Conversations about things that matter

Here are some personal reflections from Josh Oliver, member of Social Justice Team II that will make us stop and pay attention:

"I went out to eat lunch today with a colleague of mine from work. While enjoying our meal, the topic of discussion turned to deep family secrets and out of that came a conversation on racism in our families and our country. We began talking about how our mutual families living in Louisiana seem to live in a different world with regards to race than we do. We talked about the fact that there are serious issues of race that are alive and thriving in our country right under our noses and it is so hard to believe that it is still going on. My friend told me a story about his relatives that went to Louisiana for his wedding and while shopping in a small store, a black individual refused to look him in the face. When this relative asked my friend what the looks were for, my friend had to point out that it was "reverse racism" at work. My friend went on to tell me about other people he knew from East Texas who were still requesting that their senior proms with school be segregated.

I began talking about the fact that racism is not just running rampant on an individual basis, but it takes place in organizations, federal organizations even, where people in these situations should feel as though they are being taken care of, and they are not. We went on to talk about the fact that people are different from us and they act different from us, but they do not deserve to be treated differently than anyone else.

We talked further about how education could help the situation so much. My friend shared with me the fact that after the storm hit New Orleans, all of these individuals who were from families without a father figure and whose mother would have children in order to draw a larger welfare check and would stay single in order to draw even more welfare, would probably steal in order to support themselves through this difficult time because that is what their family had been doing for generations. We talked further about how this family would not know any better than to act like this and they had no positive role models, so it would be no surprise that they would move to cities such as Dallas and Houston and the crime rate would go up.

Katrina should have opened the eyes of the nation to the injustices that were going on in these parts of our country, in this land that was devastated and instead of turning to their families for support, these families would have to fend for themselves in order to survive, but the country's eyes were not opened and these minorities continue to suffer. There is education that needs to take place both with the minorities and whites as well if things are going to change.

Despite the great conversation that we had, what troubled me the most was when my friend and I left this small, cozy BBQ joint, I noticed a man with a thick goatee and his wife sitting behind our table finishing our meal. The man wore a mechanic's shirt and sat straight up in his seat staring into space without saying anything. His wife glared at me as she took a bite of an onion and then quickly looked away from me. As I was leaving, I saw her through the window shaking her head in frustration and speaking with an angry look on her face. It bothered me that I could not have a conversation about the hurt and pain other individuals were going through without being judged and ridiculed for it. It makes me angry that our conversation would cause someone to be so angry and frustrated with me because of what they overheard. We were not planning on speaking to them, but we did.

As we were leaving, my friend, who noticed the looks as well, grinned and said, 'If you don't like what we are saying, you could speak up.' He and I spoke up."