I have similar reactions and I too am sick and tired of the societal acceptance of xenophobia, racism and prejudice in general. Be proud that you spoke up.
I have these encounters occasionally and generally have the same reaction. My favorite thing to do is to just let them talk/rant (and let them keep digging their own racist hole). Then I reveal I’m an immigrant. You see, I’m a white Canadian guy living in the States, and they get flummoxed and then say something even more stupid and revealing like “well, not you of course”. About half of them realize the depth of their bigotry. Maybe it has a healing effect. I really don’t know.
I'm usually on the other side of the equation: I work in a very Republican section of Long Island and there tend to be a lot of customers that think like the person you had the confrontation with. I find myself being somewhat forced to be cordial and polite to these people when what I really want to do is yell at them. I know that bigotry and racism will never go away, but hopefully if the Orange Menace goes away the rhetoric will tone down.
You are not alone Keith. I am also someone who does his best to stay in his own lane and try to not say too much. But all of that suppression of bottled-up emotions eventually come out as a great big shot gun blast of words. The last eight years has not been kind to those of us with this fault. The easy answer would seem to be to pull away from a lot of society, but that is not the best answer for our mental wellbeing.
You know the Question Game that goes like, "Name three people - dead or alive - that you would choose to have dinner with?" Well, YOU have been one of those people to me for several years now. We don't see eye-to-eye on some religious topics, but damn, we could have some amazing convos over baseball, politics, and just life in general. But the religion part is what makes you one of my choices! You could run circles around me intellectually, but the respect, realism, and overall give-and-take make you, hands down, one of my choices. I would leave that lunch 100x smarter AND feel like I was listened to as well. Those two don't always go together. So, thank you for being you!!
I'm the first US born in my family. Dad from England, mom from Wales, both grew up in UK during WWII. They moved to Canada, had four kids, they were 11 - 5 when they moved to San Diego and I came along. While my parents can't be considered progressive mostly due to their age, they do lean progressive. No serious racist stuff growing up, no anti semitism, some homophobia, but even that came around with some prodding and "I can assure you, they won't be turning you gay". My siblings range from hardcore drumpf to "these foreigner's aren't coming here the right way". I always tell them I'm happy for foreigners to leave starting with them. I don't get how they got this way, but I appreciate hearing stories from others that are frustrated with this type of behavior as well. It makes me feel less alone with my line of thinking. Thanks Keith
I have similar reactions and I too am sick and tired of the societal acceptance of xenophobia, racism and prejudice in general. Be proud that you spoke up.
I have these encounters occasionally and generally have the same reaction. My favorite thing to do is to just let them talk/rant (and let them keep digging their own racist hole). Then I reveal I’m an immigrant. You see, I’m a white Canadian guy living in the States, and they get flummoxed and then say something even more stupid and revealing like “well, not you of course”. About half of them realize the depth of their bigotry. Maybe it has a healing effect. I really don’t know.
what else can we do? maybe once in a blue moon we get through to someone
I'm usually on the other side of the equation: I work in a very Republican section of Long Island and there tend to be a lot of customers that think like the person you had the confrontation with. I find myself being somewhat forced to be cordial and polite to these people when what I really want to do is yell at them. I know that bigotry and racism will never go away, but hopefully if the Orange Menace goes away the rhetoric will tone down.
You are not alone Keith. I am also someone who does his best to stay in his own lane and try to not say too much. But all of that suppression of bottled-up emotions eventually come out as a great big shot gun blast of words. The last eight years has not been kind to those of us with this fault. The easy answer would seem to be to pull away from a lot of society, but that is not the best answer for our mental wellbeing.
You know the Question Game that goes like, "Name three people - dead or alive - that you would choose to have dinner with?" Well, YOU have been one of those people to me for several years now. We don't see eye-to-eye on some religious topics, but damn, we could have some amazing convos over baseball, politics, and just life in general. But the religion part is what makes you one of my choices! You could run circles around me intellectually, but the respect, realism, and overall give-and-take make you, hands down, one of my choices. I would leave that lunch 100x smarter AND feel like I was listened to as well. Those two don't always go together. So, thank you for being you!!
I'm the first US born in my family. Dad from England, mom from Wales, both grew up in UK during WWII. They moved to Canada, had four kids, they were 11 - 5 when they moved to San Diego and I came along. While my parents can't be considered progressive mostly due to their age, they do lean progressive. No serious racist stuff growing up, no anti semitism, some homophobia, but even that came around with some prodding and "I can assure you, they won't be turning you gay". My siblings range from hardcore drumpf to "these foreigner's aren't coming here the right way". I always tell them I'm happy for foreigners to leave starting with them. I don't get how they got this way, but I appreciate hearing stories from others that are frustrated with this type of behavior as well. It makes me feel less alone with my line of thinking. Thanks Keith