Encountering racism at the vet

Took Sophie, the Schnauzer smart enough to go to college, to the vet yesterday for a low-grade infection. Good care, affordable vet about an hour drive from here.

Chatting with the vet’s wife/office assistant, she told me she chose to live in this area rather than Dallas to avoid “the problem.” So of course I asked, “What problem?” She leaned over & whispered in a voice loud enough for others in the waiting room (all Latino ancestry) to hear, “The Blacks.”

Can’t imagine anyone more relieved to hear of her redneck decision where to live than Blacks in Dallas, Texas, but I resented her assumption that I share her antipathies, & not just politically. A good share of my friends & family, including nieces, nephews, countless cousins are Black. Beautiful, wonderful, loving Blacks.

Desegregation of education, as fragmented & badly managed as it was, brought working class white & Black kids together & familiarity broke down the social hatreds, built friendships, created love, made babies. Many of us are the grateful family of those wonderful kids.

Not smart to make racist assumptions about whites nor to exercise your ignorance at other people’s expense.