Did you click on this entry because you think I'm a racist? Well, read on.
I had an unpleasant but nevertheless interesting experience today as I rode home the Athens Transit bus after class. Everything was normal during the first 10 minutes or so of the ride. But then, it happened.
A young black guy, who I assume is a local resident, began playing a first person shooting game on his cellphone. This alone would've been fine had it not been for the fact that he had the volume all the way up to maximum on speakerphone and was bothering those around him with bangs of simulated gunfire. Eventually, people started glancing in his direction hoping that he would get the message.
But this man evidently did not understand the concept of public courtesy. Bang! Bang! Bang! My ears began to hurt. So being the blunt person that I am, I prepared to call him out publicly since I was "conveniently" sitting next to him anyway. After all, no one else seemed to have the balls to confront a 6+ foot tall black man with dreads.
Just as I was about to spit the truth on behalf of the other riders, I was surprised to hear a white female UGA student---who was barely 5 foot 3 at best---beat me to the punch:
"Excuse me, but can you mute that?" she asked courteously but firmly. "What?" the man responded, pretending like he didn't hear. But man, this girl was feisty! Showing no signs of backing down, she repeated, "Can you mute your phone? The noise is really annoying and I'm sure everyone here agrees."
Unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood to cooperate. "Man, I ain't botherin' no one," he retorted apathetically. My low BS tolerance level kicked into overdrive. "Actually, I agree with her," I responded staring into his eyes. For a few seconds, the bus fell silent.
But I guess he didn't like getting ganged up on because he belligerently pulled out the race card. "What, I ain't doin' nuttin'," he grunted, "y'all think you's better 'cuz you go to college or some shit?" He continued pressing the buttons on his phone like a large but rebellious child and muttered expletives under his breath as his girlfriend laughed mockingly next to him. Upon hearing this, I smirked with a foul taste in my mouth. The white girl looked like she was getting angry and tried to dissuade him again. "Don't bother," I said, "he's not gonna listen to you."
When I got home, however, a controversial question arose in my mind. "Why are blacks so quick to play the race card?" I wondered. Yes, racism still exists in America. Yes, sometimes the game seems to be rigged. And yes, other races---even whites from time to time---also play the race card. But is there more to this than what meets the eye?
I might be oversimplifying the issue but I think one of the main reasons why this social problem exists is because an alarming number of people in the black community have simply given up. Crime, drugs, gunshots, and single-parent households have become a norm instead of an anomaly. "What's the point of trying?" young blacks might ask, "no matter how hard I try, the white man's running the show."
But the black community must not give up. Yes, slavery and segregation set off a vicious cycle of ignorance, poverty, and violence. Yes, racism still exists in America. But look at some of the changes that have taken place. Who would've thought 100 years ago that black students would attend UGA? Who would've thought that we would have a black president? These transformations happened because people kept fighting. I believe that inspirational leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. understood that disillusionment leads to certain defeat.
Life is not a fairy tale. But we nevertheless must strive to make it so.
