Replies to '05/30 Pretty/Ugly'

  I wish Jay would put on dark makeup and go into that same setting as a black man,  doesn't matter if he's a prep or a thug you all might be surprised at what you might see.  

     I'd like to show you all what it's like to be black and what happens to us 8 out of 10 times when we go places to shop, and eat.   The difference is a plain white man can put on an expensive suit and get courtesy and respect, (Donald Trump)  but we can hide our skin color.    

    I'm an attractive black woman and I still might leave my corporate job, and walk into a store and be treated like I'm invisible or a nuisance based solely on my skin color. 

   The way you felt Jay, the no eye contact, no one stopping to hear you out is exactly what my father and brother have learned to live with.  Not saying it happens all the time, but just as you felt that people were discriminating against you because of the way you looked ,and everyone believed it, imagine knowing that you get the same treatment as a black person because of the color of your skin and everyone calling you a liar or saying you're being "too sensitive when you state it?"   Afterall we could all explain away what happened to you in disquise.  We could say the people who ignored and dismissed you were really busy or just not  able to find the application quickly.  You told us differently and we took your word for it without making excuses for the workers.    

    Imagine if you had come on TV and announced your findings and everyone had jumped down your throat with what we usually get, "Well maybe they were busy, or maybe you were dressed inappropriately," surely it couldn't have been looks discrimination. 

    You would have been hopping mad.  That's what we as black people deal with, knowing that the Gucci store clerk was uncorporative or even combative because of our skin color and everyone running to the clerks defense saying she was just probably having a bad day. Or the same thing happened to me when I went in wearing sweats.     

   I remember in college relaying an incident that happened to me at a high end clothing store and all my classmates dismissed my account immediately, in fact cut me off and starting telling stories of going into the same store in their workout clothes with their backpacks, or with a hangover and being treated similarly.  I pointed out, you can change clothes and sober up and go back in and get service. I can't change my skin. LOL