Cowering in the corner of the dog pen, my arms shielding my face as I screamed, wondering if the vicious animal would kill me. The searing pain of the teeth sinking into the flesh on my forearm escalated the panic and confusion about why none of the onlookers came to my assistance. I screamed for help from the group of college-aged girls who led me to the dog pen and encouraged me to pet the newborn puppies. They stood on the outside of the pen and laughed heartily at my terror.
Eventually the attack subsided, and I made my way out of the dog pen clutching my bleeding arm. Nobody asked if I was okay, the laughter slowly fading as I walked the few blocks home. Tears streaked my face, and I couldn’t understand why nobody came to my aid. Why didn’t they help me? The girls had seemed so nice and friendly when they called me over.
Recognizing Racially Motivated Attacks
Being only a third-grader at the time of the incident, I thought the girls simply failed to act. It wasn’t until years later that I identified the incident for what it really was – a racial hate crime. They had known all along what the protective mother would do to keep her pups safe.
I, an eight year-old Black girl, was set up for the entertainment of college-aged White women. They thought it would be funny to watch me terrorized by the animal. My screams and cries did not matter, because to them I was not even human; essentially no different than the animal by which I was attacked. This was a sobering realization.
While all attacks are not racially motivated, many of them are. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hate Crime Statistics, law enforcement agencies reported 4,704 attacks on the basis of racial bias in 2008. It’s important to objectively identify whether the attack is race-based before making such an accusation. One clue that an attack is race-based is the use of racial slurs. My racial attack did not include racial slurs, but the one of the girls said, “I wonder if she bleeds black,” while I was being attacked by the dog.
Don’t Blame an Entire Race for the Acts of an Ignorant Few
It’s important to recognize that individuals perpetrate racial attacks, not an entire race of people. While the tendency may be to assume that other people sharing the same race as your attackers have the same views, this is completely untrue. Consequently, don’t blame an entire race of people for what an ignorant few did.
In the case of my own racial attack, this was not an issue for me, in part due to my exposure to many other kind people outside of my own race. Consequently, I never felt compelled to guard against this type of attack from all Whites. Exposure to people from diverse racial backgrounds is key in putting a racial attack into perspective.
Leaving the Incident in the Past
The first step to moving beyond any racial attack is to allow time to heal, both physically and emotionally. It’s common to feel hurt and angry over the incident, and resolving these emotions is the key to truly moving beyond the stage of victimhood into empowerment.
Even though over 25 years have passed since the attack, I can still remember it vividly. While I don’t believe it completely shaped my view on racial issues in America, it undoubtedly had an impact. Consequently, I learned all too well the horrible things people are capable of when they fail to recognize the humanity in us all.
Moving Beyond Race
Perhaps your response to such an incident is that you’d never do anything like that to another person. While that may be true, would you fail to stop someone else who planned to do such a thing? If that person were a close friend or family member, would you simply look on and do nothing? Issues of racial bigotry leave room for us all to examine our own biases, beliefs and underlying motives associated with the way we relate to those who are different from ourselves.
The racial attack I recounted took place in College Station, Texas in the 1980s. We lived there for two years while my mother was in graduate school at Texas A&M University. Ironically, she was in school with the same women who attacked me. Later that same year, my mother became the first Black woman to graduate from Texas A&M University with an MBA. I view that as a bit of poetic justice considering the racism we encountered while living there.
Ultimately, both victims and perpetrators of racial hate crimes need to learn to move beyond these issues. In order to transcend race, we must learn to know and respect people on an individual basis. Doing so allows us to see, that regardless of race or other superficial difference, we have far more in common than what is visible on the surface.
Sources:
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “ 2008 Hate Crime Statistics ”
Cheri Pearson - Cheri Pearson is a seasoned freelance journalist who holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of ...
