Today we finally got to hear what most immigrants get to hear at least once in their lifetime - direct hate-speech.
We pulled into the parking lane of a pay-parking lot at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. The parking attendant asked us to stay in the car while he moved other cars. I decided to feed our two-month old baby while we waited.
There was ample space next to our car for other cars to drive past and many did. Suddenly a black SUV honked behind us. My husband told the driver that I was feeding in the car so he couldn’t move the car and the attendant had told us to park there.
The fellow said he wanted to move ahead and Aaman told him that there was enough space for the guy to drive past. The guy honked some more and my husband stared at him. Then just like that the guy screamed out a volley of hate-speech at the top of his lungs.
He drove off as if chased by a pack of irate illegal immigrants, while I stared at my little daughter and smiled ruefully. Both my kids are American citizens while my husband and I are Indian just like that angry American’s ancestors had been immigrants.
The attendant looked sheepish and apologized. Other people passing looked pretty surprised too. We weren’t offended and told him as much. We laughed it off and had a great day walking the Wharf and admiring the Liberty Ship docked at the pier – a ship that sailed once to preserve the liberty of foreigners, as well as Americans – human liberty.
It was kind of weird that this happened in San Francisco, where people of all races merge together; where the rhythm of global citizenship thumps its strong pulse and where contributions by immigrants have led to American prosperity.
There have been times when people have looked at us with different eyes as if we were some kind of exotic creatures; curious about our culture, our way of thinking or just the way we looked.
These reactions were innocent and born out of positive curiosity but today’s oddball behavior came as a kind of a jolt, something we had been warned about by those back home who said that we, being immigrants would never be totally accepted in a new country and would be discriminated against.
This guy is of course a pea in an ocean of warm and wonderful people – every basket needs its rotten apples.
Article comments
1 - Victor Plenty
Hateful people are the true aliens here. Their hatred is alien to the core values of American culture. They always have been alien to our best potentialities, even when they have held enough power to make the laws of the land.
To my mind, you and Aaman are better examples of real Americans than the man who shouted slurs at you. I am glad to hear you feel welcome here most of the time, because as far as I'm concerned, I'd prefer to have you stay here, and persuade anyone like that guy to live somewhere else.
America is better off having more people like you. Our future depends on working to make sure we have fewer like him.
2 - swingingpuss
Thanks Victor - we weren't taken in by this guy's behavior because he is not representative - you, on the other hand, are.
3 - Eric Berlin
The Wharf is tourist-central so it's very unlikely that the a-hole was a SF native... (actually, very SF residents are SF natives, but that's a different story).
Goes to show you though that the good, bad, and ugly are everywhere.
Totally unrelated: for me the best parts of the Bay are outside San Francisco -- Berkeley, hiking in the Oakland Hills and Marin, the wine country, and heading down the 1 to Santa Cruz (one of the most scenic drives of ever).
4 - Aaman
Exactly, Eric - tourists or travelers - the enigma of new arrivals confounds those who were there first.
We've done the 1 down from Monterey to Santa Barbara - must try the patch from San Francisco to Santa Cruz
5 - Victor Plenty
If you ever want to try a longer road trip, the drive along the Oregon coast offers a wealth of beautiful views and a number of friendly small towns where everyone knows tourism is their economic lifeblood.