JoB
soclwrkrinmotn..
i grew up in Pendleton Oregon where racism didn’t seem to be an issue.. because there weren’t many kids of color in town…
until my sister was photographed by the local paper holding hands with the little boy whose dad owned the local cleaners..
yup.. asian.
mom had a fit.. and i think that put it mildly. needless to say, the local paper didn’t get permission to print that photo.
that was the first indication i had that racism existed in my home.. i thought we were really nice people and that racism was something that had to do with other not so nice people.
as i grew older, i realized that racism ran deeper in my community than i thought… the native indians in the area were rarely seen off their reservation except during round-up.
i think it is harder to be so isolated with tv and movies than it was when i was growing up..
but i think it is still possible to think that “isms” are something that other not so nice people do and not us.
I think it has to become personal to become real.