So, I just had my moment to confront a person who said a racist comment and I did and didn't take it. The person who said this is a junior in high school and is at the iwu for a college visit. She said "I'm scared that the Black people will pull out a gun and shot," or something to that effect. Her mom was with us and I got the feeling that everyone, including the mother, was surprised that the girl said what she did. I struggled a lot to figure out how to responded. I knew what I wanted to say, but we were all having a really good time walking around town and if I started an argument I would have been blamed, maybe even "attacked" for ruining the afternoon of fun. I knew I should say something, but I was still hesitant. I ended up saying, "you have a lot to learn, that's all I'll say." I don't know if I'm happy with what I said or not, but I re-realized how difficult it is to know what to do.

I knew that if I said something more that I would have ruined the fun that the group was having, but I also don't think that is an excuse. Timing is a huge issue when it comes to situations like this. My big thing was that this girl wasn't a friend that I've known for a while, she was a prospective student. I was trying to present a nice and positive image. I know I would have reacted differently if she was a friend and I think I would have reacted differently if she was a student here. I hope I would react differently if she was a college student here.

I believe that one of the best things that people can do to decrease racism is talk, but I don't think that talking casually is enough. Some times the right environment has to be created. Like with every other subject, there are appropriate and inappropriate times to talk about racism, even when talking about why something someone said was racist.