The Gas Station

A few weeks ago I wasn't feeling well so I stopped by the gas station to get some ginger-ale. This was just days after the election, so racial relations had been on my mind. I had on dress pants and heels. I walked to the back of the gas station to look for ginger-ale. I didn't see any, so I started searching all the cases. I realized that it was in the case behind an African American woman who was standing there filling out a lottery ticket. I was happy to wait until she was done, but then she did the strangest thing. She moved out of the way. And the look she gave me was peculiar. I can only compare it to the look I would get when I was in Ghana. It was a look of entitlement, not of my assertion, but of her giving. It disturbed me. At this time in our nation's history we have come too far for me to be given special treatment for my skin color. I wanted her to believe that she had every right to be standing there as I did. How do we change the way people perceive themselves? Is the real fight against discrimination in the mind of those who were once oppressed. Opportunity is widely available to African Americans in America. And, yet for this woman we were as segregated as it was in 1950. I have grown up in a world of integration. I see my African American peers as peers. I do not expect preferential treatment over them. Her behavior struck me as unusual and unfortunate. Is this true? Is it unusual. I am certain that it is indeed unfortunate. I don't know if it is unusual. I consider the election of Barack Obama as opportunity for the African American community to raise up and let go of the lie that they are not entitled to every liberty afforded all in our great country.

I had accumulated a list of topics about which I was going to write, however, after time passing and greater reflection on those topics, I realized that most of them were not noteworthy. This fact is noteworthy for my growing understanding of blogging! Not everything I think is profound will maintain that sense. Giving topics a couple of days to bounce around in my head can be a good thing. Often, if I think it is important NOW it goes in my journal, but that probably should not be the case for blogging.

Soundtrack: Free at Last, DC Talk