Lately, it seems like I've been bombarded by bigoted comments at work and on Mindsay, especially regarding the issue of immigration.  I believe that most people saying these comments don't even realize they are being bigoted. They swear on the grave on Martin Luther King, Jr. that they believe in social equality, but their words and actions say otherwise.  Racist views aren't always about wearing swaztikas, wearing hoods and burning crosses. Most of the time its subtle, everyday things. I will outline a few situations that have come up at work and in other aspects of my life that have made me want to scream bloody murder.

• At work there are two Hispanic teachers. One from Columbia and one from Mexico. They always speak English in their classrooms and they always engage in conversations and are friendly with the other teachers. Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, when they are on their lunch break, they speak Spanish to each other. There are four of us that eat lunch together, the Columbian teacher, the Mexican teacher, another African-American teacher and me. One day, our boss called the teacher from Columbia and asked her to not speak Spanish at work anymore even during her lunch period because it makes the other teachers feel uncomfortable. The other African American lady and I were perplexed. We could care less if they spoke Spanish to each other. We certainly didn't feel uncomfortable about it. Later, the secretary whispered to me, "I think it's so rude when they speak Spanish to each other! Who knows, they could be talking about us!"  I just rolled my eyes. How paranoid.
• A student told me that his dad hates rap and calls it "Low classed, N-word music." I was livid.  I asked him what kind of music his dad listened to and he said, "My dad listens to jazz."  I wanted to scream and laugh at the same time. My response was, "Tell your dad to open up a music history book.  Jazz was created, by so-called low classed African-American people in the streets of New Orleans. As a matter of fact rock and roll was also created by so-called 'low classed', black people in the South. Jazz wasn't enjoyed by the upper classes until people in Europe heard it and raved about it. To this day, jazz is wildly popular in Europe. Get a clue!" God, I really hope he told his Dad what I said.
• The same kid with the clueless father told me his step-mom had a hair stylist whose last name was Ngyuen, pronounced Wen.  He then commented on how stupid it was to spell it that way.  Why can't they just spell it W-E-N?  After tempering my urge to wring his skinny neck I replied, "Why do people spell their name S-E-A-N and pronounce it /SHON/? Why is knee spelled with a silent K? Those Celts are so crazy!"
• A good friend of mine who is over 3/4 Native American (his mother is 1/2 Mexican and 1/2 Native American and his father is full-blooded Native American) just had a baby with his girlfriend who is white.  When they were trying to pick names for their baby girl, he kept coming up with Hispanic sounding names. They almost decided on the name "Marisabel"(I changed the name). He really liked the name. Later, his girlfriend said she didn't like it because it sounded to "ethnic". He was disappointed, but the clown sucked it up anyway. I wanted to hit him over the head with a lead pipe. Didn't she realize that the child's grandmother was part Mexican?  They finally decided on the name "Marisa". She said it sounded less Hispanic. What the hell??? I was just disgusted. I was disgusted in so many ways.
• And For the Finale of the Bigot Wall of Shame:  When I saw this clip I cracked up. I couldn't even be angry because it was so damn funny. I always say, "If you don't laugh, you'll cry or have a coronary."