While I don't think I've ever been a target of racism (I tend to walk around with my headphones cranked, so, for all I know, I could be and am just blissfully unaware), it exists and to say otherwise would be foolish. Even when I lived in neighborhoods that were predominantly black, I never had an issue, unless you count creepy men creeping on me, but that's not a race thing, it's a having tits thing. Or maybe not, I tend to have a lot more black guys hit on me than any other race, regardless of where I am, so they could be targeting me or it could be purely coincidental. I don't know. I just confused myself.
I was once accused of "reverse racism" for sharing that story on Facebook about the old white lady who bitches about being sat next to a black guy on the plane, so the flight attendant apologizes and moves the guy. I was yelled at because "nobody is THAT racist anymore." Anyone who thinks that has never met my grandpa, holy shit, he hates everybody who's not white and Catholic. He called my sister "trash" for taking a mixed friend to prom. This kid's basically our brother, we've known him since he was an infant and we all grew up together. He's been at all of our birthdays, and every time my grandpa would bitch about him being there and use every racial slur in the book because he can't stand that his grandchildren have a best friend who has a black dad. Because I know someone who is, in fact, THAT racist, I didn't see anything wrong with the story and just found it amusing, because it's something I could see happening and think the flight attendant's response is a great way of handling such a situation. Dealing with a racist old white person is a normal part of my life, so, in my view, saying that old white people are racist is a fact, not a racist statement. I never saw my other grandparents much as a kid, so while the others probably aren't racist, the one that I've spent the most time around is, and that's what's affected my view on this.
Yes, the story is likely made-up, but I don't feel that it is, as the girl accused, "made up solely for the purpose of perpetuating hate against old white people." I'll admit that it probably seems that way to people who didn't grow up around racist grandparents. I feel that, when it comes to this kind of racism, it's touchy and dependent on a person's individual experience in life.
I used to think that white people should just shut the fuck up about racism, because we have so many privileges that it's not a big deal. I don't feel that way anymore, as the fact that one group of people was assholes to another in the past is no excuse for the other group to turn past actions back on the first group. Being a jerk because someone looks different is never OK.
