“You would have opened the door if I was a white man” the man shouted.  I looked at him like he was a ghost.  I humbly stated “What do you mean sir?”  He looks at me like I am nothing and says, “If I was a white man you would have opened that door for me.”  I froze for a moment thinking.  It’s currently 9:00am which is corporate allowed time to open the door of the place that I work.  I am in no means racist I am just following protocol.  How dare he say that when he knows nothing about me.  Should I say anything back, or should I just say something dumb like “No, Sir” or “Not at all” either way, I started to get really upset.  Then I thought about what I stand for and where I’m from.  I thought about my father, who is a black man.  I thought about my mother who is a white woman who told me to stand up for what I believe in.  I couldn’t remain silent, so I started softly explaining myself…”Sir I believe you are a child of God, and that I should treat you as I would want to be treated.  I would never open the door two minutes early for you, a white man, a chinese man, an indian man, or any other ethnicity or culture.  I don’t open the door early because in my job description I am told open the door at a specific time and close the door at a specific time.  Lastly, I am very hurt that you would tell me what I would do as if you know who I am.  My father whom I love dearly is a black man like you, so yes I am a black man like you as well, and even if my father was at the door I wouldn’t have opened it till 9am.  So please next time you want to accuse someone of racial profiling or racism, be sure it’s 100%.”  He was silent, he paid his bill and walked out of the store, slowly and silent as if he wanted to apologize.

This really happened to me, and I was very upset by what he said.  Now being an apathetic person I thought harder about it after he had left.  Maybe this man’s whole life, in many different situations, he had been treated poorly because of his skin.  In that case I can kind of understand where he is coming from, but yet I still believe he should really be sure of what he is saying to certain people.  I do understand why some people are sensitive to race issues, I for one have been poked fun at, or have had joked been tossed at me because I am bi-racial.  I know as I get older they bug me more and more, and as I stand up and say something I know that people are a little perturbed that I ask them not to make these jokes.  Should they be?  Should that man have had the right to say what he has said to me?  I think that as children of God a lot of us have lost the sensation of understanding.  We don’t understand other cultures because we surround ourselves with our own.  I do not think this is what God intended, do you?  If I were to challenge you to mix it up with another culture this week could you do it?  Let’s try…