Racism is Ugly

Being a blue eyed, white, European American, you would think I would not ever have to worry about racism. The unfortunate truth is that because we have a mixed race family we experience racism very frequently. Also unfortunately I find that the more ignorant the people the more racism seems to abound.

When we lived in the U.S. being P.C. was actually not a bad thing. At least people treated our daughter and son-in-law as equal human beings. Living in a second world country they do not believe in being P.C. to any extent. Many of them in fact are down right rude. We are used to the title of Cheena for my daughter, and Negro for my son-in-law, but it goes past that.

My son-in-law speaks perfect English. He has had many interviews with call centers based on his resume. Once they see him they decide that they are only hiring "Native Speakers" after all! How frustrating for him. One day he went to look at a house that was for rent in their neighborhood. They had spoken on the phone and made an appointment. When he showed up on the porch with the two kids she told him she had already rented it out. A couple days later when he walked by they had posted a sign,"for rent, but not to foriegners". Can you imagine someone posting a sign like that in the States?

It is very sad to see that all these people will miss out on getting to know a really cool guy, just because he is not from Costa Rica. I think we are all a little guilty of making blanket judgments, but I sure hope I don't do it!