It was 1957, I was 7 years old. My mother and I went shopping at the Old Sears Department Store in Port Arthur, Texas. When we got there, I wanted to go by the water fountain and the candy counter. It was a treat to get candy and there was an excitement that maybe today I could get a nickel’s worth.
As I approached the water fountain, a boy about the same age as me was also approaching. I remember how I looked at him, and he looked at me. We both paused and were both a bit startled. I went to the refrigerated water fountain, and he went to get tap water from the other fountain. I remember thinking “cold water just tastes better; why wouldn’t he want cold water instead of tap water?” I remember seeing signs “white” and “colored” above the water fountains, but it didn’t mean anything to me at the time. We sipped our water and went in different directions. Now it was time to check out the candy. The candy counter was long and oval.
As I was walking around the candy counter I came across that same little boy. He and his mother were waiting at one end of the candy counter. I was fairly sure he had the same hopes as me. Nothing like going to the Sear’s candy counter and getting a nickel’s worth of your favorite candy in a bag. And I was sure he had a favorite candy just like me. It looked like he had already decided which candy he was getting and it was just a matter of waiting your turn to be helped.
I noticed people on the opposite end of the counter from the little boy. They were getting their candy. Lucky people. People continued to come up and be served on that end of the counter. I looked back at the other end. The little boy and his mother appeared to be waiting patiently. But it was like they were being ignored. I continued to notice how people on the other end would come up and get served. Maybe the person behind the counter didn’t see them. I just remember the thinking, “this doesn’t feel right”.
My mother came about this time, and it was time to go. Asked for my nickel’s worth but needlessly to say all I got was “not today”. I felt cheated. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t we just go to that end of the counter. People can get their candy a lot faster on that end. It would take no time. Please! The answer was the same, “not today”. I didn’t leave happy, but walking out the store and looking back, I remember the image of that little boy standing by himself with his mother at the end of the counter waiting. How long did he have to wait for his candy? Did he too leave without getting his favorite candy?
Over the years I often mentally looked back and wondered how that story ended. Seeing it through the eyes of a child, I didn’t understand what was happening at the time. As an adult, I have often reflected how much our paths diverged from that day and how other events like that shaped two little boys. That image burnt into my mind, I observed the Civil Rights Movement and images of young kids being blasted with powerful water hoses, events of blacks being hung from a tree, all the way to today where you can be shot for being stopped for a traffic ticket. These events speak for themselves, but what about all the subtle situations in life that are not so obvious?
Let’s be clear. There is still racism in America. And when it exists, it needs to be called out. I believe most people have split minds when it comes to racism. On the one hand we hold internalized racist stereotypes that can be relatively easily triggered at least in our unconscious minds. This is what is meant by “unconscious racism”. Even though most of us harbor unconscious racist stereotypes, most of us are not bigots. We believe consciously that racism is wrong and believe in racial fairness. The ideal is for us to use our conscious commitment for racial fairness and push back against our unconscious racism.
No matter where we come from or what our color, most of us work hard for our families and have dreams for a world of fairness, joy and love. But today certain politicians like Clay Higgins and John Kennedy and their corporate donors use Strategic Racism—a conscious strategy using dog whistles such as scapegoating different populations. They try to make us fear each other so we won’t come together to demand the schools, healthcare, and jobs all of our families need. We need to go all in for all of us, joining together with people from all walks of life to make a better future for us all; just like we won better wages, safer workplaces, and civil rights in our past. By joining together and speaking up at school board meetings, contacting our elected officials, and voting, we make Lafayette and Acadiana’s future, and will rewrite the rules to make Louisiana a place where we can all thrive.