Izzy Spears|7.20.18|IG: @izzy_spears
Thank God for social media. The timelines of people across the country are filled with images of Permit Patty, Pool Pass Paul and BBQ Becky. Due to technology, incidents across the world can be witnessed with a click of a button. Unfortunately, the list of racial harassment continues to grow daily. For some, racial harassment is a new subject, for many, it is so typical, one might recognize the injustice as a daily inconvenience.
How can racism, discrimination and harassment become daily inconveniences and sometimes fatal occurrences? Easy, when society fails.
Society has failed to shine positive light on people of color in the movies, television, books, businesses, education, politics and the justice system. People of color are rarely the lead in movies with predominantly white casts, people of color are rarely portrayed as educated, business owners, home owners or strong influential members of society. People of color are portrayed as people with financial instability, non wed baby machines, system leches, gang bangers, drug addicts and criminals.
The absence of positive light is very crippling for our youth as well as how white people view people of color and maybe even how we view ourselves. Let’s take a walk…
One day I was putting together a desk for my new office. Please note I said my office. As a young female in my 20’s, I opened a public relations firm in Homewood, Alabama. As anyone could image, it was hard work. To conserve the budget, I elected to put the desks together myself. As I was bent over on the floor, in my heels and skirt, a white lady walked past me on her way to the restroom. She stated, “Oh, your boss is working you hard today.” I looked up from the desk and I paused for only a brief second. I looked her in the eyes and said, “Yes they are.” She smiled and continued with her day.
Oh, what is the harm? That was just a nice lady making small talk on her way to the restroom. I beg to differ, the harm is that in her mind, a young, black, female could not possibly be in a position of power, let alone be the owner of the business she is standing in front of.
Lets go for another stroll…
One day I was headed to a business meeting. I was hoping to close a new account. I arrived to the meeting early and I waited patiently, silently going over the pitch in my head. At last, my potential client walked through the doors. I stood up, firmly shook their hand and smiled. That person looked me in the eyes and asked where was my boss. They even asked, “was HE in the restroom?” I was slightly puzzled, but I remained calm. I smiled and stated, “I am the boss.”
I am married to a tall, dark, chocolate man. When I look at him, I see a man who loves Batman, Twizzlers and apple juice. I see a man that will stay up all night to watch Wrestle Mania, I see a man that is gentle and warm. Unfortunately, society does not see the same man. When we walk down the street, I see women grab their purses, I see couples cross the street. When we are in public, I purposely grab his hand, he smiles and instinctively kisses my cheek. For some reason, his simple display of affection makes people around him feel more comfortable.
My son is a big boy, he loves Pokemon, chess and despises his French lessons. He is almost taller than I am. I fear how the world will treat him. When he is walking ahead of me, I watch how people respond to him. He looks like a teenager although he is only a young boy. I see people stare, some with fear some with wonder. When I witness this, I approach him and kiss his forehead. Automatically, he smiles and gives me a big hug. Just like magic, the people that felt uneasy, suddenly were at ease. What changed? Did my affection prove he was not a threat? Did his smile make him more approachable? I feel people forget that we are all human. We all bleed blood. We all are deserving of love and happiness. In my house, I kill all the spiders. Neither of the males, including the dog, could hurt a fly. But, there are a lot of people, at first glance, who will consider my son and my husband threats, just because of the color of their skin. I feel helpless. How can I protect them? The only tool I have is my voice. All I can do is share our stories.