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In reply to the discussion: White DUers: Tell Your Stories [View all]milestogo
(16,829 posts)My parents were not overtly racist, but in an all white culture you are subtly taught to fear black people, especially black men.
In college I was the victim of a sexual assault, and after that I volunteered as an advocate for victims. I was bewildered when people asked me if my attacker was black, because I had no idea that there was this awful stereotype about black men. The person who attacked me was a white male.
After college I moved to a well integrated neighborhood in a large city. It was the first time I had lived in the same neighborhood as black people and I have to admit I was nervous. I identified as a non-racist liberal, but I still felt uncomfortable.
I kept doing rape victim advocacy. One night I got a call at 2am to go to a hospital ER to see a rape victim. Outside it was icy and raining. My car was stuck on ice and I was making a lot of noise spinning my wheels. Suddenly there's a tap on my window, and its a black man. My gut feeling was pure fear. My brain told me the fear was not rational, talk to this person.
So I rolled down the window, and he says - "You're making a lot of noise out here."
I said "Yeah I'm stuck."
"Well I was complaining to my wife about all this noise and she said why don't you get dressed and go down there and help that person out. So here I am."
He pushed my car out and I drove off to see the rape victim.
The black man got out of bed at 2am to help me, a complete stranger.
Obviously this is not a story of discrimination against me, but of how I began to overcome my attitude of fear toward black people. It was life changing. I began to feel more comfortable and less afraid. More experiences with real black people helped me overcome the amorphous fear of all black people.