful?
At the very least I was using racial profiling something that is often used by the police. Racial profiling in a 911 call led to the shooting death of a man in a Walmart in Ohio. The 911 called said there was a black man waving a gun at shoppers in the store. The SWAT team arrived and within 5 secs the man was dead. The police released the 911 call tape to the public but the Walmart tape were not. The man had purchased a air gun in the store, the tape shows it was playing with it in an aisle alone when a family turns into the aisle sees the guy and backs out. The caller now admits he never saw the man wave to gun at anyone....but a man is dead.
I have looked into myself and found something I didn't expect or like so I am working on my behavior. Perhaps we all should do this exercise.
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