One day last week I was sitting with the lunch crew, the crowd was real thin because people were doing other things. It was mostly the older guy and one asked me if I had any problems with racism, which shocked me a little bit because I’ve always felt some racist vibes from him. Like if I’m talking he’ll cut me off and he’ll very rarely make eye contact with me. I told him I haven’t had that many problems and I try not to be out and about during times where most people are. I just don’t like dealing with the stares constantly.
He said he wanted to make sure I wasn’t having any problems and I thought that was real nice of him. He told me he wasn’t perfect but he’s a lot better than his parents and a hell of a lot better than his grandparents. He even said his daughter is a lot better than him and, I definitely respected him for that.
I told him that I felt really comfortable living in the town that I do as opposed to about 2 towns over where my internship is. He told me if I had lived there I would have been the only black person living in the town. He was then able to tell me the last black family that lived there and when they left.
