The bigots keep pushing me out the door…
I am conscious that everything I write now will be collected and reviewed later on in my life. I feel like there is an invisible man peering over my shoulder, questioning everything, attacking the misunderstood…
Because of that, I want to tell you another story of why I am glad I am leaving…
Last night, I went to my friends pool league match at a bar I have never been to. At a point later in the night, I was talking with the bartender / owner as she had been to the UK quite a few times and she was telling me the story of how she named the bar after a pub in Brighton called the Druids Head. We talked about Paris and agreed on its beauty and then suddenly, out of left field, she said, “Do you know who Daniel Faulkner is?” “The name rings a bell”, I said and halfway through her reply of “He was a cop murdered by a man called Mumia“, I realise who the hell she is talking about and know that the conversation has taken a swift turn for the worst…
She starts shrieking about Mumia being a cop killer and a terrible, terrible man and that the French are a disgusting nation as Mumia has been named a citizen of honour in Paris. She rants about how They™ are always pulling the “race card” and I know that I have to say something to her but I also know that I have a tendency to loose my temper when confronted by an absolute bigot…
So I bite the side of my cheek, take a deep breath and say to her, “I don’t want to get into debating the specifics of the case with you, because to be honest, I don’t know them, but what I do know is that, to me, a non-American, Mumia signifies the absolute injustice of the American judicial system towards people of colour. Regardless of whether or not Mumia did pull that trigger, he was not given a fair trial and also, he stands for every other incorrectly incarcerated person of colour in this country. He has become a symbol, much more than the person he is and on top of that, he has a brilliant mind.”
Believe it or not, I said all of that calmly. Believe it or not, her voice got louder and shriller and she ranted some more about him being a cop killer, a cop killer, as if cops were somehow more than human. Inside I softly said, Amadou Diallo? I tried to explain that to a typical European, the death penalty is never going to be justified but she just kept repeating that the French had no business sticking their nose in Americas business. Incredulously I asked, “But what about Iraq?” “That’s different”, she insisted but could not explain how or why…
She even pulled out that most beloved of closet bigots lines, “Some of my best friends are Black”, which, were the situation even remotely funny, would have had me rolling. Instead, I kept my mouth firmly closed so my incendiary remarks about cops and crackas stayed firmly put inside and I asked only simple questions until I had finished my beer and could leave…
I am quite proud of myself really, because I confronted her without flipping out the way I ordinarily would have done. I am proud of myself because I got into a debate with a bigot without the rage button being flipped on. I am proud of myself for being able to respond to the, “if you hate it so much, why don’t you leave?” line with, I am…
February 18th, 2004 at 9:57 am
I try not to talk to people about Iraq, it only makes me angry that people seem to have shrugged it off as an unfortunate thing, how about that Super Bowl half time show, did you see Janets boob? GRRRRRRRRRRR! I find it easier and less stressful just walking away from the bigots, although one would think that it’s our responsibility to elighten them quite often it seems they have to learn tolerance on their own.
February 18th, 2004 at 10:58 am
“although one would think that it’s our responsibility to elighten them quite often it seems they have to learn tolerance on their own.”
and that folks, is a wrap!!!
February 18th, 2004 at 1:39 pm
i find it amazing that you didn’t box her about the cranial region with your mug.
one of the most fucked up things about philly is that they named roosevelt blvd david faulkner drive (or highway or blah blah blah).
i remeber reading a piece awhile back comparing mumia to rosa parks and that the anti-death penalty movement needed a shinier person to hang it’s hat on. although i can understand that it _would_ probably work better if all the isms that he conjures weren’t involved — i don’t think i would want to fight the fight any other way.
peace.
February 18th, 2004 at 2:32 pm
trust me hak, it took a large part of me not to flip out. however, in remaining calm, and asking pointed and pertinent questions, i had the attention of the other people in the bar as opposed to their opposition.