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Timber Fox's avatar

The TSA crap is really galling, that should be in their training. It's a real bad oversight. You know they'd never pull that with a military ID. Even before 9/11 when everyone became a Hero(tm) we had the Saving Private Ryan / Greatest Generation propaganda going. My friend, a Marine, would tell boy scouts "thank you for your service" and that was his take on the whole thing. That it was meaningless. If we cared about the troops we wouldn't have a 2 year backlog for mental health care at the VA.

I'm sorry you have to deal with the "family stories" from ignorant white people. It does sound exhausting. As for the famous person ... I'm glad you changed your speech and gave them all what they needed to hear. I'm sorry that you had to.

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Laura's avatar

Racism and privilege seem baked into the stories that too many white people seem to embrace without any awareness of it. I know I was raised with them, taught them, shared them. We often expect others to behold our “shared” experiences with enthusiasm. I am glad you found some solace in the end but the toll this imposes on you and others is continual and all of it can affect physical and mental health long term. I know how the stress of living with a severely immunocompromised person since March 2020 has affected me; I have a lot more empathy and understanding of what racism must do to people over a lifetime. I guess I’m glad you spoke out but hate what it costs you.

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