When I left college in the throes of the deepest depression I’ve ever been, I was set with the task of getting a job. I felt incredibly worthless so, naturally, I shot really low in my search and took the first job that was offered to me. I didn’t have a lot of experience at the time, so maybe I couldn’t have done better if I tried, but I did not really try. The Job From Hell was at an office supply company as their receptionist. Have you ever read a Confederacy of Dunces? I think the author worked in a place like this.
It was a family owned business that the father had started and handed down to his two sons. The patriarch had since retired but would come in every so often to get the news and receive his coffee from one of the customer service ladies who had been working there since dirt was invented. She had orange hair and a permanently sour expression that would lighten only when the old man came in.
The office had not been touched since 1975. (This was in 1994) Wood paneling was everywhere and orange shag carpeting covered the walls in the printer room. There was no natural light because there were no windows in the office. Natural light was reserved for the customers. The windows were in the front of the building where the “showroom” was. In my entire year working at this place, no customers ever showed up to gaze upon the glory of our showroom. The business was all conducted over the phone and the fledgling website.
There was an unspoken call routing procedure that I had to quickly learn. The customer service reps that were newest got the most calls. Queen Orange Hair got any that spilled over but NEVER before lunch or a break. And the brothers were not to be disturbed with calls from pesky customers unless absolutely necessary. If I violated these unspoken rules I would get the Glare of Death complete with sighing and finger tapping and passive-aggressive-letting-the-phone-ring-while-sitting-right-in-front-of-it.
They bullied me because I didn’t know I deserved better. One of the brothers called me into his office to chastise me for my car which was dripping coolant on the parking lot. (Which, I might add, had probably last been blacktopped in the mid-seventies as well.) I apologized. To this man who drove a brand new BMW. I apologized for my shitty car that I didn’t even want. “Don’t you think I would drive a better car if I could?!” I wanted to scream at him. “Would you like to pay me more so I can fix it?!” All the things I should have said came to me long after their usefulness. And I would never have said them anyway. I wasn’t that strong. Wasn’t that brave.
I spent that year in darkness going from the windowless office to my windowless basement room in my parents’ house. I would never have dreamed of having a political discussion with these men who left out copies of Guns ‘n’ Ammo in the break room and talked endlessly of their baseball god sons. These two men had never had to look for work in their lives. They had never been poor. Never been desperate.
At one point in my short employment, they were hiring for a warehouse position. A Hispanic man came in and filled out an application. After he was gone, one of the brothers came over to take the application from me and tossed it in the trash can. “We don’t want that working here, do we?” he said in some weird combination of smirk and growl. He was clearly annoyed that I had even wasted his precious paper by allowing this man an application. I was speechless then I felt crawly all over. It came as an ugly realization that working in an all-white office in a largely Hispanic neighborhood was not some fluke. (Really? How could it have been? But I was naïve to say the least.) I said nothing and it haunts me to this day. I have no idea what I could have done. If I’d said something, I would have kissed my job goodbye. Which, in hindsight, probably wouldn’t have been a great loss, but at the time I needed it.
I’m certain if my boss had been caught he would have had a hundred ready-made excuses about “qualifications” and “company culture” and “experience.” There are so many reasons he could give that would be valid, but I saw the real reason in his face. And he had all the power in that situation. So I’m sorry, Limbaugh. I cannot now or ever buy “reverse racism” as a real term for anything but the privileged whining about their privilege being encroached upon.
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Emily Holleman
Kat Hudson
Mimetalker
Charles Yoo
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Comments
Racism can point all ways.
That's it. Great post.
When racism is 'reversed' and exhibited by minorities, the aspect of marginalization is missing.
Because I regard this marginalization as core to the meaning of racism, I disbelieve the existence of so-called reverse racism.
I totally understand and agree.
Nice work, and sad that people are such morons.
Toni
Perdidochas- it mostly points at those of the non-white persuasion though
Thanks Stellaa. Thanks Owl.
Good to see you Zuma- glad you liked it.
Yeah JK- I don't know what I could have done, but I hate that he included me in that "we" It felt really icky.
Hi Hello! (I like saying hello to hello) Thank you. It was a glorious showroom. Filled with seventies furniture relics. Ahhh.
Thanks neil- the whole "they hate white people" thing? In that moment- I hated white people too. And I am one.
Hiya Buffy! that fickle finger- it'll get ya
Oh Toni- it was beyond depressing- and I was already there. Thanks.
Thanks Travis- To be linked by you would be an honor.
havlin- yeah- the implication though is that the powerless can victimize the powerful. I just don't buy it.
Thanks lpsrocks.
thank you
thank you
I agree 1,000%
(I'm glad you got out of that job, and the basement)
As for Obama's pick, does not bother me in the least that she is Hispanic or a women. She was picked because of her qualifications and because she fit the political need of being a women and Hispanic, so what, all appointments to the court are political. All past presidents appointed members of the court for political reasons, why should it be any different now.
I am sure there were qualified people of all races including whites that could fit the bill, but there is nothing wrong with the court reflecting the culture of this country.
Obama could pick God and Rush would find fault, that is his job. Same holds true when a republican appoints a judged except some liberal talking head finds fault. It's the game of politics.
Nicely written Juli
That was my favorite line. I've worked a few places like this, and you're absolutely right. Nicely done.
what you call "racism" on the part of some Black people and other minorities is just plain ol' fashioned RESENTMENT...from having to put up your funky behavior all these years...
And I'm sorry you had to work harder than your previous bosses who inherited their business. The point is that someone -- presumably their father or grandfather -- started that business, and I bet he started it from nothing.
If you don't have the self-esteem or self-control and tenacity to go out and get what you want -- or feel you're entitled to something more tham some junky, coolant-leaking car -- than that's your problem. Don't make it ours by siding with the resentful losers of the world. And yes from everything I've read here you are a resentful loser.
About the 200 points on the SAT, when I was in my 20s (the 80s) we'd were just ending an era where teaching grammar in school was 1) boring, 2) racist (Black English was just as good as standard English and to say otherwise was to hurt the self-esteem of the Blacks, and 3) rote when schools should focus on creativity.
But so many of the English sections of the tests I took (SAT, Acheivement, GMAT, Foreign Service exam) had a very hefty component of grammar. I felt that it was discriminating between those of us whose parents spoke well and insisted that we do and those people (mostly minorities) who didn't. In many ways, it tested class and background as well as intelligence and achievement.
I found many questions easy and I gave the answer that sounded right without studying. A black friend complained the test was hard. Obviously what sounded right to him, what he'd say, was not always correct. Only after he said this did I notice he occasionally made grammatical errors -- not often. He was a graduate of a respected college, bright, articulate and ambitious. Just not from the upper middle class. The tests were testing for common mistakes -- the kinds of errors people like him make.
I did think you should either say grammar is important, teach it and test for it or say it is not important and neither teach nor test, but that's not the way it was.
But if you're not going to teach grammar and are going to test for it, the way to make it fair is to give a few extra points to people who are likely to struggle with the aspects of the test which are really separating people with well-educated parents and people without.
JustJuli was pointing out that real racism is uglier and more personal.
Racism is not about valid arguments on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of affirmative action.
Racism is someone discriminating against you because they feel you are inferior, because they feel your culture is savage and dirty, because they feel you are a mongrel.
It is clear, either through willful ignorance or flat out stupidity, you missed the point of the essay. It is clear that you would rather live in your black and white world where you can yell and scream your angry, put upon, white guy bullshit rather than take a learned and nuanced view of the world.
Racism is judging someone negatively based on their "race" (a socially constructed term with practically no literal meaning). Everyone is capable of racism, and racism's moral wrongness does not vary depending on who is practicing it. If you want to say that white racism has had more negative social consequences than racism practiced by other groups, that's fine -- I think it clearly is true. But I don't see what is to be gained by decreeing that certain types of racism don't exist, or are less wrong than other types. Wouldn't it be better to strive for a world in which all kinds of racism are relics?
This is the dumbest thing I ever heard! Why don't we just give them extra points for the fact that their parents are dumb too.
Why not give them points and make it"fair" because of the fact that they are incapable of achieving what we have achieved; and they don't have the foresight, self-control or intelligence to do it. And that's because they're parents didn't have it either.
Life isn't fair. Get over it.
When I was 10 or 11, we lived for a year in a small town in rural New Mexico. We were, quite literally, the only white family around--the community was predominantly Hispanic, with a good number of Native Americans too. I and my three siblings were treated horrendously. Although I was lucky enough to be homeschooled at that point in my life, I did go to Sunday school and the children I met there were more cruel to me than I knew was possible. My oldest sister was enrolled in the public high school, and had not a single friend. She was harassed and ridiculed so much that she was, at times, suicidal. Please don't tell me that we were just whining about our privilege being encroached upon. This was racism, and it hurt.
(Although perhaps I should mention that we were also dirt poor, which was saying a lot in the community where we lived. Perhaps if we'd been middle-class or well-off, our treatment would have been different. Who knows?)
None of this is to say that I agree with Rush Limbaugh; I think his accusation was totally off-base, and offensive.
Actually, based upon your story and descriptions, I don't think he would have had all kinds of excuses. He owned the business. He didn't need any excuses. Pathetic? Yes. But nonetheless real. You described them all like being a relic from the 70's somehow explained their racism. Hardly.
Racism comes in all kinds of shades, faces, colors, sizes, circumstances, socio-economic levels, etc. It's not reserved for the Limbaughs of the world. It's here and there and it's everywhere and white people are not the only offenders. That's what your limited experience tells you about reverse racism. You think it's just a white thing. Well, surprise, it's not.
Racism is alive and well in America - in every corner of the country. And no one has corner on the market anymore.
Excellent piece! Rated.
ARRRRGGGGHHH.
This does not mean I don't believe Sonia Sotomayor's background makes her better qualified. I absolutely do because she was put in a position where she had to fight for her position and education. She is a great example of affirmative action working (I am referring to her schooling, NOT her appointment as some people have so ridiculously done). I think anyone with the more worldly and varied life experience a person has, the more fit they are to serve.
I happen to be a part-Caucasian, part-Hawaiian (part everything else) person and look just like my Caucasian dad. I can tell you I have been the looked down upon by many other Hawaiian people thanks exclusively to my light skin. This would be considered "reverse racism" by many, but I just call it what it is - racism. I take offense to anyone who considers that "whining".
Your opinion that one 30-year-old experience is too little support for her thesis is only your opinion, which you are perfectly entitled to, equal to any other opinion.
But comparing an Open Salon post to a college essay is just lame. Unless she presented it as a potential submission for a college course, the views expressed in your first paragraph were totally irrelevant.
As an aside, the current definitions of racism allow the perception to be the fact. If a minority person feels somehow 'outside' or detects discrimination, real or imagined, the 'perpetrator' has, by definition, engaged in a racist act. As with sexual molest, the accusation is the conviction. A white person in a black or hispanic environment is not accorded the same privilege.
No, the idea that one anecdote is inadequate to support a thesis such as this one is not just an opinion, it is rule of argument in any and all of the discourses--journalism, ploitical science, sociology--that this post engages. It is ironic that the author would use such blatant stereotyping--the extrapolation from a single incident to a larger whole--to make a case abour racism.
By the way, I am assuming that the office supply company went out of business if they ran it the way you said. So maybe in the end things work out (?)
To a few others let me say this is only my experience. But it informs my opinions as your experiences inform yours. To adapt a quote from Judge Sotomayor, "Personal experiences affect the facts that we choose to see."
Actually, my humble blog does not attempt to engage any of these disciplines. My blog is a first person singular. A memoir-blog, if you will. There are many such blogs out there. If you wish to read political science- may I suggest Saturn Smith? She is excellent. If you want journalism- well there are about a dozen or two fine journalists here. Check out the front page. I'm not sure who's doing sociology. I'll have to get back to you on that one. But I try to write only what I know. That's what they told me to do in skool anyhoo.
I am brown-skinned so I would've been likely rejected by the employer described by justjuli
However, as Kendall Hawley and mabinogi wrote, there are communities in the USA where Caucasians are the minority, and they face the same vicious, hateful racism that non-whites face in Caucasian communities!
To claim that doesn't happen is to deny reality. It's not "right-wing" to deal with that truth!
neilpaul typed: "To me racism has a specific impact when it is directed at a minority by a majority."
But it can also be directed at the majority by a minority: apartheid South Africa.
I am in favor of distinguishing between racism and bigotry. Here is a definition of racism that works for me: "the use of race to establish and justify a social hierarchy and system of power that privileges, preferences or advances certain individuals or groups of people usually at the expense of others. Racism is perpetuated through both interpersonal and institutional practices."- understandingrace.org/resources/glossary.html
Bigotry, to me, is what is not institutionalized and can go in any direction.
Jim Galt, off the top of his head, typed about the homeless: "Half are white males. They fail or succeed for the exact same reason anyone else does. Not applying themself, lack of education, changing markets." Clearly, you have never studied—or, likely, read about—homelessness, but, like the rest of what you say, just put out whatever works to defend your prejudices.
People often become homeless because they get sick, lose their jobs and can't pay their rent. Kids are brought up in homeless under these circumstances. People become homeless due to mental illness, alcoholism, escaping abuse in their homes. Many homeless people are highly educated folks who have hit some form of hard times. People with full time jobs are sometimes homeless.
As someone else pointed out, affirmative action is a method of overcoming 400 years of American history. And, yes, sometimes deserving white folks are hurt by it. But the racist arguments that you and Nick "the minority candidate more often than not is grossly under-qualified" Davis make never stand up to investigation.
And speaking of Nick, he typed: "Life isn't fair. Get over it." Why should this only apply to non-whites, Nick? Get over it yourself.
As to the throw-away Rev. Wright comment, read the actual sermon, of which at least most is here, and listen to it there as well. Then call it racist, if you dare.
Juli: Thanks for the interesting post. There's nothing "just" about you.
look, I know that the racist attitudes of some in the Mexican-American community is a serious problem (full disclosure: my dad is from Mexico), but what evidence do you have that most of the Latino bullies at your kid's school are "illegal aliens". Or do they just look "illegal", so you call them "illegal aliens"?
@ everyone else
Look, I know that too many on the Left see racism as a "white oppressing everyone else", but as Astralprojections has written, there have been Mexican-American gangs that are visciously anti-black as the KKK are!
But there's other ethnic rivalries as well. In Hawaii public housing complexes, there have been conflicts between Polynesians and Micronesians, 2 very different groups of Pacific Islanders. Whereas most reading this from the other 49 states can't tell the difference between the two groups, most people in Hawaii can!
The whole point is, racism goes in many directions!
I nominate this for Inane Post Of The Month.
What I was saying is that your giving your credentials as a preface to your opinion was unnecessary and actually muddied the waters of your post.
You could have written, "Sorry, but I need more than just one anectode before I frame an opinion on a large cohort of people," without giving your credentials. It would be a valid observation or opinion without the biographical background. At least to me it would.
In my experience, the "rules" are given to a student before they even write. The essay is a test of how well these rules have been absorbed. As you wrote, these rules are hopefully carried out into the larger world.
I still maintain that grading a blog as if it were a college-, or any other type of school-written essay is a little arrogant, and irrelevant.
But since you still maintain it was perfectily valid, I'm grading your original post a C- because I'm kind of an arrogant bitch.
Racism is racism, as others have stated, and everyone is capable of it. This particular post would have benefited from being more specific about the particular aspect of “reverse” racism that it addresses as opposed to racism.
RATED
Perhaps I didn't make my meaning clear. I am not against testing for achievement or intelligence. But, if you don't teach grammar, then testing for it becomes a test of what your parents taught you, which is a function of their education and class.
If you are intelligent, hard-working, and studious -- you should do well on tests of stuff you learned in school, and be graded accordingly.
If you grow up in circles where people speak incorrectly, that's what you'll learn. That's what will sound right. If your teachers accept incorrect speech as normal (because they don't want to harm your self-esteem) you won't learn that it's not. And you will fail a grammar test.
This is an entirely different issue from teaching, say, algebra and then testing for ability to do algebra.
There is no question that a generation ago, blacks had much more limited access to education than whites. Therefore, blacks would be expected to be more likely to have un- or undereducated parents.
But just to be clear, I didn't grade the post. I have no power to do so. I used an analogy, based on my own experience and frame of reference, and explained how I would have reacted to the post were I grading it. "Were" being the key word in that sentence.
Rev, Wright's were spot on - I know you spent 30 years in PR, but don't try to sell that bullsh*t here.
We are adults, NOT your gullible clients.
P.S. I like this avatar the best!
Kyle, loans for cash strapped individuals