Racism In Our Dialog

I have noticed, probably for my entire lifetime - but, for the purpose of this writing, I would say: for quite some time. [What] I have noticed is an aspect of our collective dialog that hints of a racism. Most times, I’m relatively sure, that this racism is unintended. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is not even realized by the person speaking the words. But it has become ingrained minus - probably all of us, so it has become part of the grammar of our storytelling.

But I also believe, without a doubt, that there are those who incorporate these idioms into conversation because they are, indeed, backed by a conscious, and deep-rooted racism. Regardless, of the origins, I believe that it is a subject worth exploring, in the words of this post.
It was yesterday, while I was in attendance as part of a large, and very diverse gathering, that I overheard a conversation that brought all of this to mind. It was a man, of middle-age, relaying a story to two other men - also of middle-age, about an acquaintance that had been hit by a car while riding his motorcycle. The man who had been hit was, thankfully, only injured slightly.

As the story was being told - and each subsequent time it had been told, and talked about, the man telling the story used the same descriptive phrase each time: “this damn Mexican” - referring to the driver of the car that was at fault. 
Another story, that was recently relayed to me, was regarding a bagger at a local grocery store. The “bagger” was referred to, in the telling of the story, as “this young African-American woman”, who had done such an awful job of bagging.
In either of these stories, the race, or the gender, was not applicable, in any way, to the meat of the story. Would the outcome of the accident, between the car and the motorcycle have been any less significant had the driver at fault been Caucasian, or Asian, or any other race? Would the experience of the shopper, having their groceries tossed without care, into the plastic bags, been any less aggravating, had the bagger been a man, or a Caucasian, or.. etc.? he answer is no, to both of these stories.

So why do we find it important, or imperative to include such details? The only answer that I can come up with is that they are part of the “norm”. They are a part of our social storytelling mechanism. But, in fact, do they not stem from a place of racism - intentional, or unintentional?
I ask this latter question, NOT as the impetus for outrage, or explosive, over-reactive dialog. But rather, I ask it to spark a civil, and honest dialog - within ourselves, as well as within an open conversation within our society. But I would also venture to propose that this is a dialog that needs to be discussed, and explored by societies the world over. It is not just an “American” problem. It is, in fact, worldwide.

_David