3. TIL Jesse Owens, an African-American track athlete who won a gold medal at the 1...

TIL Jesse Owens, an African-American track athlete who won a gold medal at the 1936 "Nazi Olympics", said: "Hitler didn't snub me—it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram.”

The difference is that most racism these days is not overt. It's not people foaming at the mouth and lynchmobs, it's "that Chinese place uses cat meat" or getting followed around a store, or thinking that anyone with a turban is a terrorist, or seeing a hispanic kid at the cash register and making snide remarks about not being able to order your food in english.

And then some people might say, "Big deal! Let the idiots be idiots." but it never ends. You are constantly reminded that you aren't white, that you are "foreign" or otherwise not standard. You are constantly hit with the same "benign" stereotypes. You will forever be defined by the color of your skin, and that any deviation from how they define your race makes you different. (You don't act black! Don't Mexicans usually live with like a million relatives?)

And then you have the people who will say racist things to you about a different minority. Like, do you expect me to believe that you don't say the same kind of shit about me when I leave the room? I have seen this kind of shit come out of people about their "friends." People they go on fishing trips with, and meet every friday after work for beer, because to them, they are the exception, and only tentatively so.

And then, on TOP of all of this, you have the racism you see in the news and on the internet. Things like being profiled ("you match the description of a person of interest") or a hate crimes.

But the real twist? People of color are just as racist as white people are portrayed. We see how racism affects us, and then you have people turn around and do it to others. "I don't trust black people" Really? And how do you feel when people assume you're a thug just because of your skin color? Did you selectively forget that your race has just as many negative stereotypes for the EXACT SAME REASONS? What's that? It's not the same because those stereotypes are true? Oh, well excuse me then!

Don't get me wrong, there is still some racism, but this is far from the most racist place I've ever been.

I'm not saying this is not true, I don't know your experiences, but I'm thinking that you may have gotten used to it through sheer overexposure.

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - german.about.com
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