So Right-Wingers are bigots? Read this before you judge them!

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When I was young I worked as part of a three person janitorial crew at a Southern California department store. The other members of the crew were Rosalynn and Otis, both of them Black.Our boss was Randy, a conservative White Republican who in his spare time trained guard dogs at his home in Long Beach.

One morning as the three of us were sitting in the breakroom, Randy walked up to our table and showed that he wasn’t just our boss, but also our friend:

“Otis, Rosalynn-you guys shouldn’t come around the loading dock today. I got a couple of my guard dogs back there. I trained ’em to bite dark-skinned people and I wouldn’t want there to be any accidents” he said with boyish charm.

I’m ashamed to say I’d thought he was a bad guy, yet his concern for their safety caused him to seek his crew out and apprise them of possible danger, and suggest a course of action intended to insure they remain unharmed.

” I mean, you know” he confided in a friendly manner ” Cause of the crime, and all”. Good, sound observation.

We might not have been aware that dark skin is a good indication of criminal behavior, necessitating animal attack. I for one made a mental note to avoid contact with my family, for my own well-being. I hoped Otis and Rosalynn had drawn the same conclusion.

“Oh Al, you better stay away too” his eyes crinkled mischievously “You’re almost as dark as Rosalynn!” he added with a grin, showing yellowed teeth.

Not only did the boss recognize me as an individual but he also saw a commonality among myself and a co-worker. He balanced hope that his crew avoid injury with good humor.

I could tell by their stony stares and unsmiling faces that Otis and Rosalynn were also deeply moved by Randy’s unselfish outreach to them and were doubtless too overcome with emotion and gratitude for his paternal attitude to return his yellow-toothed grin.

Too often we generalize about people, without taking time to get to know them. Until this moment I’d viewed Randy as a racist Republican. How wrong our own prejudices can be.

About Post Author

Carol Bell

Carol is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Her passion is journalism and it shows. Carol is our unpaid, but very efficient, administrative secretary.
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13 years ago

Oh come on y’all know them dogs don’t eat much dark meat.

13 years ago

That was very white of him!

13 years ago

Oso, your heart is warm and your intentions are good, but it didn’t bring tears to my eyes – just a smirk from this old southern cynic. This is why.

To me it smacks of the old (and current) thinking that massa has to take care of his property. I have relatives in southern GA who own a home that is pre-Civil War and looks like it stepped right out of Gone With the Wind. They have a virtual army of black caretakers and house cleaners. These hard working people are described as lazy and referred to as monkeys.

But they are well taken care of – housed on the property, fed and clothed, and their medical needs are taken care of. They are property and have to be cared for just as a car has to be maintained.

My relatives are not a minority. So, I am cynical because I don’t believe for one minute that the “care” comes from the heart but from self-interest.

13 years ago

Aw- that brought the tears to my eyes and the bile to my throat! So touching.

I gave one of my friends in high school a ride home once, before we went on to another event. He said I’d better not come in to his house, because his Grandpa’s dog would bite me because “He thinks white people smell funny- and so does my Grandpa.” I laughed and waited in the car. But I could tell he was embarrassed to admit why I couldn’t come in.

osori
Reply to  Mother Hen
13 years ago

MH that’s a good story, and illustrates how different we all are, yet how alike in so many ways.

Admin
13 years ago

Oso writes:

“Too often we gen­er­al­ize about peo­ple, with­out tak­ing time to get to know them. Until this moment I’d viewed Randy as a racist Repub­li­can. How wrong our own prej­u­dices can be.”

How true that is my friend. Excellent post.

13 years ago

What a lovely “tugs at the heart strings” story. One would expect a big red fern to grow out of the break-room coffeepot.
🙂 🙂

Barbara
13 years ago

The concern he showed for his fellow workers is so overwhelming, it actually brought tears to my eyes. How kind of old yellow tooth. All of this people should have gotten together to buy him a toothbrush to show their appreciation.
:)………smile on!

13 years ago

well he did smile…;-)

What happens to him then if he sunbathes and gets a nice tan?

13 years ago

See a smile and a good attitude will carry you far in this world.
I’m surprised he didn’t bring the dogs over to you so they could smile at you. Yikes! Oh the memories….

13 years ago

He was a real class act. NOT.

13 years ago

Shit; that was really nice of him Oso. [I’m up way too late.]

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