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Africa Subsaharan
When will we be released from the burden of racism?
2019-01-07
[News24 South Africa] Just before Christmas I went to buy a bottle of wine in a store in a town on the Garden Route. There were two cashiers; one was talking to a friend or relative on the phone, the other one was just staring past me. After several minutes, I asked her if I could pay for the wine. Sorry, she said, she was waiting to finish a transaction with another customer, and she pointed to that person.

That customer was having a lively conversation a few metres away with a security guard about the problems of crime in the town. After what must have been a full two more minutes, I approached her and politely asked if she would mind paying for her wine so the casher could serve me ‐ I was parked on a yellow line, I explained.

She was immediately angry. She accused me of being arrogant and, yes, white. I tried to explain that my request was a polite one and that I was parked on a yellow line, but it just made it worse and the whole exchange became a bit of a public scene. When are "you people" going to realise that you're not baas any longer, she asked.

I was deeply embarrassed ‐ I'm normally the guy who would intervene when a white customer is rude to a black employee in a shop. I was also annoyed, because I knew if she were white, I would have been far more direct and assertive in asking her to conclude her sale.

A month or so before this incident I was driving my car out of the forecourt of a Cape Town petrol station into the street when another car trying to get to the pumps nearly ran into me. I was relaxed; I stopped, reversed a little bit and waved my hand to say, please proceed.

The driver jumped out and confronted me aggressively at my car window. What was that hand gesture about, you bloody racist, he asked, and threatened to inflict violence upon me. My explanation that it was a wave to give him right of way was not acceptable.

I was not wrong in one of the two incidents. There was nothing racist about my actions.

But these experiences stayed with me and made me think. Were these two individuals simply angry at life? Were they looking for an argument with a white male? Do I come across as an arrogant, aggressive white man, even when I don't think I am?
About the author.
Posted by:Besoeker

#15  Grifters wouldn't stand at traffic lights if it didn't work.
Posted by: Crash Dark Lord of the Veal Cutlets1879   2019-01-07 16:09  

#14  But I kinda like watching them change direction every time I hit the shock collar.
Posted by: gorb   2019-01-07 16:04  

#13  Gorb,
There is a saying, "Stimulus that is not rewarded is soon extinguished."

The left uses it because it works. When people stop responding with the expected pins and needles behavior the stimulus will stop.
Posted by: Crash Dark Lord of the Veal Cutlets1879   2019-01-07 15:59  

#12  There's a lot of that from the left.
Posted by: gorb   2019-01-07 15:45  

#11  My son told me a story. He was starting his first day at a new high school when a black student confronted him and told him that he was a privileged white boy. My son replied, "Didn't I just see you step out of a BMW?". The kid responded, "You got me." Turns out his dad was a medical doctor.

They played football together and became good friends.

Don't be rude but don't get buffaloed either.
Posted by: Crash Dark Lord of the Veal Cutlets1879   2019-01-07 15:17  

#10  "Black culture" in America (Chris Rock would use a different un-pc as can be word, instead of black) also has a large element of Entitlement to it.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2019-01-07 15:11  

#9  Black Culture is a tribal culture Some tribes are friendlier than others. I have read many accounts of USA born blacks visiting Africa and being received with hostility by the locals, who strongly dislike the apparent rudeness and crudeness exhibited by members of a different tribe from the USA with all that is entailed.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2019-01-07 14:55  

#8  Ask Oprah, or any rapper that has millions to spare. They aren't ready to give up that cudgel despite enormous success.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2019-01-07 13:52  

#7  Black Culture is a tribal culture not a civilised reciprocal culture.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2019-01-07 13:33  

#6  Despite being South Africa, my previous answer still applies. Kumabaya (sarc).
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-01-07 09:47  

#5  I dunno. When the Dems and left quit strumming that tune?
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-01-07 09:44  

#4  Ref #3: Balancing the cash register at the end of shift can be problematic, and it may not involve math. Just say'n.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-01-07 08:52  

#3  Point of fact, I have never dealt with a black clerk at an ABC store or BoA teller counter here in Florida. Story in there somewhere....
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-01-07 07:59  

#2  Never. Just like “The South” in the US.
Posted by: Slolutle Cloluse3142   2019-01-07 07:51  

#1  But these experiences stayed with me and made me think. Were these two individuals simply angry at life? Were they looking for an argument with a white male? Do I come across as an arrogant, aggressive white man, even when I don't think I am?

Angry at life? Come now my friend, we all know you are a wealthy Garden Route landowner, farmer, or hotelier. Tribalist, class warfare has targeted you for special treatment. The lunatics now run the asylum.

Angry at life? No, they're better off now than ever before. They have no idea that you were an "anti-apartheid activist" nor do they care. They're angry at you.

Continue to confront your new masters and you'll likely have a knobkierie shoved up your arse. Die hoenders huis toe om te slaap (the chickens have come home to roost). Enjoy !

Posted by: Besoeker   2019-01-07 06:21  

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