Racism Over The Counter

Racism or freedom of speech?

On paper, racism is not permitted in the United States.  It can be traced to the 4^th of July 1776, when 13 colonies ruled by the Queen of England, broke away and formed a new country.

History students all over the world know the preamble to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, but here is a re-cap.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

They are created equal because they are conceived the same way, grow in a woman’s body for almost a year and are born the same way.  Nature, being perfect, keeps the umbilical cord of equality after birth, something we see in daycare playgrounds or when two kids meet in public places.  They don’t see black or white.  They just toddle towards each other, little arms stretched.

Some people don’t agree.  They are entitled to their opinion but not on paid hours.  My belief that black people are not human and therefore not entitled to basic rights like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should be under lock and key when I go to work.  I should release them from captivity when I get back home.

I am paid to serve customers and bring in money.  I am a liability to the employer if I have a racism tenant in my mind, that prevents me from enjoying my job because of hatred for black people.  

On the 12^th of April, a Starbucks employee in Philadelphia called the police to arrest two black men who were waiting for a friend.  Melissa DePino, a white customer saw the injustice, captured it on video and sent it out to the world.  That employee is no longer with Starbucks.

At the end of May, ABC cancelled Roseanne Barr’s television show Roseanne, after her racist tweet about Muslims and Valerie Jarrett, a black advisor to former U.S. President Barack Obama. 

Barr’s supporters are waving the freedom of speech card, but that works at the dinner table, not on the job, where someone pays me to deliver a product or service, and not what I feel inside about a particular group of people.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.