3 years ago
This story is about my experience with a group of ...
This story is about my experience with a group of middle-school aged kids who play sports through the Park District of Highland Park, their blatant Racism, and their parent s refusal to correct it. As a white woman, I must say I thought I understood Racism, but it wasn t until I watched it happen to my Japanese Husband, Mother-in-Law, and daughter that I learned I was ignorant towards Racism s effects. I did not, until then, understand the sunken feeling of it all, and I wasn t even the target.
After my family and I finished our lunch at a restaurant in Libertyville on Sunday, March 5th we walked outside to our car. My husband, carrying our daughter, and I approached the parking lot where about 6 or 7 early-teen boys were standing. We walked passed as they were making crude gestures (classic jerking off motion) at us which I ignored. That s when they proceeded to make racial comments about my daughter and my husband. I looked at them briefly and noticed they were wearing team jerseys. As my Mother-in-Law started to approach them, they started making fun of her as well. I heard the things they were saying about my husband, Mother-in-Law, and daughter and I froze. I had no idea how to handle the situation because I've never had it personally happen to me. It still wasn t even directly happening to me, but I still couldn t move.
I had options at the time. I could have started a verbal altercation, and part of me wishes I would have, but my kid was with me and if I were to have started a Jerry Springer showdown in the middle of a parking lot then what kind of example would I be setting for her in the future? My Father-in-Law tried to have a calm word with the one of the children's parents to let them know what had happened, but they simply blew my Father-in-Law off. They didn't care what their kids did to us. These young teens were making racist remarks with no regard to how it would make us feel. They spoke to and about us like we were nothing. And these were only verbal attacks. How many people live everyday with this kind of ignorance resulting in physical violence?
I found out they play sports through the Park District of Highland Park. I know that because I called the restaurant and the manager was upset with not only my situation, but apparently before we had our unfortunate run in, they and their parents were also completely disrespectful inside the restaurant. The manager told me what jerseys they were wearing so I Googled the middle school in Highland Park. I spoke with the principal who seems to be a kind hearted individual and he pointed me in the correct direction of the Park District. He gave me the names and numbers of the people running the park district s activities. When I spoke to Chris, the supervisor of the park district, he told me there is nothing disciplinary he can do.
Now please explain how that is ok. It's 2017, and nothing can be done about this? I should have called the cops. I should have stood up for myself and my family. Not only to the kids ignorance, but to their parent s support. I didn't. I froze. Now they will continue to think that talking to people this way is ok. That's the world we live in today and it s heart breaking.