In some places in this country, there aren't separate water fountains
anymore, but people still make racist remarks in the comfort of their
own homes. I live in such a place. It’s a small town in NC where
“everyone has a right to their opinion” and nice girls keep their
opinions to themselves. This is how the bigots operate. Anyone who calls them out on their bigotry is shamed somehow for speaking out.
One day, my mom saw a post from my friend Dominic’s mom on Facebook
about a friend of hers who was discriminated against by a children’s
museum. My friend Dominic had played at that museum when he was a little
boy. My mom knew exactly how to get the story out on social media, and I
helped her. We must have sent out 100 messages that first day. Before
we knew it, we had over a thousand signatures on the petition asking the
museum to stop discriminating. As the word continued to spread, I saw a
letter some boys my age from Jacksonville had written asking the museum
to stop their discrimination. That’s when I decided I wanted to deliver
the petition to the museum during the demonstration planned for June
22nd. I thought since it was a children’s museum that children had to be
involved.
We had fun times at the demonstration. I have no
idea how many people there were gay and how many were straight. I know
they were all equally concerned with me drinking water and not getting
sunburned. We waved, cheered, and held up signs. When cars honked at us,
we cheered louder. We cheered extra loud when a lady decided not to
visit the museum after finding out why we were out there. As it started
to rain, we went to the restaurant next door. Several people spoke about
human rights and about things we can do to stop this kind of
discrimination from happening. Then it was time. I had my friend Dominic
right behind me, the petition in hand, and just…started…walking.
What did I think was going to happen when I went to deliver the
petition? I thought I was going hand the petition to the director, say
thank you, and then turn and walk away. But a woman at the door stopped
me. She proceeded to tell me I was not allowed to go inside and that we
were trespassing. I handed her the petition, thanked her, and walked
away. The reality of what happened wasn’t that much different than what I
imagined. The difference was this woman made it a point to call me a
trespasser. Later, I learned someone connected with the museum called
the police because we were there. Shame on us, I guess. I have news for
them. I’m not ashamed of what I did.
What did I learn on my
summer vacation? I learned that some people really like it when nice
girls don’t keep their opinions to themselves. I learned that other
people will go to great lengths to defend their right to be bigots. I
learned in some places in this country, a child can’t walk into a
children’s museum.
Bravo !
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