Racism (Alive and Well)

I was recently in El Cajon (East County San Diego) preparing to do an interview for my current documentary. The room I'd been using at the library, in the preceding days, to conduct interviews was occupied on this day. This left Alex and I scrambling to find a quiet location to conduct the interview. Next door to where we were meeting the subject of our interview, there was a bar with a quiet patio. We got the OK from the bartender and owner of the establishment to use the area for our interview. As we were walking out to get our camera, we were stopped by a Hell's Angel-looking patron. His first words out of his mouth to us were not hello, hi or howdy. He says, "Are you fellahs here to make a documentary about how El Cajon has gone to hell since we elected a black president." Those are some strong first words to a complete stranger, I thought to myself. There were a hundred things I wanted to say to this guy, first and foremost it's Bush who's still running the country, not Obama, but I figured that someone like this is surely a loose canon and not someone I want to start an argument with. I grinned at the dude, bit my lip and walked out the door.

When we came back with our camera and interviewee, the Hell's Angel look alike was speaking with the owner of the bar. He managed to convince the owner, because our interviewee was Iraqi, to not allow us to conduct the interview in his establishment. Again, we smiled, bit our lips and walked out the door. One simple thought ran through my head - racism is alive and well.