Was I the victim of racial harassment today?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (218927)
Walnut Creek, California
June 21, 2017 8:35pm CST
As many of you know, I had to cycle to work today, as my truck was in the shop. Cycling to work means crossing a street called Monument Boulevard, which is in a mostly Latino neighborhood.
I grew up in a mostly black neighborhood (Chicago's South Side), and am half-Jewish, but to the casual observer, I appear "white." I had pulled up to a crossing light at Monument with another man, who also appeared to be "white."
As we were waiting, a pick-up truck rolled by, and a Latino man (riding shot-gun) shouted at us, with an angry look on his face, "Wheto! Wheto!" I continued into work and cranked out four hours worth of progress notes on the computer, but I was still curious about what the man had said.
When I got home, I Googled "wheto," and found out that is simply means "white" in Spanish. But the Urban Dictionary said that it was an insult when used by a Latino toward a white person. Shouting "wheto" toward a white person was akin to shouting "cracker" toward a white person (if you're black) or "n*gger" toward a black person (if you're white or Latino).
Was this person trying to insult two strangers, cycling on a hot June day? If so, why?
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, a multi-cultural place that is home to whites, blacks, Latinos, Indians, Asians, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, etc. For the most part, people get along well here, regardless of race or religion.
Even when I worked in West Oakland, which is mostly black, I was called "cracker" or "whitey" less than 20 times in 15 years.
Do you know people who have real racial prejudices? I don't mean being "afraid to go into a poor black neighborhood at night." I mean real racial prejudices, where they might call someone a bad name out of a car based on their race?
Is there racial prejudice where you live?
22 people like this
17 responses
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
22 Jun 17
That happens there because in your country, there are lots of races. Some are racists indeed.
Here, there maybe Chinese , Americans and Brazilians among us Filipinos, but we welcome them in our country. We don't discriminate, in fact look up to them 
4 people like this
@josie_ (10034)
• Philippines
22 Jun 17
@TheHorse _He is bias because the usury practice of lending at unreasonable high interest rate in the Philippines is mostly practice by people from India. They lend mostly to Filipino small businessman, market vendors and ordinary workers at 20% interest.
3 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
22 Jun 17
I once worked with a Latino woman who grew up here(Denver) in the Jewish neighborhood.
She said that when she went to look at new cars she didn't know whether to steal it or talk them down in price.
Yes I do know people that have racial prejudice. Worked with them, live in the same building as them even, oh well.
Yes I do know people that have racial prejudice. Worked with them, live in the same building as them even, oh well.2 people like this
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
22 Jun 17
@TiarasOceanView So steal would be a stereotype for Mexicans and bargain would be a stereotype for Jews? I actually DON'T mind that kind of humor, as I'm not PC. I think one has to consider the intent of the speaker. She was poking fun at her own ethnicity and that of her friends.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
22 Jun 17
I don't know anyone who would do that, at least I don't think I do. I think sadly, there is racial prejudice everywhere it just isn't always so obvious as that.
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
22 Jun 17
It shows a distinct lack of education and ignorance. We too have the problem but the way society works here is that Whites do not suffer from racism which is an absolute load of cobblers as you have experienced today! Political correctness is absolutely daft. Look beyond the colour of someones skin and you will find a person who bleeds and feels pain the same as each one of us!
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43418)
• Denver, Colorado
22 Jun 17
@TheHorse - The local cowboys have zero tolerance for anyone that doesn't look like a white cowboy. I had long hair at the time, and I got called all sorts of names.
@GardenGerty (160702)
• United States
22 Jun 17
No, not where I live, not really, BUT we are not very culturally diverse either.
2 people like this
@popciclecold (38800)
• United States
23 Jun 17
I was raised in Los Angeles, CA. With all races. But we moved to Mississippi, and have experienced some.
1 person likes this
@popciclecold (38800)
• United States
24 Jun 17
@TheHorse Tore down mailboxes in a black area. Don't know who did it.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Jun 17
@popciclecold So the victims were black, but the perps could have been black, white, Latino or other.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
22 Jun 17
Here? in Little saigon Garden ?Grove ?Calif
no I really have not seen any and we have a mix
'or asiastic people,blacks, Mexicans, name it theres'bound t o be some of them.and of course many Vietnamese who
for the most part are really lovely pep[;e
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
22 Jun 17
I'm sorry this happened to you. I think it would scare me a bit if I were on a bike. I know some people who harbor some stereotypes but don't consider those of other ethnic groups inferior or treat them badly. I did have some relatives who were a bit prejudiced. My mom was a bit after WWII, but she got over it after she went to college and started meeting more people from other races. I grew up in a mostly white community in Los Angeles County.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
23 Jun 17
I have met some really racist people, even in my own family to some extent
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
23 Jun 17
@TheHorse general rants on 'foreigners' taking our jobs and racist jokes
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Jun 17
@arthurchappell Got it. I get more jokes on the internet than anywhere else these days. They rarely make me laugh.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45645)
• Philippines
25 Jun 17
@TheHorse just curious how things have changed. because they used to say yellow, but not all asians have fair skin. filipinos range from fair to brown. they also used to say something about having small/slit eyes, but some asians have big/deep-set eyes.
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Jun 17
Is that the beginning of a joke? I get confused when I hear the word "Asian" because in my childhood days it didn't include people from India and Pakistan. And are Filipinos Asian? They're really island/Spanish/English, aren't they? But there are also Chinese and Indians swimming in the Filipino gene pool.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
23 Jun 17
Living in one of the states of the former Confederacy, I see a lot of racial prejudice going in every direction. Fortunately, it is no longer socially acceptable to be openly prejudiced against other groups, though it still happens. We see it less and less, but far too often, if you know what I mean.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
23 Jun 17
@TheHorse Some of it is blatant, "Rebel" flags flying from pickups. (Historical note: the so-called Rebel Flag was never the National Flag of the Confederacy.) On the other side, playing vulgar and disgusting Rap lyrics at a loud volume in traffic and at stop lights to deliberately offend the people around them. Also, the sagging pants is a big one. My black male students pretty much stopped after I explained to them what sagging pants signifies in prison, and told them they looked like they'd sh!t their pants and were trying not to let it rub.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
23 Jun 17
I think I do know what you mean. How is it mostly displayed these days? Mean looks? Separation? I had two weird experiences with racism in Atlanta GA, one straightforward and one passive-aggressive. I'd never experienced anything like that here in CA.
1 person likes this
@josie_ (10034)
• Philippines
22 Jun 17
There will always be prejudices among the races. The best attitude is to treat each person as an individual and not base on their race, religious or political belief and social standing. Look at the man who called you "wheto" as a person with a bad attitude and not representative of the Latino race. Just as you would refute a foreigner if he/she thinks a Ku Klux Klansman represent all "white" Alabama Americans.
2 people like this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
22 Jun 17
It's a shame you didn't know what he meant @TheHorse . That way you could have said, "Hacer a buena dia." (have a good day). Then he would have KNOWN you knew what he had said and he might have been embarrassed...maybe. When I lived in Omaha, it started out as a 'white' neighborhood but it didn't take long for that to change to a 'bad' neighborhood. I was called a 'honkie' all the time. Where I live now, it is getting more predominant with the Spanish population. Fortunately I do speak Spanish.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
22 Jun 17
I've found that most Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the US don't bother with prejudice that much--at least not outwardly. I'm sure it's a vast minority of African Americans who are prejudiced. I was treated like "just another dude" for the most part in both Chicago and Oakland. But the exceptions were quite noteworthy, and sometimes dangerous.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
23 Jun 17
@TheHorse I know about the danger business. My daughter was sitting on the back porch when a 'kid' threw a rock and hit her in the forehead, cutting her head. I knew where that 'kid' lived and went there and raised hell. The next thing I know there are about 40 'people' standing in my driveway wanting to do harm. I told them to leave or I'd shoot every one of them. They just stood there until I went into the house. When I came back out with the rifle, they were all gone.
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
22 Jun 17
In Kenya, who tend to be the perps and who tend to be the victims? Is skin color a factor? Or social class? I've had two coworker/friends from Kenya. They were very dark skinned (by American black standards) and very well-educated. They were a bit surprised by what they saw in the US.
