?Your Race-Your Fault_My Race-My Fault?

Here in America, we continue to experience racism because of being a particular race and one's skin color. It is truly amazing that our country still has this issue to date and it doesn't appear that we will ever see it entirely go away, at least not in this lifetime. 

I know how this works because I have lived and experienced racism many times as an African American male. From my early years as a young black kid, to my years as a United States Marine, and on to my later years now as an everyday American citizen living here in the United States, racism has followed me throughout my life. However, I have been blessed enough to recognize those situations time and time again and remove myself far away from many potential dangers. 

From me to you, I absolutely do not ever look at my race as the only one that experiences racism. I do, however, understand that my race does experience racism at a far greater clip than most, if not all other races based on past and current history. Nonetheless, please do yourselves a big favor...Always sit down and make an effective daily travel plan before you go anywhere, especially when it involves distant locations. Plan an exact route, to include locations for rest, food and fuel stops. Also, Google the environment and the type of people within that local area. I do not expect anyone to be overly paranoid, but rather remain vigilant at all times because you never know when you may wind up in an area or location that you are not welcomed. Trust me, you will know whether you are welcomed when you arrive at a location just by the body language of the locals, so be alert and as attentive as possible at all times!

Transcript

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Hey, hey, what's up out there, everybody? I'm your host, Greg Mack of the You Better Plan on the Podcast. You can catch me every Tuesday at 12 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. You can watch me live by going to YouTube and checking me out there. You can also catch me at any of your favorite sites by going to You Better Plan on the Podcast.burstsprout.com. Now, with that said, make sure you hit that subscribe button and just follow me because I got plenty of good stuff coming and you're going to definitely enjoy it. Now, with that said, let's get down to business. I want to take you on a little journey. An actual personal journey. Now, I'm an African American. As you can see. Or as I'm telling you, if you're listening in, I'm a dark-skinned African American. I'm a black man. I spent 22 years in the Marine Corps, and I have lots of friends of all different races, creeds, and colors and ethnicities, and it's amazing. And I can tell you, for me, I don't discriminate. Have I ever discriminated? Of course I have. We all have. In some way, shape, form, or fashion. You might not realize, but I'm sure I have. Because I've never been perfect. And if I am perfect, I don't belong here on this earth. I need to be upstairs with the big man. So let me tell you something. Have you ever been told that your race is your fault? Have you? Or do you even understand what I'm saying to you? Your race is your fault. Let me take you on a journey and I'll further explain why this is a situation that your race just might be your fault unknowingly. Now, every day you get up and you go somewhere, you need to have an effective daily plan. And I've said it countless times. Every route you take, every move you make, every step you take, just make sure you have an effective daily plan. Because your race could very well be your fault unknowingly. Now to take you on that journey, three of us during my Marine Corps career took a trip. You had my white friend, I'm not gonna use his name, myself, and a Mexican friend, real close, work together, always together. We were gonna be going on deployment. And the plan was for a white friend wanted to take his vehicle back to the East Coast, from the West Coast to the East Coast, driving from Camp Pendleton back to Ohio, to a small town in Ohio, deep in Ohio, by the way. And he wanted some company. And we had some leave to kill before we needed to be back and get ready for the deployment. So we all planned it out, mapped it out. Here's where we're going, this is what we're doing, this is how we're going. And this is what we're doing, where we're staying on our journey. And then we're gonna fly back once we drop his car off. And we're gonna get a chance to meet his family, his community, and it sounded exciting. Okay, we start to make our journey, and let's just cut to the chase. We got about uh 12 miles from his actual destination to his parents' home. Now, as we got closer within about a 30-mile radius, things started to really spread out in terms of the driving becoming more and more countrylike as we were going deeper and deeper into get to his place. Now, 12 miles from that, we stopped at a gas station because he just wanted to go ahead and refuel his vehicle and get a chance to get out, stretch, use the bathroom before he go that last 12 miles and whatnot. So, no problem. But when we got to our destination, as far as the gas station goes, we got out. Uh, immediately whispers were heard. Who are they? Why are they here with him? And then we didn't really think much about it, and then when we went inside the gas station to use the restroom, even though there was no sign there, we were told the restroom is not available at the moment. We'd have to uh maybe use the tree line or something. Yeah, and it was kind of interesting. Uh, we just seen someone come out of the restroom before we went in the store. As a matter of fact, a couple people. And we didn't think nothing. Okay, maybe you know something happened, it's clogged up, no big deal. But there was no signposts and nothing. But the tension was greater and greater the longer we were in the store because people came in and they went, didn't even go past us. They walked around different ways to not even come in contact, was what it felt like to me. I'm a Mexican buddy. Now, our white friend, he's not thinking much about this. He's excited because he's close to home and they know him, and people are speaking to him. Nobody's speaking to us. He introduces us, but they just say hello, but you can tell there's that kind of hello where they weren't gonna shake our hands and they weren't gonna give us hugs and high fives and kisses. And we just say, hey man, we're gonna go wait in the car. Okay, man, I'll be right out. So we get in the car, and my Mexican friend and I, we're having that conversation, man. Something is off here. Those people don't seem very welcoming. The bathroom is not off limits. We get try to give them the benefit of the doubt. And, you know, my Mexican friend said, man, I just got the feeling we may be in a place where we're not welcome. So was our race our fault? Was me being a black man, African-American man, my fault? Was him being a Mexican man, a Spanish man? Was that his fault? Your race, your fault, my race, my fault? Is that what it is in America? So anyway, gas up, we get on down the road. And we get close to his place. And it feels just like we're driving forever down this dirt road, this further and further and further and deeper into the country. Okay, that's fine, but we already have a negative feeling about it. And we just ask, hey man, is this gonna be okay? Because those people at the store didn't seem too friendly. Oh, no, no, no. Some of the people that he's just, you know, we still got a bunch of moody people around here, this old, oh, and then he said that shocked us. Oh, this is one of them old redneck communities. And it was beg your pardon. I'm just kidding, man, but yeah, a lot of rednecks around here, but you they cool people, they're good. They're good. Things have changed, they're not like they used to be. What do you mean they're not like they used to be? And he went on to explain that, you know, we're going to be in a very white community where they're very, like, he called them Hicks. They're just not used, we don't have different races of people around, but it's changed because that was years ago. Things have changed now. And we were kind of questioning, okay. So he said it changed, let's just wait and see. So, you know what was really interesting? We got to his parents' place. We got out of the vehicle, and you know, we were grabbing our baggage, and his mom came out quickly, and his dad came out quickly, and for some reason they hurried us into the home, not trying to handshake another. Just come on, yes, come on in outside out here. Let's go. This, you know, it was a pretty cool day. It's maybe 75 degrees, pretty nice out, nice breeze blowing. They hurried us into the home and immediately into his room to put our bags down and asked us to wait in the room. You know, and but the interesting part is as we were going in, there were people coming out on the porches from several different homes and pointing, and you could hear conversation, just couldn't make out what they were saying, and the phone apparently was ringing off the hook, ringing and ringing and ringing, and the dad kept answering the phone. And then when we were in the room, the door wasn't quite closed, and the grandfather came in and wanted to know what we were doing with his grandson. Why are they here? They don't belong here, they're not welcome here like that. We don't have those kinds of people, and he was not very bashful in his speaking, he just let it fly. And a Mexican friend and I, we got like, man, this is not good. And, you know, you could hear our white friend in there. What do you mean? What's going on? These are my friends, we're real close. We worked together, and grandfather was getting louder and louder, and dad's trying to calm him down. They're not welcome here, they can't stay here. We heard that plain as they need to put them back in a hotel, get them out of here, or there's going to be trouble. We're not having that here. That's not happening on my property. So, dad, well, first mom comes in the room and she's trying to apologize, and she said, I hope you didn't overhear that, ma'am. We're okay. What do we need to do? And she said, Well, first we're going to make sure you get fed, and then our son here is going to take you back towards, get you, he's going to get your hotel room for the evening because there are just people who just are not very welcoming in our community. So, you know, at this point, I'm pretty, well, actually, he and I both, me and a Mexican, we're pretty pissed. Because we've come all this way. You didn't bother to tell us this thing because you just assume, you know. Now here I'm thinking, my race, my fault, and he, I'm sure he's thinking his race his fault. Because we are a certain race, certain skin color. We don't belong. So look at yourself. Is your race your fault? Give me some feedback on this. But anyway, we were pretty hurt, pretty pissed off, pretty just beat up about this because, you know, we traveled more than 2,500 miles to make sure he got back home safe to meet his family, meet his community, enjoy our time. We took leave for this to go and enjoy ourselves with him and his family, his community, and we knew almost instantly when we got out of that gas station, and even more so when we got to his family's home. Because his grandfather's not basketball and saying, you don't belong here. So I was like, looking at myself, like, man, what did I do wrong? I'm black and I'm not welcome here. And even then, for me, I was thinking things gotta be so different now. I mean, you know, it's been years. You know, he's been a Marine Corps around all these different races and nationalities and all that. So his family gotta be different, his friends, everybody around the community, but it wasn't that way. So we did not even want to eat because we were kind of fearful of, are we gonna eat this food? And next thing you know, we uh something happens and we disappear. I'm here to tell you, you know, we were, we ate, we ate in the room. Grandfather did not want us in the living room, but the phone would ring. And then dad would say something, the phone would ring, and mom would say something. The phone, it just kept ringing. So we ate, and then quickly, he, a white friend came in and apologized and said, I'm humiliated, I feel, and we were like at this point pretty upset with him. Man, you put us in a situation that could go really wrong because of our race, the color of our skin, it is obvious we don't belong here. I mean, coming in, you had all the different people coming out on the porches, like we felt the tension, and then your grandfather not even bashful. They're not welcome. Get them off my property. He didn't want us eating here, and then says, Well, if we're gonna eat, they need to stay in the room. So we've so yeah, let's get out of here. So his dad put our bags back in the vehicle, and then they quickly got us out of there, and on our way out, uh middle fingers and and and language was being hurled at us, and and uh it was really it was life-changing at that very moment praying that nobody threw a brick or took shots at us or something like that. You know, we could have been shot and killed, or could have thrown bricks at us, but because they knew him, I think they didn't do anything hazardous because his dad rode with us. Dad was driving, we were in the backseat, our white friend on the pastor's side, and some 30 plus miles, we went all the way back towards town. A town about 30 miles over where we would be safe. Got us a room, and then our white friend went back with his father so he could at least be around the family. And then he came back later that night and we we chatted it up, and then I say, Man, you're here to stay with your family for a couple days. Go ahead on, man. That's fine. We we have our flights, we'll just catch your cab and whatever. And so, needless to say, when you're going to go somewhere, this is what I want you to do. I challenge you to do this. Make sure you plan it down to AT. Know the area, the environment, the people that you're going to be around. Because obviously, people don't care who you are when you don't fit in. Your race, your fault, his race, his fault. That's what it was for us that day. It was our fault. It was my fault because I was black. Because I had dark skin. His fault because he was Mexican and he had dark skin. But our white friend, he was free and clear and innocent, but oblivious to what he did not expect to happen until we got there and we went through it. So be cautious of your surroundings. Don't just make a decision to go somewhere without thinking it through. Because I guarantee you, right now, to date, there are some of you who just went through something 24 hours ago, 48 hours ago, one week ago, two weeks ago, where you got somewhere and the tensions were greater and you knew you were not welcome there because of your race or the color of your skin. Just be honest with yourself. Don't go out there just thinking willy-nilly, hey, I'm just gonna go here without doing some research. You better plan on it. Because bad people are out there. People are racist, people discriminate. We're here in the United States, and we still get discriminated against. I'm a black man, I've been discriminated against. I've probably been discriminated against within the last 30 days and didn't even realize it because I don't get worked up and I'm different. I have a different mentality in terms of things. Now, if you're gonna treat me a certain way to my face, then we're gonna have a problem. But if you're doing something and I don't I don't I don't really get worked out. I'm not a high stress level person. I'm very patient with things. I try to see things for what they are to make sure I got a good beat on it before I react. A lot of people just react and then it becomes an even worse situation. But I'm telling you, please, sir, ma'am, whoever you are, before you do anything, deliberately take the time to plan where you're going, the type of people you're gonna be around, the type of environment you're gonna be around, so that you're safe and you can mitigate discriminatory situations. I mean, for us, that day, I left there believing my race was my fault. My Mexican friend left there believing his race was his fault. My white friend left there believing their race was their fault because it was my fault for bringing them around a town that did not deal with people of a certain color or a certain race. And that's okay. You know, that's okay. It happened. I'm still alive and well. Uh I haven't thought about it in a minute, but this topic just popped in my head, and I said, you know what, I'm gonna talk about it today. Your race, your fault, my race, my fault. Is it? We're here in America, it's not supposed to be. Not supposed to be discriminated against, but it happens all the time. And I know as a black man, it happens far often to my race and color more so than others. And I know that for a fact. I've witnessed it, I've been around it, I've been a part of it. And I don't hold grudges. People are gonna be people, people are gonna dance and do the things the way they do. But you know what? Just be vigilant and cognizant of your surroundings and the things that you walk yourselves into, especially when you have family. Now, with that said in closing, again, you know, check me out on YouTube. Check me out on YouTube every Tuesday at 12 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and check me out on any of your favorite apps by going to you betterplan on it.buzzsprout.com. I appreciate your time. Thanks for listening in. Again, plan. Plan and plan again. Because you better plan on it, because anything can happen. And I'll ask you this question and share your feedback. Your race, your fault? Is it? My race, my fault? Is it really? You tell me. I appreciate your feedback. God bless, take care of yourselves and remember, always remember, a plan that succeeds is a plan that can fulfill one need. God bless you, take care of yourselves, and we'll chat again soon. Hurrah.