Karen's Ramblings

I wasn't there, but I don't imagine that being a pleasant experience.

"...I wonder if all these non-white people see me and assume that I think I am superior to them..."

You ask some serious questions which deserve some serious answers, and you are in an interesting position to ask them, since you're white. The answers you get may surprise you.

But be careful of this:

"I can comfort myself by dismissing him as insignificant - most likely he has never passed grade 9, never earned an honest dollar, never had a friend outside his whisky bottle or other drunks..."

because racism is action based on a stereotype and you came dangerously close to stereotyping the drunk who began flinging insults a few times.

You're absolutely right. I am doing that, aren't I? I guess I should be careful of that, but I honestly do have a bit of an image of guys like that in my head after living the places I have lived in (there's one of my few biases). Must be careful not to fall into that trap and make myself no better than he. It just feels very good to dismiss him because then his actions and words have no power, right?