Last year, I was shopping in the Town Center at 9:30 p.m. Why so late? Well, a girl has got to do what she has to do when there is a need….I finished up and then sat in front of Staples for the Soka Shuttle to come pick me up. It was dark, but a decent amount of people were actually walking out and about.
Suddenly, I heard loud screeching and so I hurriedly looked around for the source. From a distance I could see a shocking blue convertible screeching ever closer. It took a few laps around the plaza, and I could hear the laughter of its male riders and the pounding music they were playing. I rolled my eyes, thinking these were some typical spoiled brats just disturbing the peace, when they then slowed down and started cruising past the sidewalks.
To my complete horror, they slowed down to every woman on the sidewalk and started yelling absolutely heinous slurs at them. They mocked an African American woman coming out of TJ Max, taunted a distressed Mexican mother trying to get to her car, and then finally reached me.
At 9:45 p.m. and all on my own, I was scared. They obviously labeled me as “Chinese” and threw out unspeakable slurs while slitting their eyes. Beers in hand, they were most definitely drunk. The driver and shotgun both looked high school age, but to my absolute shock, the three back passengers looked to be no more than middle schoolers… How could people so young be responsible for saying such disgusting words? Where were their parents? How were they raised?
They drove away in a fog of disgusting car exhaust, leaving beer cans on the road, and a shocked me sitting on the bench. So this is an American experience…. facing blatant racism and discrimination just casually shopping at a public plaza. What is so American, is a combination of freedom and stigma. While we have freedom of speech, there are limits when it comes to harassment…Sadly verbal harassment is a gray area and punishments for it vary by state. These privileged boys who had so deeply insulted the women and myself that night would be more likely to be charged with disturbing public peace than with this racism. That is just the way it is. And living in such a conservative and affluent community, there is apprehension when thinking of pressing any charges. Society is not on our side, and we are weak to an army of lawyers and a wallet filled with funds. Ah…a truly disgusting sort of American experience.