THE OTHER SIDE OF IT: Yesterday evening, as I was thinking about this thread and about the experience I just posted a few minutes ago, I was typing on my computer at home when shouting wafted up to my window from our normally peaceful block. It was this black dude who cleans up leaves and debris for some of my neighbors. He was yelling about much he should get paid, probably with someone who moved in recently, doesn't know who he is, and didn't hire him. This guy drives me nuts with his yelling, and even though I don't encounter him very often, I always find myself wishing he would escalate the situation to truly disturbing the peace so I could call the police and have him removed. Although I have told him politely to his face that I don't require his services (and why), I will never do anything else, because I don't want to be perceived as a racist.
But that's not the interesting part. The interesting part is why: many years ago, when I was at my "cubicle job" mentioned in the post above, the same guy came by pushing his sweeping services to my first wife. (A shrewd reader may wonder at this point how I got to keep the house. Never mind. Stay on target). She politely declined, and he yelled, "You don't live here {so your opinion doesn't count}. You're just the maid!" Never mind that a few seconds before, he was trying to sell her his services. She is of Asian descent, and I can only conclude that he is a racist.
Fred Reed on the Zimmerman Trial
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