I played Lacrosse for Rhodes College my freshman year, and when I couldn't play my sophomore year I sought a coaching job in Memphis. Eventually I found myself coaching girls lacrosse as an assistant at St. Benedict's at Auburndale out in Cordova. I had only been coaching a few weeks when, near the end of practice, we heard gun shots from the neighborhood next to the field. When practice was over, the head coach (who had grown up in Memphis and graduated from U of M a few years prior) and I walked over to investigate. We never found anything, but on the way back I was asking about the school and the neighborhood when I heard the following phrase.
"Since Cordova was annexed by Memphis and the taxes dropped, more and more n******s have moved in and it's been getting worse and worse here."
At the time I didn't know how to answer. He kept on talking and I didn't mention it. But it was the first time I had heard the phrase spoken to me by another white person, talking about African Americans. I had grown up in an affluent (and predominantly white ) suburb of Akron and Cleveland, but language like that had never been spoken. It was so jarring, especially coming from the Memphis I know of Midtown.
Over the next few months, as I continued coaching, I heard more and more racism from the coaches, parents, and players. Most of it was subtle, an insinuation here and there, but the head coach used the N word a few more times in our interactions. I guess I didn't realize that the suburbs of Memphis weren't the same people as those who lived in Midtown or worked at Rhodes. Their views were different, forged by attending private schools were less than 5% of the students were a minority.
Those interactions first opened my eyes to the ongoing racism of the South at large and Memphis specifically. I didn't really believe people spoke like that in casual conversation before then. I took this class because I want to know more about the struggles that Memphians face everyday and how most African Americans never have the luxury of not hearing white Americans hurl racial slurs at them.
My 4 years in Memphis and Rhodes have been a blessing, but I'm lucky to have lived them free of prejudice. I hope everyone has that opportunity soon, but it's hard to imagine how that will happen as long as those like the head coach continue to be so separated and uneducated about the problems.
I think a huge part of this and so much of what we have talked about at the end of the semester is how we can educate students more on the history of the city and its importance. To me it seems like so many of these people have had little to no interaction with someone outside of their white atmosphere. These prejudices are often formed by the media telling us who the good and bad people are. I believe if there was more of a complete narrative on the city and nation's history, there wouldn't be room for racist comments. I think especially in a setting like sports, it is difficult to relay this kind of information but as leaders of these young people, it's important to stress equality and maintain a sense of human decency among the players.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to have the strength to speak up with situations like the one you described. Especially if it speaking against a superior at work or a customer. It it may seem far easier to say nothing as I have done myself too many times. Something as simple as saying "That's not ok." or "That isn't accurate" or "Thats straight up racist dude." can be enough to call them out. Even if it doesn't change their views it will make them more hesitant to make comments like that publicly in the future. While it may lower their opinion of you or even harm a friendship I personally think that is an acceptable price to pay for not letting them get away with bigotry. I'm not criticizing how you handled the situation just offering some advice. When we let things like this fly it makes people think it is ok to say them. It sucks to have to call someone out for being racist or insensitive but it is better then the alternative of letting them think that their behavior is acceptable.
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