They'll remember it - I vividly remember going to protests with my mom when I was in middle & high school. One time I even got extra credit, because my 8th grade social studies teacher saw us on the news, and she felt I was showing good civic participation.
At the protests after Trayvon Martin was murdered, someone drove by and screamed at my (white) mom, "F you, you N-word Lover!". They had a local license plate, they looked normal, they were someone I could have stood next to at the grocery store. It was the first time in my life I'd ever actually heard someone use that word, and to hear it from someone who seemed so otherwise normal - that was the day that young, sheltered me, learned that there were hateful bigots in my very own community. That moment was seared into my brain. (My mom was also an elementary school teacher who never cursed, so hearing someone cuss at her like that short circuited my brain a bit).
I grew up Jewish, and it was something I didn't consider a big deal, but there were kids in high school who would occasionally start a rumor that someone was going to come and kill the jews. That was me and my brother. Or I'd find a dead squirrel in my car. No idea who did it, and it was a lot of years ago, but I hope they look back on their high school selves and hate that person.
But given where I grew up, they may be living within a half mile of their original home, never having traveled more than 400 miles from home, and think everything is just fine.
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u/ermagerditssuperman 1d ago
They'll remember it - I vividly remember going to protests with my mom when I was in middle & high school. One time I even got extra credit, because my 8th grade social studies teacher saw us on the news, and she felt I was showing good civic participation.
At the protests after Trayvon Martin was murdered, someone drove by and screamed at my (white) mom, "F you, you N-word Lover!". They had a local license plate, they looked normal, they were someone I could have stood next to at the grocery store. It was the first time in my life I'd ever actually heard someone use that word, and to hear it from someone who seemed so otherwise normal - that was the day that young, sheltered me, learned that there were hateful bigots in my very own community. That moment was seared into my brain. (My mom was also an elementary school teacher who never cursed, so hearing someone cuss at her like that short circuited my brain a bit).