The BS Files #9
Story time.
I grew up in an all-white town. That’s right, white people everywhere. Not a single fucking shade of brown anywhere. It definitely made me naïve to things going on in the world. I was never around a black person for any length of time until my son asked for his friend to come spend the night. They were 5 years old.
The first memory of him was the first time he stayed at my house. I cooked and offered him a Dr. Pepper and gave my son a Sprite. I thought I was doing a good thing because we all preferred Dr. Pepper, but it was our last one. He asked “Did you give me the dark drink because I’m black? I choked on my food, mortified.
He became family. He stayed summers. I registered him for baseball at the little league park every year. I took him to practice. He went on vacation with us. I loved him as my own. This black boy and the white boy being best friends sure caused a ruckus with some back then. It was the beginning of many years of racist shit. It was new to me, and boy I was naive. I still am in some ways.
J’s friends gave him shit and my son’s friends did the same. They didn’t care but they did get in many, many fights over it defending each other.
But today, I want to tell you about my most horrible experience with it.
I was team mom for their baseball team. Believe it or not I used to do the whole baseball mom thing to the highest level. I was on the board at the ballpark and involved in everything. I planned their end-of-season party at the local public swimming pool.
A lot of the kids were already there and in true Brandy fashion I was sprinting in the door with my son and his bestie. As I went to pay, they said, “He can’t go in” As they pointed at J. My little 24-year-old, super naïve, self was so confused and asked “What? Why on earth not?” They replied that black people were not allowed in the pool. J started crying and I saw fucking RED. I had put a child in this situation unknowingly, but they did not know WHO I WAS.
Who am I? Someone who will never stand around and see a human being wronged but ESPECIALLY a fucking child. I left. I called the news. They came and did a story. The pool owner wouldn’t budge.
The NAACP got involved. THAT was on the news. Not so long story short, the pool owner decided to close their pool down rather than allow black people in. Even typing this, I am in disbelief that this happened. I never in a million years wanted a business that was loved by many to close. I didn’t even know the owner. I just wanted this child to be treated fairly and I never wanted anyone to be embarrassed the way he was ever again. I will NEVER forget his tears and heartbreak, but they seriously chose to CLOSE! I heard she built a pool at her home to continue swimming lessons there so she could continue to discriminate.
Fast forward to when I met my husband years later and told him the story, he said “Holy shit, YOU were the reason they closed!” So, I am quite certain many people probably hated me for it but I didn’t give a single shit. I didn’t close her doors. Her disgusting biases did.
I think most of us like to believe shit like the pool thing doesn’t happen anymore. This story happened about 26 years ago but you couldn’t convince me that there isn’t still places out there where this sort of shit goes on.
I may have been raised in a racist town, but I knew it was wrong. I knew it in high school when the office declined a black man to come in for maintenance work and I knew it at the pool.
My son and J are still best friends at 36 years old. J still comes to see me and still tells me he loves me. I know he remembers that I fought for him.
I guess the moral of the story is that if you see an injustice, DO SOMETHING. You may not change the situation at hand but you may prevent it from ever happening again.
If you see something, say something. Help end the bullshit.
Xoxo
B