This man is a friend of my step-father’s and agreed to help me with this project.  He picked me up and took me to Beaumont.  We went to Cheddar’s for dinner and then went to see the movie “Fired Up” at Tinseltown.  His name was Jesse and he was very kind.  To make things look sincere we held hands while waiting for dinner to come and had a playful “discussion” about who should pay the bill.

Throughout dinner, I could feel people staring at us.  While casually looking around I saw several older couples staring at us while whispering to their partner behind their hands.  The younger people kept looking our way and laughing.  At the movie theater one teenager made a crude comment about how he could please me anytime without needing  assistance from “the little blue pill”.  His friends proceeded to laugh and were so distracting that we moved seats.  At the end of the movie, the same group of boys walked by and laughed again.  We got stuck behind them going down the stairs and the youngest looking one said “that old n-word could never please a young thing like that, she’s only in it for his welfare check”.

I was completely astounded at the response I received.  I could not believe the reaction from the different age groups.  The older people seemed more concerned with the difference in the color of our skin, while the younger ones were more concerned with the age factor.  I was shocked at how rude people can be in public places.  I found it incredibly hard to eat during dinner because I could feel people looking at me the entire time.  The teenagers in the movie theater really made me mad.  I wanted to beat each and every one of them senseless.  What amazed me the most was Jesse’s reaction.  He seemed like it was just a regular date.  He didn’t seem to notice the looks we were getting and didn’t care about the boy’s remarks.  When I asked him about it on the way home, he told me that the reaction we received was not unusual for him.  He actually dated a younger, white woman about five years ago and their relationship ended due to the same prejudicial reactions we received.

I don’t mean this to be offensive, but I always thought that racial prejudices were extremely exaggerated by minorities.  This was the first time I had witnessed first-hand what some people of minority groups have to deal with on a daily basis.  I learned that social criticism of your life can be very disturbing and even hurtful.  I also learned that due to the normality of racism and ageism in everyday life, most people become acclimated to the prejudicial treatment they receive.  This project was definitely an eye-opener for me.