Our First Racial Slur

Hawaii is a melting pot, a complete mish-mash of cultures and ethnicities. There's never been a day where we haven't been aware that we are the outsiders. Today, however, it was thrown right in our face.

Today Bryan and I walked to the museum for the last day of a Hawaii architect exhibit that I'd been wanting to see. After our cultural adventure, we stopped by McDonalds for a very non-cultural treat. Upon exiting McDonalds, we obliviously walked in front of the Drive Thru exit lane. I heard a engine revving, looked over my shoulder, and lightly shoved Bryan to move out of the car's way. The car then hit the gas fast, but not too fast to yell out "Go ahead, take your time.. YOU'RE WHITE!"

Stunned, we looked at each other, "did you hear that?" Then we laughed, and high-fived. Our first racial slur.

Then it sunk in. Wait, what??

Did she mean to imply that as being white we're privileged? We were the ones walking out of McDonalds when they were driving. Or perhaps that because we're white we must therefore be slowpokes? I don't want to point racial fingers but there are other ethnicities in Hawaii that carry the stereotype of being lazy and slow.

On we walked, laughing but knowing it bothered both of us a bit.

Respecting all that is Hawaii, I promise. And recognizing it is a melting pot that doesn't really melt - where each culture group maintains and shouts with pride their differences. I am still stunned that this was more or less shouted in our face. I truly believe we would never curse our neighbor by the color of their skin. Sure, we might sit in our car and think a mean thought about the Lexus driver as they cut us off on the freeway. But faced with the reality of shouting it at them, I believe we'd quickly realize the errors of our ways and keep our mouth shut. Too bad this woman didn't keep her mouth shut because she certainly left a bad taste in mine.