Selfishness or Racism?
I’m, for all intents and purposes an old woman. I don’t feel like one, but because I am hurtling towards seventy, most would consider me an old woman.
I have/am amazed by what people consider ‘important’ in their lives. Let me share a brief experience that happened just this very afternoon.
I must proceed by giving a few key details: I live in a vacation mecca in Vermont. Well, perhaps not a mecca but a very nice place nonetheless. Apparently, out mecca is surrounded by 5500 acres of Vermont’s rolling green hills, solitude, peace and of course all of the amenities that those (well-heeled folks from MA, NY, NJ, CT) who choose to invest in a second or third home where they can ski in the winter or engage in the typical experiences of summer: tennis, golf, swimming, biking, scaling mountain peaks all for the membership cost of about $9,000.00 annually.
Today I was watering my flowers on the front porch when a gaggle of young kids rode up on their bikes to swim in the pool directly across from our unit. My attention was drawn to a man and woman on bikes that had stopped to question the kids about whether they lived here or not. The man decided to continue on his route to return to their unit. The woman decided to stay and berate the children because, well, she felt that they just didn’t belong.
Two of the kids are clearly bi-racial — their beautiful, curly naturals in full regalia. The other two were of indeterminate race — but, does that really matter.
Anyway, the dear lady, and I use that term lightly decided that these kids did not belong in the pool. Note: I have resided in this location for a year and these well-mannered kids are in the pool many, many days during the hot summer months; in other words, I know the children, albeit tangentially.
I decided I had heard enough from this lady of privilege and stepped off my porch to engage her on behalf of the children.
Me: “I know these kids. They are here all of the time.”
Her: “But they don’t live here and I pay a lot of money to have the pool cleaned.”
Me: “That may be, but their father works here and among other things, he keeps that pool clean.”
Her: “I don’t care. He is a paid a salary and that does not give him or his kids the right to use OUR facilities.”
Me: “So, these kids are stopping you from swimming?”
Her: “That’s not the point! I pay a lot of money to maintain this facility and people that live here should not think they have the right to use them!”
Note: No one else was in the pool. In her mind, the whole issue is about “ownership.” How selfish or racist can an individual be?
Her: “Are these your kids?”
Note: I am the only black person in this facility, therefore I guess it would seem reasonable that I would have a few bi-racial children all under the age of thirteen?
Me: “No. But that’s not the point!”
Her: “I’m going to cal the Association! They should not enjoy the amenities I pay for!”
And therein lies a huge problem with those who feel entitled and privileged! This late thirties to mid-forties white woman was disturbed by people she considered unworthy to take a swim on a beautifully warm Spring afternoon. Decent kids that have always been respectful and their “Dad” that works very hard to maintain this facility during ill weather, and we have had some very bad weather this past winter, or merely ensuring that this place always looks pristine.
Therefore, I have a really big problem with people that find it difficult to share. This incident takes me back to a story my mother told me when I was a child. At the time my mother worked in white folks homes. My mother was relegated to iron in a damp, cold basement for ten hours a day; no breaks, no lunch, no dinner. Hungry, my mother helped herself to an apple and was promptly fired for “stealing”.
The media wonders why the panacea of a “race blind society” is clearly absent. Perhaps racism plays a part of the role. We all have to consider just how much unadulterated selfishness might play an even bigger role in how we relate to one another?
To be clear — the woman raised my blood. If this woman wanted to vacation at a location that is patrolled by armed guards to ensure that interlopers of any type cannot ‘disturb’ its tranquility, then perhaps she should have considered paying a lot more than $9,000.00 annually to be a selfish prig!