I Thought We Got Rid of That In The 1960′s

Written on September 2, 2009. Posted in Frustrating, Politics. 7 Comments.

Most of the time, I ride a bus to get to school in the morning. I’m not friends with most of the other kids that ride the bus; for the most part, I’m the quiet bookish girl who always has her iPod in and they’re the loud ones that shout to each other from opposite ends of the bus. I usually just block them out.

Yesterday, when we were about to reach the high school, the song I was listening to ended. Rather than starting a new song that I would only get about a minute and a half into, I just turned off my iPod and returned it to my bag. This meant that I caught the tail end of a rather loud conversation two girls behind me were having:

“Yeah? Well I just had a nigger move in next door.”
“Yeah, now I think there’s four of ‘em in the neighborhood.”
“Man, we need to get all these motherf*****g niggers the f*** outta here, I’m tired of them…”

At which point I was so sickened that I stopped listening. But I think I may have caught the mention of one of them putting a noose in their front yard as a threat.

I only wish I were kidding about this. I grant you that these girls are not the most educated, thoughtful individuals on the face of the planet (both are in the directed- the lowest academic level- class that I student aide for second period, and neither really seems to give a care about anything the teacher says).

But I don’t give a damn who you are. Racism- of any kind or level- is not acceptable in today’s society. We should have learned- collectively- long ago that judging a person by the color of their skin is not a valid judge of a person’s character. Dark skin does not make you less worthy than light skin. By fifteen, a person should realize that.

Someone should have taught them that lesson long ago. I shudder to think where they learned that “nigger” is still a term that can be used and thrown about lightly in today’s world- more than likely their parents, the same people who taught them that it was okay to toss around curse words and drop the f-bomb every three words, even in the classroom- but whoever passed on that lesson deserves to be slapped across the face.

What kind of society do we live in where we still allow things like this to happen? Where we still allow kids to grow up with a code of racial slurs engrained in their minds? Shouldn’t we do something?

Yes, I realize it’s not feasible to make the world to my liking. It’s not feasible to expect everyone to always get along, and it’s not possible for everyone to always like each other. But this isn’t 1950. This should not happen any more. It’s just mind-numbing to me that people are still that stupid.

It’s beyond stupidity. It’s outdated, ignorant and sickening. Maybe someday, they’ll realize how wrong they are- but I doubt it. One can only hope that they won’t pass it on to their own children.

7 Comments

Ugh. That is seriously sick

It reminds me of when people at school say these stupid things like, “That’s so gay.” It makes me want to lob my big, hard textbooks at them and give them a concussion. What’s wrong with gay people? My aunt is married to a woman, and I love them both, they’re amazing and they don’t act strange at all.

I also can empathize with the whole f-word thing. People say that ALL THE TIME at my school, and it disgusts me. They think they’re really cool when they say it, but it makes them look stupid. Even some of my ‘friends’ (thankfully, we’re not as close anymoe) say the f-word all the time or swear for no reason. They sound uneducated and just plain stupid.

I completely agree with you, Emily. Come on, people; put it all behind you. You’re not impressing anyone.

Posted by Kat on July 6, 2011.

I swear, people never learn. *shakes head* But I mean, it’s not something I’m not used to. For some reason, there are even some people in my family who are sorta-kinda racist, but don’t publicly show it. It sickens me because a lot of my friends are African-American.

However, I have to disagree with the swearing part, because I swear a lot-mainly out of frustration and at ignorant idiots-so I would be a hypocrite to say swearing is bad and all xD

Posted by Alyssa on July 6, 2011.

As to your comment, what I was getting at was really that if people thought about how they’d be remembered, maybe there WOULD be less jerks, idiots, and others like that in the world. =)

I appreciate your comment.

That’s… sickening and horrible. Racism is pathetic, and it annoys the heck out of me. People can’t change who they are, and just because they are different doesn’t mean that they are worth less.

And swearing. Honestly. People at my school (I’m in 7th grade) think they are the coolest things alive when they say the f-word and other swear words. They’ll call people a b**** just because it makes them feel superior, and I can’t stand it. The most I ever say is freakin’ and frickin’, and only when I’m extremely annoyed.

Posted by Haley on July 6, 2011.

After I read this entry, I almost bawled my eyes out. Not with sadness, but with anger. Racism is revolting, disgraceful and pathetic. It’s so wrong, yet people are always trying to justify it. Here in Australia the amount of racism is unbelievable. The word “nigger” isn’t even taken seriously; I hear people in my class saying it more often than the F-word. Either they’re not aware that it’s an discriminatory term, or they’re just ignorant.

What makes me incredibly angry is when I hear someone being racist and they take it like a joke. How is being racist funny? How is being insulted and humiliated funny? Pardon me for not ‘getting’ the joke, but I don’t see any humour in racist remarks whatsoever. Sometimes I feel like slapping them across the face, like you said. It’s disgusting, the way people behave these days.

Swearing has got to be one of the best examples of idiocy. I hear my classmates swearing all day long, and it just proves that they lack any intelligence whatsoever. I mean, when I’m frustrated I don’t use profanity; I just rant about it, listen to a song about it, or say some alternate phrases, like “Fudge-on-a-stick” and “Holy shiznit”. Self-control isn’t that hard, people.

Racists will get their comeuppance eventually. Only when someone discriminates against them will they learn how it feels, and why racism is wrong. It’s stupid and sickening, and I hate it more than anything else in the world.

Posted by Jess on July 6, 2011.

Aww I feel terrible now. I always say the f-word and other swear words (not in front of my family or teachers, though). I tried kicking the habit, but it didn’t work, so now I’m just like, “The heck with it! I’ll say anything I like as long as it doesn’t harm anyone.” I don’t swear to “look cool” or anything, it’s just a bad habit I picked up at school and never managed to ditch.

I’m totally against racism though. There are people in my school that are racist. Heck, even my parents are racist! It really bothers me when people put down others because of their race. Really, grow up already. It’s the 21st century for goodness sakes! However, I have never ever in my life here say what those girls said. They should be ashamed of themselves!

Lol don’t worry, you’re not the first person to say it looks like Hogwarts before. (This is totally off topic, but why is the school called Hogwarts anyways? It’s such a weird name. Makes me think of warts on pigs. :P )

*gasp* Not doing your homework? Bad, bad girl!

Just kidding, just kidding. ;) Last year I didn’t do any of my math homework, and I was still able to get a good mark. This year is different though. Tonight, I spent three hours doing math homework. If I actually did my homework from last year, it probably would have only taken 2 hours—maybe less. I’m so screwed.

Posted by Leah on July 6, 2011.

Racism is just ignorant. In the words of my 8th grade reading teacher, “Racism says more about the person producing it then the person it’s aimed at.” : I really didn’t think people talked like that anymore. At least, not up in New England (and didn’t the K.K.K. start here?).

Thanks for your comment, by the way (: I’m starting to get a little more used to high school now. I’m going to see how long I can keep up with my work before the annual slacking kicks in xD

Oh, but don’t worry about me being “anorexic” or anything, haha. I’m definately not that skinny. I’ve always been kind of pudgy and I’m just trying to get down to a healthier weight, that’s all. Thanks for caring, though (:

Posted by Erica on July 6, 2011.

That’s just disgusting. D:.<
And I agree with you on swearing too. I hear at least 10 or more swearwords a day at my school. I barely swear and I say barely because one time I was in a bad day at school and it slipped. The other time it was kinda the same thing, except I was mad at my brother.

Posted by Beaver on July 6, 2011.

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