Black People Steal Purses

"Yesterday, an African-American student stole my wallet". This was the first sentence my classmate, who is a substitute teacher, used to describe the upsetting event of being robbed. Once that statement came out of her mouth, I found it really difficult to listen or care about the rest of her story. At first I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that at some point in the story the fact that the child was African-American would become relevant to what happened. Of course, I never heard the justification I wanted. There was a tedious process that accompanied her attempt to get her property back but regardless of what else happened, the one prevalent proint was that African-American kids steal wallets. It was bad enough that she said it, but what bothered me even more was the fact that nobody said a word.

While I understand that everyone's personal struggle with regards to race is different, there are some things that should rub us the wrong way as humans. Instead of at least one person besides me being indignant, the class including my instructor all perked up with interest and a strong desire to hear the rest of her story. I was interested. I was pissed. I later emailed my professor and addressed my concerns. She acknowledged my feelings and we had a class discussion on unconscious speech and how it can offend others. Of course, this was the one day when the offending student wasn't in class. I appreciated my professor's actions but I remain miffed that there would have been no discussion had I not brought it up. Sometimes I feel like I have to be the spokesperson for all black people when I'm in public and it's one of the most exhausting jobs I've ever had.