Wisconsin-Style Racism
Because of my love for culture and people, I have worked with UW Stout's international student population for many years. Through a situation with one student, whom I will call Sarah, the way I saw my community changed forever. Sarah came to Wisconsin from Ghana in Africa.
Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, said, "Race doesn't really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don't have that choice." This statement became true for me during the time I spent with Sarah.
On one of my first trips to the store with Sarah, something happened to me that had never happened before. Grocery shopping is one of the more common activities with international students. Not only do they need a ride, but navigating a huge store like Walmart can be very difficult for students from less developed countries.
Essayist James Baldwin once said, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." Sarah and I were about to face something that desperately needs change. As we walked down aisles looking for various items, I was baffled by behavior I had not encountered before. Other customers, who normally would have moved in closer to the shelves to let me by, stood rigidly in place with carts blocking the way, making Sarah walk around them or wait. It was subtle but noticeable.
The way some other shoppers looked at Sarah and the lack of common courtesy extended to her shocked me. As a midwesterner, my experience with others is the typical "Midwest-Nice." My response was to ignore it and keep talking casually with Sarah in hopes that she wouldn't notice the difference between how they were treating her and me.
An ugly side of humanity revealed itself to me that day. Sarah never said a word about it, behaving as if this were an everyday occurrence. Racism had never existed in my world, yet on this day, it stood right in front of me.
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