never a break.
after i filled out the change of address for my new driver’s license - i found out the DMV still printed it up with my old one. Argh. Well, at least I can drive again, without being getting pulled over for illegal stuff like identification. You know how it is, profiling in California.
strange, I recall this one conversation we had during Stephanie’s bday party at California Fats, last night in Old Sac. I mentioned that I certainly do not want to drive through the south on a cross-country trip. We were talking about pinoys in the deep south and asian and stuff like that. A few folks came in the defense of traveling through the south - claiming that I really had nothing to worry about. Well, except for down in Southern Carolina - any town with a store that has a big red dot on it - spells bad news for coloreds like me. From what I understand, folks down there were not allowed to advertise liquor in their stores. So that’s how they did it. These folks were pretty narrowminded too, if I understood that reference correctly.
Another girl asked jokingly, “Am I being naviee?” - about the whole ethnic minorities traveling in the South.
Well, yes, you are.
It was a birthday celebration - I did not want to sully it with politcs and personal recollections of prejudice. One member of our party, an Asian guy, went to school in Burligame. Some of his classmates thought he lived in hut. I bet they could also picture him eating on the floor in a loincloth.
The folks who came to the defense of driving through the south - I’m guessing they have fond memories of vacations in the South…..and they’re also white. So, I hate to say this, but they have no idea what its like to have to worry about these things. Yeah, so I grew up in California - and I didn’t really face much hate for my skin color - but I encountered plenty of ignorance and false assumptions….I remember my French teacher asking if my family prayed in Spanish for Thanksgiving….uh…no….
so….my way of thinking…..if there are still places like bob jones u in the deep south - i would probably get my head shot off if anybody in that area saw me holding hands with mark. i think that’s reasonable concern. If a Texas High School can lash out against a peaceful demonstration of support for Gay/Lesbian students - I am also concerned.
And this is just happened in South Carolina in the last decade:
“In 1996, a white couple in Clarendon County were charged with lynching. Authorities said they tied a 9-year-old black boy to a tree, shot a gun past his head, punched and kicked him and tied a belt around his neck until he passed out. They were convicted of aggravated assault and served less than two years.”
[from the Augusta Chronicle]
A sentence of less than 2 years….that blow my mind at how such injustice can slip through the system.
so….yes, you’re naive.
and there’s still no way in hell that I’m traveling through the south on a road trip.
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