Warning: mildly political statement below. A couple weeks ago I was walking through the Minneapolis airport with thoughts of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, and too many others like them on my mind. Perhaps I was primed to pay particular notice the two young black men shining shoes for two young white men in suits reading the New York Times. Looking around the terminal, every single employee from food service to news shops was a person of color, in a city that is 70% white. In all my extensive time in airports in the past few years I dont think Ive ever seen shoe shining stations in use. I thought of them as a piece of antiquity, a remnant of an older society. So this view left a sour taste in my mouth for the symbolism of the moment. And I wonder, how often does is that role reversed? Perhaps I only saw a particular moment and in reality the staff and the clients are perfectly diverse. I cannot imagine sitting in one of those chairs and paying someone of any race to buff the scuff marks off of my shoes. But I can imagine shining someone elses shoes if thats what it took to pay my bills and feed my family. My point is, just because you dont see it, or dont feel it, please dont assume that race isnt an issue. John Green has a few things to say on the topic.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:04:25 +0000
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