Sadly, this is from my hometown, Fond du Lac, WI. 😥

[Heartstrings]

The Never-Ending Timeline of Racism
By: Devon Snyder

My earliest memory of racism was in 5th grade during my parent teacher conference, at Parkside Elementary School. During my parent teacher conference, Mrs. Theisen told my white mother “I thought Devon was going to be a bad kid. He looked like a bad kid. I thought he was going to be trouble.” In fact, I out beat every kid in my class when it came to reading, writing, math, science, and English. My 5th grade teacher made a preconceived notion about me based off my skin color. My school teacher. My teacher that’s supposed to educate me. A teacher that’s supposed to educate other children. She generalized me. She stereotyped me. My mom told her off and we abruptly left. I didn’t understand why my mother was so upset at the time.

That’s when my white mother said some words to me that I’ll never forget. “Devon, I know you don’t understand what just happened, but l will explain. People are going to judge you based off of your skin color until the day you die. That’s the sad truth. There are people who are going to hate you. Some of my own family members won’t even talk to me because I have black children. There are going to be people who want you dead. When it comes to the police, always comply even if you’re not in the wrong. That way you can make it safely back to me.” My white mother had to explain racism to her black child at 10 years old. 10 fucking years old.

Fast forward two years. I am a 7th grader at Sabish Middle School. I am 12 years old and just made the track team. I was jogging, practicing my long distance running on Forest Avenue when two police officers illegally stop me. My mom’s words echo through my head: always comply even if you’re not in the wrong. I am 12 years old and scared for my life. The two police officers start illegally searching me. They are patting me down. Sweat falls down my face. My heart rate starts to accelerate. My heavy breathing conquers the air. “Where did you steal this iPod from?” yells one of the cops. Stuttering, “Sir… I didn’t steal this iPod. My mom bought it for me... This is mine,” I frantically explain. “I am going to ask you again. Where did you steal this iPod from?” yelled the cop. My voice starts to crack, “Sir… I didn’t steal this iPod…This is mine. My name is even engraved on the back… Look it says Devon Snyder.” The two white police officers in disbelief, let me go and tell me “it’s my lucky day” and to head home. Eyes watering, stomach turning, I ran as fast as I could back to my mom’s house. To my safety. To my sanctuary.

The year is 2011 and I am 17 years old at Fond du Lac High School. I just got accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some of my other white classmates started to feel some type of way because I got in, and they didn’t. In fact, one of my white classmates made a Facebook status about me saying that the only reason I got into UW Madison was because I’m Black and because of affirmative action. I got into UW Madison based off my own merit, hard work, and my own intelligence. I got in because of my GPA, my leadership skills, my letter of recommendations, and my demonstration and activism of trying to change my community. I didn’t get into UW Madison because I’m Black.

Growing up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin people never let me forget that I was black. Whether it was getting called a Nigger while walking down Main Street, or my friends reminding me that I was black. During my four years at Fond du Lac High School, my white friends, my family members, and my best friends kept calling me “the whitest black kid they know.” This is by far the most offensive compliment that I can be given. This statement has an unintentional racist undertone. But what those people don’t understand is that, kidding or not, there’s subtext at play. You made that statement because of your own preconceived notion of what is and isn’t normal behavior for a “black” person. But the truth is, that reflects poorly on you, not me. There are generalizations and stereotypes about the demeanor of different races due to the dramatizations of the media and ignorance. The bottom line is this: Intelligence is not measured by color, nor is success.

It’s September 2012, and I’m 19 years old in my sophomore year at University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am hosting a party with my roommate for his birthday on Breese Terrace. My roommate gets super drunk and out of control, and gets in my face. He keeps pushing me, hitting me, and trying to provoke me. I am not giving in, when all of sudden he punches me, and I hit him back. He calls the police on me. I get booked and arrested. Even though my roommate hit me first, told the officers that he hit me first, and told the officers that he doesn’t want to press any charges against me, I still get arrested. Yes you read that correctly. The Madison Police Department arrested me, booked me, and charged me for something that I never should have been charged with. I just became another black person in the system.

Fast forward 8 months to May 2013. It’s 2am and I’m stumbling home from my buddy’s house on Regent street back to my place after Mifflin. I get jumped by four white guys. They begin shouting Nigger, hitting my body all over. I try to fight back. I try to cover my head. I black out. I wake up in the hospital. No charges were ever made, and no arrests ever happened.

It’s November 2016 and I am at a Badger football game. There is a white guy dressed as President Obama with a noose over his head. I am infuriated, and disgusted. My friend tells me that I shouldn’t be so sensitive, and that it’s freedom of speech. My University’s initial response was disheartening, and basically stated that it was freedom of speech also. I was outraged. I made my voice known to the Dean, Chancellor, and the local news stations. I made it known that there is a difference between our right to freedom of speech and hate speech. There is a difference between exercising your right and disguising that said right in the form of bigotry and hate.

Present. It’s February 2020 and I just bought the nicest car I ever owned in my life. I leave the dealership with such joy, and determination, when all of a sudden, I see flashing red and blue lights. I didn’t even own the car for five minutes and I get pulled over. My mom words echo in my head once again: comply even if you’re not in the wrong. My heart is racing. Am I going to die? Am I going to get arrested? Am I going to be the next Sandra Bland? Do I reach to get my license and registration, or is the cop going to think I’m reaching for a gun? My life flashes before my eyes. “Whose car is this? Do you know why I pulled you over today?” asked the police officer. “Sir this is my car. I don’t know why you pulled me over,” I frantically explain. “How did you afford this car? I pulled you over because you did a rolling stop, and your lights weren’t on, explained the cop. My lights were on and I didn’t do a rolling stop. “Sir, I just picked this car up from the dealership. I was on my way back home,” I stutter. The cop smirked, and asked for my license and registration and went back to his car. What is going to happen to me? I don’t want to die. I don’t want to go to jail. I want my mom. The police officer comes back to my car with my license and registration, and tells me “it’s my lucky day” and to head back home.

This is what it means to be black in America. The never-ending timeline of racism. Racism is built in the DNA of America. And as long as we turn a blind eye to the pain of those suffering under its oppression, we will never escape those origins. White silence is violence. This is why we protest. This is why we say Black Lives Matter. This is why we don’t trust the police. This is why we’ve had enough. “That’s not a chip on my shoulder. That’s your foot on my neck.”-Malcom X

[LakeArenal]

1. This is why Black Lives Matter is a real movement.

Unlike Antifa. That dumpy evokes.

[pandr32]

2. K&R

[calimary]

3. Painful to read. But very good to take in.

Thank you for posting this, Heartstrings.

[plimsoll]

4. Just so wrong.

His mom's advice is good, but a country were you have to have that advice can't really be described as "free" in a meaningful way.

[JPPaverage]

5. My heart aches for you

There is no way any person in America or the world should have to put up with that.

[pazzyanne]

6. ...

[LastDemocratInSC]

7. I read it slowly so it would sink in deeper.

Thanks for posting it. I feel numb, however.

[bobbieinok]

8. Thanks for posting. Just can't understand why my fellow whites--some in my family---refuse to see

[intheflow]

29. This is why I've started saying

Racism isn’t a Black problem, it’s a white problem. Most white people are so awash in white supremacy the can’t see it. And subconsciously, we white folk don’t want to see it. Because then we’d have to admit this country’s brutal, dishonorable past of kidnapping and slavery, which would a) make us feel bad, and b) force us to change a system that benefits them. It’s easier for us to believe Blacks are lazy thugs, and every other lie that’s repeated about Black people.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. Excellent post. I grew up with bigotry and disgusting "jokes", based on my last name.

It pales by comparison to what you have laid out. I had no idea Wisconsin was so racist, and now we know it's the whole fucking country and it happens every minute. We need serious change. Thank you for your truth.

[Borchkins]

10. I remember the noose incident

Very disappointed in my hometown.

[flying_wahini]

11. Thank You for posting!

White people everywhere should read it.

[flying_wahini]

12. In fact, send it out to many national papers!

[Tetrachloride]

13. My suggestions for the original poster

1. go visit the offices of all of those people: police, schools and mayor's offices. Start with Madison, Monona, Middleton, Fitchburg, and UW - Madison police. even if u never had trouble with those departments, go ahead.

2. get ready to go to your hometown.

I was from near FDL myself.

gl

[2naSalit]

15. And do what?

Just walking into one of those facilities can be trouble.And then get either laughed at or threatened or marked for further harassment.

[Tetrachloride]

21. Alright then. do nothing. stay home and let others stand up for your rights.

sarcasm

[2naSalit]

22. Interesting assumptions for limited defense of your "point".

Weird.

[2naSalit]

14. K&R

Last edited Tue Jun 9, 2020, 02:49 PM - Edit history (1)

And if you're female, the chance they will rape you is also a factor.

[cp]

16. Excellent post, thank you.

[theaocp]

17. A thousand cuts. The bleeding never stops.

Constant tension. Paranoia. Fear. For what? Cultural insecurities and bullying? We will do better.

[oasis]

18. The Obama/noose thing so infuriated me when it happened, I could

never find myself saying anything good about the state of Wisconsin since. Russell Wilson, being the exception.

[certainot]

19. badgers (7) and spartans (11) broadcast on 17 racist limbaugh stations. all those stations are

are basically required to follow limbaugh's lead. he's the guy who said in 2008 before obama won, made up a silly pretext to suggest obama should fire himself, just to say "obama's head needs to roll"

those 17 are among over 260 limbaugh stations that depend on 87 universities to keep broadcasting sport s on them to attract advertisers and would be in deep shit if there was any move to get unis to stop

the llimbaugh stations are just part off a huge number of hate radio stations that depend on black pro and college athletes not to complain that they've been used to excuse racism for 30 years. it's bad enough that americans in general let these unis shoot themselves in the foot and crap all over the country like this.

it shouldn't be up to black athletes to end this but it seems progressive activists haven't figured it out yet, much less that hate radio 's been kicking their ass for 30 years. all it would take is a michael moore to publiclly ask the schools why they endorse radio stations that are basically KKK lite and have been making excuses for lead in water for years

pretty soon if not already the think tanks will find or make up something about george floyd that will give all those republican radio station blowhhards an excuse to say " see, he was not a saint after all" and they'll repeat it for years

[Karadeniz]

20. I've written elsewhere about my upbringing. Racism was not an option. Parents who call themselves

Christians would actively teach anti racism. It violates Christian principles and, no, there's no forgiveness for it.

[smirkymonkey]

23. That was really heartbreaking and painful to read.

Makes me very angry at how racist people can be. Especially cops.

[mommymarine2003]

24. My husband and I had a discussion yesterday that relates to this.

We were talking about how we never worry when we see a fire truck behind us, but if we see a police car we always tense up. Are we going to be pulled over for driving too fast, not coming to a complete stop, etc.? My husband then said, "but you know, we never have to worry for our lives if we are pulled over." That is the white privilege we take for granted. My husband, who is now retired, was a city manager. He had police departments under him. We knew his police chiefs and other officers, and they were good people overall, but I still struggle with the power police have over all our lives. If I feel this insecure about police even when I knew them through my husband's jobs, how could I expect people of color to feel safe when interacting with the police.

[Sunsky]

25. The black trauma

All of us are dealing with it. We live it day in and day out.

[LiberalFighter]

26. It is disappointing that this happened in Madison and the University.

[Scruffy1]

27. I lived in Wisconsin for a few years in the 1970s.

It loooks like nothing has changed. If you look at racism through the lens of outcomes between white and POC Wisconsin and Minnesota are the two most racists states in the USA. Living in Minneapolis I found it hard to believe, but then most of my friends were not typical of the population as a whole and I lived in the inner city. I came to the conclusion that it's all about leadership. Anyone whose ever watched children on a playground knows it's not a natural thing. The main fomenters of racism are politicians. They don't use the N word anymore, but use code like "I'm pro life", I'm a conservative" , or when the Turtle talks about "local control". Their base knows what they mean and the talking heads hold the mike and smile. I'm old enough to remember the civil rights bills of 1964 and how assholes like Goldwater and Hickenlooper got away with "you can't change peoples hearts" Not one fucking reporter cam back with:"But sir, no ones asking youy to change peoples hearts. It just asking to enforce the Constitution. It's like Calhouns arguments won the day and the south won the Civil War. The US has become Calhouns dream. The rich are accountable to nobody and have finally defeted the US Constitution which was Calhoun's aim. The wealthy know that racism divides the people and keeps the oligarchy in power.

[jimlup]

28. Thank you for your story!

Here is mine:

I was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1957. I am white. My parents were strongly anti-racist and this is deeply impressed on me. My father is a from North Carolina, a graduate of Duke, and, at the time I was born, a graduate student in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

By the time I was three, my family moved to Rayleigh NC. In North Carolina, traveling between our home and my grandparents home in Eastern North Carolina, I encounter my first "Whites Only" drinking fountain. I had to ask my mother what it meant because I was not yet 7 and could just read. She explained much to my amazement. I proceed to take a drink from the "Colored" drinking fountain because I know it is the right thing to do. I suppose this was my first introduction to my white privilege.

When I was in 5th grade, my family lived in Columbia South Carolina. My school finally honored the mandatory integration order, the year was 1966. I did not know then that this was several years after integration became the law of the land. There were two black kids in our class. A girl and a boy named Paul. They were introduced to us separately early in the year. I can not recall the instructions or introductions that were given to us. Only that it was new to have black kids in our class and that it was a big deal to the school. I intentionally sat next to Paul and made friends with him as best I could. I knew that he felt lonely and afraid. A room full of white children and two frightened and alone token blacks (white privilege.)

In the following years, my family became more active in the civil rights movement. We attended a black church and my dad became active in the equality in housing movement. Several times, I went with my dad to a house showing. He would go as if he were a potential buyer to in order to document for the civil rights lawyers that the house was for sale to us (again white privilege.) Later when I was eleven, I worked phone banks to help elect the first two black city council members in Columbia.

When I was twelve, my family left South Carolina for Michigan. Being from the South it was a bit of a cultural shock for me but slowly I learned my way. In the North, I encountered racism in a very different way. It took me years to appreciate it for what it was and to understand that in some of the rural areas of Michigan racism was as bad or worse than in the South.

It was not until much later as a mature adult that I learned the difference between when I am stopped by the police and when a black person is stopped. Having black friends and colleagues, I have learned and heard what they have faced. I know from the stories that I have heard that the racism is all to true. It took years, but I eventually came to understand my white privilege.

I have stood against racism all of my life. I am thankful for my parents teaching me about it at an early age and involving me in civil rights work. I marvel at our society. I think that we have forgotten that the stain of slavery in our nations past is serious wound that has not healed. As a nation, we made major progress in the '60's.

I know that despite our countries election of the best president of my lifetime (Barack Obama), we still suffer from deep and institutional racism. I see an opportunity for change. Let's do everything we can to make it so.

[Heartstrings]

31. Thank you for sharing your story!

[Nitram]

30. Thank you for sharing this.

[betsuni]

32. K&R

[Cha]

33. Thank you for Devon's Heartbreaking Story, Heartstrings!

[Hmongliberal]

34. Yes thank you, Devon. I grew up in Wausau, WI

And as an Asian American, had my share of racism too. Wisconsin - great cheese curds, beer, brats, love them Packers, and Buckey too, but “fuck you” to all you “red” leaning troglodytes! BLM!

[Cha]

37. Sorry, for your racist surroundings

growing up,, Hmongliberal.

Hope it's much better now.:candle

[Heartstrings]

40. I lived in Stevens Point and WI Rapids....

My son had a good friend in 6th grade from Cambodia. Sweet kid! His father carried him on his back through the jungles as a young child to come to America for a promised better life. Unfortunately it wasn’t much of an improvement for the family. They had to leave 2 children behind. The Hmong community has been treated so unjustly. I’m sorry....

[locks]

35. I hope that all of us

black and white, whether we think we know what racism is or not, will visit the Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Lynching Museum at Montgomery AL and the Whitney Plantation outside New Orleans on the Mississippi River.

[crickets]

36. The stories in this thread are heartbreaking, moving, depressing, inspiring.

I don't feel eloquent enough to say any more than thank you for sharing them.

[Kali]

38. agree

[Demovictory9]

39. kick

[burrowowl]

41. Thanks for post

[heckles65]

42. Excellent, moving story.

I live in Vermont, and I'm sure that this could happen in my town - which believes, just like Fond du Lac and thousands of other places, that it's above such things simply because it isn't in the South.

[ooky]

43. K&R

[UpInArms]

44. "This is your lucky day"

Those are terrifying words ... what happens when luck runs out?

[patphil]

45. Racism is built in the DNA of America...so very true.

I am a 73 year old white man, and I have seen quite a bit of it over the decades.
For a while I thought it might finally be starting to diminish, but when the president himself is a racist, and engages in hate speech every day, I can see that it never did.
Trump has activated the systemic racism that is inherent in so many millions of Americans who finally have permission to openly embrace it.
Eight years of the Obama Presidency brought this simmering hatred to a boil, and Trump took the lid off the pot.
I have "good Christian" relatives who tell me how they suffered for 8 years under Obama, and yet they had plenty of everything they needed to live comfortably.

These people have no idea what it is to truly suffer.
No one is ever going to put a knee on their necks.

[Danascot]

46. And what's so awful

is that every single black person in this country has stories like this. Not just one story either but a lifetime of them.

[demigoddess]

47. I am so horrified that people have to go through this in this country.

But I want to say that there are some people who do not view black Americans as different. I grew up a military brat and saw black men and women treated the same (or thought I did) went to school with black kids, sat at the same table at lunch and in class. I am so sorry that we didn't settle this long ago.