Growing up in a Mennonite village in the Paraguayan Chaco I had little exposure to the outside world. There were no stores and the only time we experienced a small window into that other world was when MCC sent Christmas packages (in which even the toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap were exotic items to be marveled at) or when our Oma sent us parcels from Canada.
My world expanded shortly after I turned nine. That year our family travelled to Asunción
(the capital city) to wait for our visas so we could join my Mother's relatives in Canada. Our family of eight (soon to be nine) spent several months in an MCC house there with a number of other families. I remember going on excursions with my Dad, especially to the markets. I saw a beautiful doll the size of a baby, and more than anything, I wanted that doll for myself. I begged and pleaded, but my Dad sadly shook his head, telling me we could not afford such luxuries because we had "Reiseschuld" (travel debt). I heard that word many times and I hated it !
When we finally received our visas and were on an airplane going to Rio de Janeiro, we had another experience that broadened our horizons. The stewardess passed out a delicious treat in a little decorative cardboard container wrapped in silver paper. When you unwrapped it and smelled it, it was as if heaven was at your door! The chocolate was divine! Then there were little packages with small white-coated squares of different flavors, which we could chew but shouldn't swallow our Dad told us. They were called Chiclets. We were amazed!
Behind me sat a girl about my age and she had a doll on her lap similar to the one I had seen at the market. She was travelling by herself and the stewardess was solicitous toward her. They spoke Spanish with each other, a language I did not understand. I wished I could ask the girl to be my friend, maybe then she would let me hold or even play with her doll for a bit. I had no words, so I just got up from my seat and went to her. Tentatively I reached out and touched the beautiful doll. The girl jerked her doll away from me and rang for the stewardess. I could not understand the words but they certainly sounded angry and accusatory and I went back to my seat, hurt and ashamed.
When the stewardess returned with treats for everyone, she deliberately passed me by and I got nothing. That was my punishment.
I was reminded of this rather traumatic event in my own life by a recent article in the Winnipeg Free Press (July 7, 2020). The article was about a white woman in New York's Central Park who had let her dog roam unleashed in a secluded bird-watching section of the park. This was against the rules. When she was reminded by "an African-American man" to keep her dog on a leash, she became belligerent and wouldn't comply.
The man began to record the incident on his phone; that is when she called 911, claiming that an African-American man was threatening her and her dog.Not so many years ago, this black man, calmly insisting a white woman should obey the law, would have been lynched for even daring to approach her in this way. Most likely he would have also been accused of molesting her.
However, the woman was charged under an existing false-report law which doesn't reference race. "It also inspired New York state lawmakers to pass a law that makes it easier under civil-rights law to sue an individual who calls a police officer on someone 'without reason' because of their background, including race and national origin."
The woman apologized after being charged and fired from her job.
When I read the article, I knew exactly how Christian Cooper, the man in New York City's Central Park, must have felt, and I was happy for the woman's apology (probably given under duress), saying she had "reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about Cooper's intentions."
I never received an apology.
Racism exists at all levels by the people who are in power and it is hurtful!
