RACISM Is Alive & Kicking....

A dear friend of mine sent me this article with the hope that I will post it. Hell yeah, I would! I read this article with disgust and sadness. I never knew racism still existed the way it does today. You will not understand what I meant above, unless you read the article below. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Brenda James for the article (based on her own experience today) and my sincere sympathies for what you had to go through.

I AM MORE THAN MY COLOUR. AREN'T YOU?

Thursday, June 5, 2008 - A regular day. Work, errands and in my context both of this revolve around the Bangsar locale, which has been my meeting and playground for the last decade. So what makes this day different.

My sister and I were together. We caught up with our meet-and-greets and errands and headed back to Bangsar Village where the car was parked. As we walked to the car, I was having a long conversation with a senior editor from a prominent English daily (who by the way heard the whole exchange take place).

Belinda paid at the autopay machine and as she was driving to the exit boomgate, a very nice BMW started making its way out of its bay and very fast too (by the way, that’s the only place where the word nice will appear in this piece).

Belinda horns at the car and the BMW doesn’t stop; Belinda blared her horns again and the driver reacts in the best way possible – drives out of the bay even faster and then flips us the bird. So that’s what a middle finger looks like, cause it was up in the air long enough for us to have a really good look, lest we missed it eh.

Then, when the driver was certain we didn’t have the right of way, the driver winds down the window and yells these words at us, “F***-off black bitch”. Belinda naturally reacts with a rude gesture of her own but then just as quickly stops when she spots a smaller figure in the back seat. It was a little girl in her kindergarten uniform.

By the way, the person hurling those choice, racist, obscenities at us was the little girl’s mummy.
And the fun doesn’t stop there folks, when Mrs. Foul Mouth reaches the boomgate, we were parallel to her at this point at the other exit post, she yells again, “F*** you black skin(ned) bitch” while gesturing to us by pinching the skin on her forearms and dramatically reenacted how looking at us made her want to puke(trust me she would have made a very bad mime). If anyone had a bad taste in their mouths at that point it was us. She then sped away, with her bewildered child in tow, leaving the scene so fast that by the time we exited (which was just a few seconds later) she was gone.

So to the owner of the black, BMW 5 Series, bearing registration number W** 69, tell me lady, do you kiss your child with that same filthy mouth and will you teach your little girl those words too? Mummy sure is a role model and exemplary one too.

P/s: By the way, to those of you who are wondering what was that lady’s race – don’t wonder. Knowing what race she is doesn’t make a difference. The fact is, in this day and age, racism is alive and kicking.

Brenda James