I think it’s easy to see racism in this video. In fact, they WANT you to see it.
And if you want to see racism in this video… you will. But this isn’t racism. This is one girl who didn’t want to give her money to someone, and then later made a different choice with someone else.We all know that a lot goes into a decision when someone asks you for money at a bus stop. For one, the second guy had a conversation with the girl before asking her for money. He made a connection first, and that connection would play a big role in my decision if I were asked. What if she was attracted to the second guy and wanted to help him for that reason alone? I don’t begrudge her for trying to prolong her interaction with a man she liked, and neither should you.Still another idea is that she may have felt bad about choosing not to help the first guy, and then saw the second man as a second chance at showing kindness to another human being. When I think of her in this way, I see this encounter in a completely different light, and my world is still at peace. We have no way of knowing the truth, so why not choose to “see” her and the situation in the way that makes your world beautiful?
But back to the implied racism for a moment… I can see why people want to use this as a declarative video that says “YES, Racism Exists!” Ok. So what if it does exist in that random woman’s life. And? How does she have any power over you? I don’t think the people in this video are even in America, let alone your town. So, this doesn’t have to define your life at all. It’s HER experience. SHE is choosing not to give a random man some change. By defining your world by her actions, you are giving her way too much power in your life. She didn’t reject you. She rejected him. And who cares if she did… life goes on.
My newsfeed is full of people posting this video, and I am actually glad to see it. I think it is a perfect illustration of how we create the world we live in. Each moment of your life is full of unique factors. It cheapens our individual experiences to screen all social interactions through a color-based filter and say, “Every ‘no’ in life means racism.” Because it’s just not true.
Yet some people are choosing to be affected negatively by this video.
So, to my friends who are “feeling sad” here’s a thought…. What if this entire thing is staged? It’s possible, I mean it’s made by a team of people who specialize in pranking the public. Why are we just trusting this dude on the parameters of his “shocking experiment”. The girl in this video could be an actor, playing along for the camera. She could be dating the first guy for all we know. Think about that. You are potentially letting a staged performance create the rules of your world. You have decided, based solely on how this scene was presented, that you need to be on guard against girls who won’t share their money at bus stops. Or on the other hand, you have decided to ALWAYS give out your money when asked so that you aren’t labeled “racist”.
If that is the route you take, understand that your decision is based completely on the melanin levels in your skin. This is a decision you have made in the hopes that one day we won’t have to think about the melanin levels in our skin. What? No. We don’t take steps backward in order to move forward.
How about we just make that choice now? How about we just see people as ‘people’. It’s her money. She can choose who she wants to give it to, and she can choose the ‘why’ behind her decision.
Let’s create the world we want… right now.
Don’t give your power away to a random girl at a bus stop.
Carole Says... 