2004-05-21 16:18:01Lillian
偏見，因為看得見
For my friends who can not read Chinese, here is the English translation of “Prejudice, because you can see.” (It is not my story. My friend forwarded it to me.)
This is a real story, about black and white.
On the train from New York to Boston, I noticed the old man next to me was blind. My doctoral thesis professor was blind too so I had no difficulties to talk to the old man. I made him a cup of hot coffee. It was the period of L.A. riot so we talked about racial prejudice.
The old man told me that he was from the south and always believed that black people were inferior. His family had black maids, and he had never eaten with black people or gone to school with them when he was in the south. After he went to school in the north, he was assigned to hold a picnic by his classmates. He noted on the invitation, “We reserve the right to reject any person.”
In the south, that means, “We do not welcome blacks.” His classmates were shocked, and he was scolded by the dean. He said that he would put the money on the counter when his clerk was black so that he wouldn’t have to contact the clerk’s hand.
I smiled and asked him, “So you wouldn’t marry a black woman, would you?”
He laughed. “I didn’t hang out with them. How could I marry one? To be honesty, I thought that any black person marrying a black person shamed their family.”
However, he had a car accident when he studied in Boston. Although he was saved, he became blind. He entered a re-hab for blind people, where he learned to read, walk, etc. Finally, he could live independently. He said, “The most troublesome for me was that I couldn’t know if a person was black.”
He saw a counselor whom he told all his problems. The counselor helped him and had his trust. He took the counselor as his guidance and friend.
One day, the counselor told him that he was black. Since then, his prejudice faded and was finally gone. He can not distinguish whether a person is black or white. He can only distinguish whether a person is good or bad. Skin color means nothing to him anymore.
The train was close to Boston, and he said, “I lost my vision, and I lost my prejudice. How lucky!”
The old man’s wife was waiting for him on the platform. They hugged passionately. I suddenly noticed that she was black with gray hair.
Now I noticed, my eyes are fine, so I have prejudice. How unfortunate!
This is a real story, about black and white.
On the train from New York to Boston, I noticed the old man next to me was blind. My doctoral thesis professor was blind too so I had no difficulties to talk to the old man. I made him a cup of hot coffee. It was the period of L.A. riot so we talked about racial prejudice.
The old man told me that he was from the south and always believed that black people were inferior. His family had black maids, and he had never eaten with black people or gone to school with them when he was in the south. After he went to school in the north, he was assigned to hold a picnic by his classmates. He noted on the invitation, “We reserve the right to reject any person.”
In the south, that means, “We do not welcome blacks.” His classmates were shocked, and he was scolded by the dean. He said that he would put the money on the counter when his clerk was black so that he wouldn’t have to contact the clerk’s hand.
I smiled and asked him, “So you wouldn’t marry a black woman, would you?”
He laughed. “I didn’t hang out with them. How could I marry one? To be honesty, I thought that any black person marrying a black person shamed their family.”
However, he had a car accident when he studied in Boston. Although he was saved, he became blind. He entered a re-hab for blind people, where he learned to read, walk, etc. Finally, he could live independently. He said, “The most troublesome for me was that I couldn’t know if a person was black.”
He saw a counselor whom he told all his problems. The counselor helped him and had his trust. He took the counselor as his guidance and friend.
One day, the counselor told him that he was black. Since then, his prejudice faded and was finally gone. He can not distinguish whether a person is black or white. He can only distinguish whether a person is good or bad. Skin color means nothing to him anymore.
The train was close to Boston, and he said, “I lost my vision, and I lost my prejudice. How lucky!”
The old man’s wife was waiting for him on the platform. They hugged passionately. I suddenly noticed that she was black with gray hair.
Now I noticed, my eyes are fine, so I have prejudice. How unfortunate!