Blog Post: Mercy
Some Thoughts On Mercy by Ross Gay is an
article that talks about two different major issues. One issue is the
stressfulness brought about by not only being pulled over by police, but being
an individual of a minority race being pulled over by the police, especially
for men. The other thing he ties into the article is the difference between
human judgment and animal judgment, specifically that of bees. The true lesson
Gay brings into focus by showing these two examples that seem to be polar
opposite, is that it’s so common to judge people based on their race that they
begin to believe they are bad people and usually end up playing up to the role,
but animals don’t see race when they look at people, they sense your attitude
and motives and respond to that, not appearances. I’ve heard many times
throughout my life that dogs and children are the best judges of character
because they don’t know to look at appearances, they look closer at the person
and what they’re really like.
Unfortunately,
we don’t have dogs that can greet people at the entrance to restaurants, so
people often get judged based on their race and other appearances. Courtney
Swain talks a lot about the proximity of racism and service in her article Racism in Restaurants, which she wrote
when she was just beginning as a waitress in a casual fine dining restaurant in
Huston. She explicitly says that, “it was disturbing to think that racism was
prowling so close to every dinner table, and how little people realized this.”
Swain tells us her distain at the category the black clientele, referred to by
her coworkers as “Canadians,” and how there could be a white couple and a “Canadian”
couple that was equally rude, disrespectful, demanding, and awful tippers but
the white couple would receive better and faster service than the other couple.
She discusses how disgusted she feels at herself when she realizes that, even though
she was raised that all people should be treated equal, she is becoming
prejudiced in her eagerness to serve “Canadians.” After quitting the
restaurant, she “look(s) back to that time with shame.” The fact remains that
even though racism is frowned upon in America, its departure is far from done
(Swain).
The
reality is that not only are customers treated differently based on race in
restaurants, but the racial diversity for waiters in restaurants is limited.
Glenn Collins and Monte Williams published Few
Blacks Where Tips Are High; Racial Diversity Is Rare for Waiters in Elite
Restaurants in the New York Times in 2000. As Americans we like to believe
that racism is on a steady decline to vanishing, but the truth is that it is
still present in many areas of life, maybe not as prevalent as it was in 2000,
but nonetheless it still exists. According to their article, more than a
quarter of New York City’s population is black, but of that large majority,
only 10.5% of the waiters and waitresses are black according to a 1996 census.
Most of that 10.5% work in poor quality restaurants on the low end of the
spectrum, so the racial diversity in restaurants towards the other end of the
spectrum is blatantly obvious. Brooks Bitterman, a research director of Local
100 of the Hotel employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, said, “The
whiteness of waiters was striking considering “that 99 percent of low-wage
kitchen workers are nonwhite minorities, Hispanics and Asians… That contrasts
with white senior cooks in many kitchens, and primarily white front-of-house
staffs.”” (Collins). Believe it or choose not to see it, the fact remains that
racism is obvious in fine dining choices.
It is
easy to find articles that talk about the obvious and not so obvious racial
profiling present in restaurants and how it is so hard to overlook these
prejudices. Even people raised to believe everyone is equal like Courtney
Swain, can be pushed to become racist by observing how she was treated and
tipped by minorities. Not only do customers receive different treatment based
on racial diversity, but those who want to work are victims of a racial
profiling society. In New York City alone, the percentage of black individuals
who live there compared to the amount allowed to work as waiters or waitresses
in high profile restaurants is an astounding and disturbing number. Ross Gay
explicitly expresses his view on how the world treats people of different races
in his article, and provides us with an interesting ideal. If only we could see
the world the way bees do, we could live in a happier and less fearful society.
Instead of reacting to the color of a person’s skin, we should react to
something deeper, their attitudes and morale to create a happier society.
