A Brief Guide to Not Being a Jackass on the Ferguson Issue

[Cleita]

14. A lot of white people who don't think they are racist, are.

I'm Latina myself, half of me on my mother's side, and half of me is Northern European descent, so I don't come across as Latina on first appearances. I'm light in color. My surname is Dutch. I speak with an American accent although I was raised bi-lingually. I have always pointed out the racism to my white friends when it came to Hispanic issues particularly the immigration debate.

Many of my white acquaintances and former co-workers, who have always been aware of my mixed racial status, because I make sure they know, have had the hubris to say that it has nothing to do with me because I'm not like THEM (Hispanics). Really? Just because I'm more like YOU (white people) when I'm in your company, doesn't mean that I'm not very much like THEM when I'm in their company.

I have managed to get through to some of them getting them to reexamine their prejudices. Now, since I'm not African descent in any way, I am not comfortable in speaking for those who are about what they have experienced, however, I'm sure it's to the tenth degree exponentially of what I have experienced from people who really think they are not racist.

I hope I make some sense and am not stirring up something I didn't intend to. It's just has been my experience in a life I've lived that is longer than I expected to live.