Going it Alone- Rehawa Haile

Going it Alone- Rehawa Haile
Progym: Commonplace

Rehawa Haile opens up her story with a seemingly normal everyday activity, being hiking. Hiking is done all over the world, by all different types of people. As she hikes she is approached by a stranger coming from the opposite direction. This is when she gets hit by reality and one of the biggest problems within it. Racism, one of the biggest problems in the world. After a bit of small, the man states “To him there’s nothing abnormal about our conversation. He has categorized me, and the world makes sense again. Not black-black.” This was one of the biggest eye openers for me. Unfortunately, it is well known that racism still exists, but the person who approached Haile does not seem to realize that he is being racist. It does not seem like he is trying to insult her but rather, he sees it as a normal conversation. This is a symptom of an even bigger disease. Racism is a terrible thing but we can’t hope to make it better if people do not even realize that they are contributing to it. In this particular scenario described by Haile, a simple hiking trip induced racism. In my opinion it was very uncalled for. The man made assumptions about her based on her skin color. He did not even try to get to know her, he relied on previously implemented stereotypes to judge her. Although his intent was not malicious, it does not excuse him of the actions that he took. Racism is an issue that needs to be dealt with.