This week I've kept it low key. I've stayed at my home stay more and decided to catch up on much needed sleep. I did, however see Wicked; which was excellent. This week in class we've learned about the two different history viewpoints.
1. It's in the past, can't we just get over it and move on?
In America this is typically from the white point of view.
2. It's my history, if you don't understand it, you don't understand me.
Which in America is usually from the view point of African Americans.
My whole life I've been sort of stuck in between these two view points. I'm mostly Native American and Scandinavian, so in American terms I can be from both viewpoints, it usually depends on the situation for me. However, I've never had been the victim of prejudice or racism when it comes to me being White or American, only Native American (or on occasion when people think I'm hispanic). That all changed yesterday when I went to Primark. I went to buy rain boots for the upcoming Scotland trip, when I went to check them out the cashier asked how my day was. When I answered she looked up at me and then asked me if I was American, with a tone in her voice I can only describe as distaste. When I told her yes, she took the 20 pound note I gave her and ran a money detector pen over it, to test if it was real. She then quickly shoed me out of the store and proceeded to whisper to her friends. I had similar situations happen to me before, but never for being American. It was the first time that I felt like historically both nationalities I came from could fit in with the second view point. It also made me realize the color divide that we have in America is still prevalent, here it wouldn't have mattered if I was white, black, tan, or pale, because it would have happened no matter what as long as I was American.
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