Trinity721
<font color=navy>Proud Navy wife<br><font color=de
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2003
- Messages
- 1,107
An errand outing to Target with my Mom, DD2yrs, and brothers started of wonderfully, and ended up with me shaking and crying.... It's a bit of a long story, but here goes...
After we had purchased a bulky item, my mom and DD stayed behind in the store while I got the car and my brothers, who drove seperately, also pulled up the car to help with packages. It was pouring rain at this time, and there was no one really around so we pull up to the doors as close as we can which means we are on the crosswalk, but we were only going to be there for a minute or two. My youngest brother enters the store to get my Mom and DD, while my other brother and I are popping the trunk, opening the doors, etc. This man and his son come from the parking lot, easily cross to get into the store, but here is the kick in the butt part.... He yells at my brother for being an idiot and parking in the crosswalk, and right before he enters the store he says "Why don't you go back to where you came from!!!"
I, being defensive that he yelled at my younger brother and because he was out of line, approach him and yell "Don't you ever say anything like that ever again!" He turns around, and approaches bro and me, yelling again that we should not park in the crosswalk. "No problem, I say, we don't have a problem moving, but we are waiting for a small child to come out and don't want her to get wet in the wind/rain!". At this point, Mom, DD and youngest bro are coming out of the store. Younger bro and I are yelling at this guy that we are American born citizens with the same rights, education, as anyone else in this country. He shoots back at us by calling me and my mother a *ahem* wh*re in front of my DD. Well, in so many words my brother yells at him to go away. We all get into our cars, and I buckle DD safely back in her seat.
I was ready to leave, but had one more thing to say because I did not want him to go home, thinking that he had gotten away with it and not feel any guilt. I run back into the store and find him. I tell him "How dare you say what you said, when I have the same rights as you do, I was born here and educated here, I am an American citizen. How dare you even think to say what you said, when my husband is out there with others fighting for a war they didn't ask to fight, but are gladly fulfilling their duty. How dare you, when I won't see my husband for six months and have to explain to my daughter why Daddy is away, defending the freedom of a pathetic person like you! The man would not even look in my direction, but I know that he will be thinking about what he said for a long time.
I have never experienced anything like this. I am not oblivious to the world, and I know that racism is still very much alive. But like I said, I was born here, raised here, educated here, got my bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago . My parents came here and became American citizens, working their butts off to give my brothers and I a life they never could have dreamed of. Maybe I only embarrassed myself in front of the people at the store, maybe I shouldn't have gone in. Maybe I should have said more. But I have never in all my life been so angry, so hurt and so disgusted that anyone could think or say something so hurtful and so ignorant. And I think that any basically educated person who's taken one remedial history class in our good old U.S. of A would know that Native Americans were the first to inhabit the land we built this great country on
I am beside myself with anger and disgust, and I hope that nobody ever has to feel the way this man made me feel today
After we had purchased a bulky item, my mom and DD stayed behind in the store while I got the car and my brothers, who drove seperately, also pulled up the car to help with packages. It was pouring rain at this time, and there was no one really around so we pull up to the doors as close as we can which means we are on the crosswalk, but we were only going to be there for a minute or two. My youngest brother enters the store to get my Mom and DD, while my other brother and I are popping the trunk, opening the doors, etc. This man and his son come from the parking lot, easily cross to get into the store, but here is the kick in the butt part.... He yells at my brother for being an idiot and parking in the crosswalk, and right before he enters the store he says "Why don't you go back to where you came from!!!"
I, being defensive that he yelled at my younger brother and because he was out of line, approach him and yell "Don't you ever say anything like that ever again!" He turns around, and approaches bro and me, yelling again that we should not park in the crosswalk. "No problem, I say, we don't have a problem moving, but we are waiting for a small child to come out and don't want her to get wet in the wind/rain!". At this point, Mom, DD and youngest bro are coming out of the store. Younger bro and I are yelling at this guy that we are American born citizens with the same rights, education, as anyone else in this country. He shoots back at us by calling me and my mother a *ahem* wh*re in front of my DD. Well, in so many words my brother yells at him to go away. We all get into our cars, and I buckle DD safely back in her seat.
I was ready to leave, but had one more thing to say because I did not want him to go home, thinking that he had gotten away with it and not feel any guilt. I run back into the store and find him. I tell him "How dare you say what you said, when I have the same rights as you do, I was born here and educated here, I am an American citizen. How dare you even think to say what you said, when my husband is out there with others fighting for a war they didn't ask to fight, but are gladly fulfilling their duty. How dare you, when I won't see my husband for six months and have to explain to my daughter why Daddy is away, defending the freedom of a pathetic person like you! The man would not even look in my direction, but I know that he will be thinking about what he said for a long time.
I have never experienced anything like this. I am not oblivious to the world, and I know that racism is still very much alive. But like I said, I was born here, raised here, educated here, got my bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago . My parents came here and became American citizens, working their butts off to give my brothers and I a life they never could have dreamed of. Maybe I only embarrassed myself in front of the people at the store, maybe I shouldn't have gone in. Maybe I should have said more. But I have never in all my life been so angry, so hurt and so disgusted that anyone could think or say something so hurtful and so ignorant. And I think that any basically educated person who's taken one remedial history class in our good old U.S. of A would know that Native Americans were the first to inhabit the land we built this great country on
I am beside myself with anger and disgust, and I hope that nobody ever has to feel the way this man made me feel today
