I am a full-blooded American, but since my skin color is darker than others, I have always been treated differently.
Things were worse when I was a kid, and they seemed to get better.
However, my experiences last week proved that racism still exists in our country. It all started because I had a broken furnace. I purchased the cheapest house that I could find in my area, and I was trying to build a life for myself. When my furnace broke, I was thankful that I had enough money to purchase a new one. I prepared for HVAC emergencies like this so that I would never be caught unprepared. I decided to call a few HVAC companies to get a quote on replacing my furnace, and I made appointments with three different HVAC companies to meet me that week. When the owner of the first HVAC company came to my house, you could tell immediately that he wasn’t going to treat me well. He immediately saw that I was black, and he told me that his HVAC company didn’t do business with people of my kind. He couldn’t go around replacing furnaces for people who were too poor and stupid to pay. I thanked him for his time and sent him away. I found the same HVAC technician the following day on the side of the road with a flat tire. I helped him change his tire, and he offered to help me with my furnace. I declined and took the offer of another HVAC company that wasn’t racist. I couldn’t believe it!