My wife (black) and I (white) married January 19, 2013, having successfully passed the marriage equality law in Washington State--but that's another diary. We didn't take a full honeymoon but went to a resort-casino hotel not a hundred miles away for a two-night stay. Quiet, good food, she had a massage, and I won enough at blackjack to cover most of the trip--but that is yet another diary.
The first day she was up early (I am NOT a morning person) and after her walk she decided to go to the nearest town ten miles away for some antiquing. Not long after she entered a store, a county sheriff's car pulled up and two deputies got out.
Did I mention that she is black? African-American? Negro? Supply your own adjective. She is not urban or hip-hop, not "scary" in any way. She is a nice-looking middle-aged woman with bobbed hair showing a pattern of gray, dressed conservatively in a typical middle-class on vacation manner. She speaks good Standard English, not Ebonics. She drives an Olds Alero, for God's sake.
The deputies were polite, wanting to know who she was, where she was from, and what she was doing in the store. She told them who she was:The Reverend C--------- R--------- of the Episcopal Diocese of O-----------, and that she was from near Seattle and was browsing in the store (just like anyone else might). They thanked her politely and left.
Now, who do you suppose called the deputies and why? Was the mere presence of a black woman in this store so threatening? I can't even imagine that she was the first black woman to come to that store, as it is reasonably close to Tacoma and Seattle, and there is as I said a casino resort nearby.
Luckily she found the whole situation funny. My comment when she told me about it was, "Well, I guess I can't let you go out alone." I also suggested we should go back there and mutter gutterally and say, "Inshallah, a lot, but decided it was too far to drive just for a prank.
Mr. Chief Justice, in my opinion, no white male of the Christian faith is qualified to opine on the existance or non-existance of bigotry and racism in this country.