by Walter Brasch
For
years, my father, a federal employee with a top secret clearance, carried a
copy of his birth certificate when he went into Baja California from our home
in San Diego. Many times, when he tried to reenter the U.S., he was stopped by
the Border Patrol.
My
father had thick black hair and naturally dark skin, and the Patrol thought he
was a Mexican brazenly trying to sneak back into the country by claiming to be
married to the black-haired, blue- eyed, light-skinned woman he claimed was his
wife. It was annoying.
It was also annoying that once back home, he faced discrimination because
neighbors thought he was Mexican. Because we lived in an urban area, not many
discriminated against my parents because they were Jews, but there were a few
with hatred as great as their ignorance.
When
I was 11 years old, we moved two hours North, near Los Angeles, and my parents
bought a house in a new tract of about 150 houses, all owned by Whites and a
few Hispanics. Three or four years later, a Realtor came by, plastering flyers
on all the houses, announcing he had a special real good, one-time only deal. A
few wouldn't sell their houses at any price if it was a Black who was planning
to move into the area. Someone in the tract took up the offer, and a Black
family--he was a mechanical engineer--moved in. It didn't take long before
other White families began putting their houses up for sale. Only this time,
they weren't getting as much as the first family that sold out. Soon, the
prices began tumbling as other Blacks and Hispanics moved in.
But
my parents refused to sell their house. They had no intention of becoming
involved with what was now known as "block busting." A few of our Hispanic and
Black neighbors wondered why we stayed. My parents always responded they
preferred to have as neighbors good people, and it made no difference their
ethnicity or race.
Until my father died in 1983, he owned that house in a neighborhood that went from almost 100 percent White to almost 100 percent Black, Hispanic, and lower-class White, refusing to be sucked in by racism.
Discrimination occurs throughout our country, whether we want to believe
it or not. A secret tape recording revealed Texaco executives are racist. And
we are shocked.
The military revealed that some of its male instructors sexually
harassed, and sometimes raped, female recruits. And we are shocked.
A former Avis manager revealed that Avis policy in the Carolinas was to
discourage Blacks from renting cars. And we are shocked.
We are shocked because we don't think these things occur. But, they do
occur.
At a local school district, one in which its teachers had "cultural diversity" classes in college and "diversity training" on-the-job, it's not unusual to hear a few teachers or staff tell racist jokes, not just among themselves in a faculty lounge but also to students. And the students and teachers share a laugh.
White supremacists shout for "White Power!" and Black militants call for "Black Pride!" Each claims it isn't planning to destroy any other race--although myriad Klan and Skinhead actions prove otherwise--but merely to strengthen their own. Add into the mix, those who cry "racism" when no racism exists and, thus, make it difficult for those with true compassion for justice to separate truth from fiction. Peel the rhetoric, and the core is still a racist fear.
A good friend of mine--a Navy submarine veteran, a former newspaper
editor and business owner--worked as a bartender because he couldn't get hired
anywhere else. He scored in the high 90s on numerous state Civil Service tests,
but was never hired. He applied to many companies, and was seldom given an
interview. It had nothing to do with his abilities. It had everything to do the
fact that he was in his late 50s, and didn't have a college degree. Chalk up
ageism and elitism in one interview.
The
law specifically states that employers may not discriminate on basis of age.
But, in Pennsylvania, the law is silent on hiring women. It's not unusual for
employers to not hire women because they "might" become pregnant and leave, or
that they're married. In this economy, some stupidly believe, a well-qualified
woman with a working husband should give up her place to a semi-qualified
unemployed man.
We discriminate against the handicapped, against gays, against people from the Coal Region, against people from urban areas, against almost anyone who thinks, acts, or looks different from us. Reporters with college degrees will often give higher credibility to a freshly-scrubbed suit-wearing PR person than to someone who is homeless.
Numerous studies reveal that women who are frumpy, no matter what their income
or education is, and men who are fat, short, bald, or have beards are
discriminated against, both as customers and as employees. I am fat, bald, and
have a beard. I usually dress casual; it's rare when I wear a tie. At one time,
I was annoyed when clerks and salespeople ignored me to wait upon others they thought
were more lucrative customers. And then I came to a realization--many like me do
have money and education, and we can afford to buy whatever it is the others
are selling. But, it wasn't worth buying from them if they were going to
profile us before knowing what we wanted.
Want
to be a CEO for a Fortune 500 company? Make sure you're about 6-foot tall--too
tall also doesn't work, either--weigh about 170-200 pounds, have hair, and look
good in Armani suits. And, also make sure you're a male.
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