Parks looks cute, almost impish to me in that picture!
When I ride the bus, I don't usually think a lot about racial issues - my area of town has some pretty decent diversity, and everyone tends to get along pretty good. I do live very close to the main mosque in my area, so occasionally I see something go down that makes me think of Rosa Parks and the social climate, contemporary racism, etc.
I was riding the bus a while back, and it was pretty crowded - I was in the middle of the bus, in a window seat, and the seat next to me and most of the isle was full of people. I saw three women, all wearing the Hijab, get on. As they got on, by both how they moved and by their faces I could see that two of them were older ladies. Now, I don't know if it's like this where you're from, but locally, if people of such an age get on, or if those who are clearly struggling to stand in the isle get on, the young, healthy people who have seats usually offer them up right away for those in need of them. This did not happen for these ladies. Everyone was ignoring how tough it was for them to stand. Lots of the people in those front seats were young, able bodied people. They were all looking down, looking away... It was the first time I'd ever seen this situation. The younger of the three was trying to help the other two stay upright, and she looked up and saw my worried gaze. I smiled and pointed at my seat, she smile and shook her head. I was trying to figure out if there would be a way for me to some how offer one of them my seat in spite of the many people in the isle they'd need to squeeze past, or considering making a scene by shouting out for someone to help these ladies when thankfully a few people got off and the ladies were able to sit. A couple days later, same bus and time, I was all the way at the back of the bus, and to my horror I saw the exact same three ladies get on, and the same scene play out. On another trip, I again saw the same ladies get on, no one offered their seats, but this time I was relatively close to the front (but still in a window seat with someone next to me) I caught the eye of one lady and motioned that she could have my seat, she nodded, I had the person next to me get out, and guy in the isle went to take it, I said "I think these ladies need a seat," and suddenly several people stood up, and there was a reshuffling - the ladies all got seats up front, someone else insisted I take their seat... The immediate reaction of all the other passengers upon hearing my comment made me think that maybe most people did want to help, but weren't sure what was appropriate and didn't want to embarrass anyone, or maybe because the women were dressed so differently from other passengers no one looked closely enough to notice these women's age or clear need of seats ...or maybe it was plain old racism. All I know is, a couple days later, when I saw these ladies again, the bus wasn't so full and there were empty seats to be had, and when they sat down, they all said something to each other, turned and looked at me and one of the ladies gave me a knowing smile.
Conversely, I once saw a woman in full burqa get on the same bus, same route, and people got the fuck out of her way. I have to admit, that was the first time I'd seen a woman in a burqa in the context of urban downtown Winnipeg, and the image was pretty powerful in contrast to everyone else around her. I even found seeing her dressed like this a bit scary - all those implications of oppression, what it might mean about how she is treated by those in her life. I know she was just a lady on a bus, and that this is my own prejudice to instantly assume she is oppressed. It's extremely hard for me to imagine any women wearing a burqua by choice, and even harder to imagine a parther to such a woman treating her as an equal. Then again, right across the isle was a teenager in a skirt that just barely covered her ass, so who says freedom equals self respect?
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Topic: Holy Crap! (Read 3095 times)