A burger joint...The Incredibles...the deep south...and the N word.

[Honeycombe8]

So my brother was at a small burger joint at night a couple of days ago. It's right off the highway about 20 minutes away, but he drives there occasionally because they have great burgers. You order at the counter, then go sit down at tables or booths.

My brother is sitting there eating his burger. He's 65, 6' 1", a big bear of a man. In walk two college-aged gals. Black. Wearing t-shirts that say "I Am Incredible" on the front (except there is an eye instead of the letter I), and on the back is "Don't Look Back." He sees there's a bus outside with a small group of people in it. He figures these gals are from that bus.

They are at the counter to order, when in walk a couple with a child under 10. White. The man is 6' 2" and big. He gets in line behind the gals at the counter. The counter is about 20 feet from my brother. The man turns to his wife and says sarcastically and loudly enough for my brother to hear, "I don't see anything incredible about these two N____s." The two gals turn and look at the man.

My bro looks up, disbelieving what he just heard. Then in walks a young black guy also wearing the same t-shirt & joins the girls. The girls speak quietly to the young man, who is much smaller than the white man. The young man turns to look at the man.

Meanwhile, my brother, who is not shy about voicing his opinion, decides to join the crowd, but it takes him a while to get up because he has a bad knee he can't put weight on. But he gets up and starts walking over to them.

Just then, the man turns to his wife and says loudly, "Let's get outta here before I do something I'll regret later." As my brother approaches, he says to the man, "Yeah...like spill your blood all over this floor, fella." The man and his family walk out & leave.

My brother then chatted with the young people. They were on their way back to Baton Rouge from some event in Houston. They just stopped for burgers. The t-shirts are about the latest The Incredibles movie. So maybe they had gone to see that movie. Not sure.

When my brother relayed this story to me, we were both like...WTH??? I mean, WTH???? My heart went out to those young people. There they are, having a good time with their friends, doing nothing wrong, minding their own business. And someone comes in and intentionally insults them and tries to ruin their day and tries to make them feel like nothingburgers. Ugly behavior for no reason.

He thinks the man left because he was afraid of the young black man, even though the black guy was much smaller & hadn't shown any intent to start anything. As my brother said, the man was just a big coward.

[genxlib]

1. Like Bullies Everywhere

Cowards at heart.

Good on your brother for standing up for those young people. We need to do this every time so that these people know they are not welcome in civilized society despite what they orange idol says.

[Honeycombe8]

9. Yeah. They usu. surround themselves with REAL fighters...

and gang up on people. Or pick on people that they are sure they can beat up. Or they tote gun power. Like schoolyard bullies.

[lapfog_1]

2. I call this "The Trump Effect"

they had to hide their racism for something like decades... and then had to endure a black President who was competent and scandal free...

And they hate it.

So now with Trump in office... no more dog whistles from the repuke party, it is a bullhorn. Now it's all out in the open... and it makes it acceptable and "cool" (to the others like them) to be openly racist again.

[Honeycombe8]

10. I think this is true. I noticed the racism really show when Obama was President.

I knew it was there, underneath the facade. But I was shocked at some of the things I saw or read, and that it was so many people. And how hateful & hostile it was.

It was held in control then, compared to now. I agree that now, Trump has given his approval for outright fascism, hatred, racism, misogyny, and violence.

I was born & raised in Louisiana. I never saw anything like this incident and other things that I'm seeing & reading now. I asked my brother if I just missed it all, or people hid it from me...he said he didn't see things like this when we were growing up, either. This is new. Or at least it is on the surface, now.

[Initech]

18. I used to call it the "Trump Effect". Now I call it "#Civility".

Because of when conservative snowflakes a couple of weeks ago were calling for people to be more civil in the wake of Maxine Waters' comments against Trump and his supporters.

So let me get this straight - their side can make all the death threats, rape threats, harassment and ugly name calling that they want and we're supposed to just sit there and take it? Give me a fucking break! I'm done being "civil" with these morons.

And I tag threads like this with "#Civility" because that way if you're ever in an argument with a conservative friend / relative about Trump and his supporters, you can call these up with a quick search.

[Leith]

3. Please Thank Your Brother

on the behalf of all civilized people everywhere.

[Honeycombe8]

7. Will do.

But I worry about him. He's not shy about confrontation, if he thinks it's called for, but he's not young, any more. He could get hurt. But he's a grown man, so his decision.

[Blue_true]

15. Talk to him and tell him to chill it. People like the guy that insulted the two girls

won't fight, but they do carry and are itching to use guns on people. I can take care of myself in most physical confrontations, but I avoid them because a person can end up dead from a simple punch, or someone can pull out a gun and use lethal force. Just not worth it one way or another.

If I accidentally bump into someone or mindlessly get in their way, I apologize inmediately. Most people are ok with that.

[Honeycombe8]

17. I will....again. This is how he is, though. But this is La. My brother is packing, too.

That's partly why I worry. Things can get out of hand quickly.

[Blue_true]

20. Yes, having guns make it a lot easier, IMO. nt

[k2qb3]

4. Sad.

I've lived in SC for almost a decade now, I'm from Seattle.

In my experience race relations are actually quite a bit better in SC than they ever were in WA.

I suppose SC isn't the "deep south", but still. A lot of the assumptions people make on a regional basis seem completely wrong to me.

The worst sorts of prejudice seem to persist about the people we don't know.

[maxrandb]

5. Huge difference

I don't think the racist assholes in Seattle would have the power of the State standing up for them and espousing their discrimination.

That's the difference. There are racist assholes everywhere, but unlike South Carolina, I don't think you could get elected to statewide office in Washington state running on a racist, dog-whistle platform.

Please spare me the "there are racist in the North too" crap. I know that. I'm more worried about the places that "reward" racism by placing the power of the state in their racist hands.

[cwydro]

14. Nah, no northern states voted for the shitstain. Nah.

Wake up.

[Mariana]

16. The poster didn't say anything about "northern states".

Why don't you answer what he or she actually did say?

[Honeycombe8]

8. I think SC is in the deep south. The cotton states of old.

Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

I think the heart of the deep south...just IMO....is Alabama and Georgia. It's no accident the civil rights protests, marches, and the Nat'l Guard all took place mainly in Alabama.

I've never been there, so can't say anything about it. All I know about Seattle is from some tv shows.

I think the deep south gets the reputation because that's where the KKK and others did a lot of lynchings back in the day. It also was the area of the country that caused the Voting Rights Act to be enacted. It was hard core, incl. the govt, and institutionalized infringing on the rights of minorities, blacks in particular. In fact, the KKK is still there. There's a KKK group not far from me, my brother says. David Duke lives in Louisiana.

But I can't say exactly how it is here because I lived in Dallas for many years and just moved back. I was just relaying a story that I found shocking. That man may not have even lived in the area.

[Blue_true]

19. I have lived in other places in the country other than Florida.

We have the confederate tag being shown on mostly trucks, but not even remotely like it used to be. The region is red, but not as much as it used to be when I was growing up. It seems that every 10-15th child that I see is racially mixed, I saw a White guy out shopping with what looked like his about 11 year old daughter. Times are changing here in the south like everywhere else. It is pretty tough for even a racist to hate their grandchild, most people that I know won't do that, not that I know racists, but I do know some hard conservatives who appear to not be well informed on race.

[GulfCoast66]

26. SC is the deepest of the Deep South

I am from Louisiana. Also Deep South. My wife if from Indiana.

My limited experience is that I hear racial epithets more in rural Indiana than in the Deep South. At least in open social situations. But here’s the deal. Where my wife’s family is from there are no people of color. Here in the south you go around dropping the N word you will eventually get you ass kicked.

The man in your narrative was comfortable using racist language around young girls. Not so much around a black man. And when a white man allies himself with the African American man like your brother did they run like the cowards they are.

[lunasun]

32. Yeah what a bully coward - picked on 2 young girls to all racist when walking in the place .

[dalton99a]

6. And we're asked to understand their "grievances"?

Trumpanzees are utter trash with zero redeeming values

[Honeycombe8]

12. You make a good point. But I think there are some who are redeemable...

They haven't sunk too far down, yet. They are not like these deplorables. They are willing to come back, if the Dems show them that they can address their concerns. And we need their votes...and we WANT to address their concerns. The govt represents everyone. But if we could ship the hard core Trump base out of the country, I'd vote for that.

[cwydro]

11. The black women I know would not need a "brother"

or your “brother” to stand up to that kind of nonsense.

Cool story though.

Perhaps you don’t understand how your “story” is offensive to women of ALL races. Smh.

[Honeycombe8]

13. I just reported what happened. Don't shoot the messenger. Thanks for your comment. nt

[brush]

27. Please explain how it's offensive. Everyday on DU there are OPs reporting on racist...

incidents from some part of the country.

Do you mean the what the racist said to the young women was offensive?

[trueblue2007]

21. Bless your brothers big loving heart!!

he is a nice guy.

[Honeycombe8]

23. I think so, too. Thanks for noticing! nt

[oasis]

22. Trumpezodian reptiles crawling out from under their rocks. nt

[Honeycombe8]

24. LOL. Okay, I'm going to have to borrow your phrase. Trumpezodian. lol. nt

[oasis]

25. Have at it. Spread it far and wide because, "Deplorables"

misses the pure essence of their vileness.

[Honeycombe8]

34. Ah, yes. I remember the days when "deplorables" was considered a vile term...

how far they've sunk since then.

[heaven05]

28. Such a evil fucked up country now...nt

[panader0]

29. When I was a kid my buddy's dad was a Full Colonel,

a West Point grad, a fighter pilot ace and POW in WWII. A tough guy.
Later in life, after he retired as a general, he lost a tooth in a bar room
fight, helping a Native American take on a couple of bikers.
After all he had been through, he was proudest of that gap in his teeth.
Good on your brother.

[Honeycombe8]

35. What a great story.

My brother seems to have no fear, tho I worry about his inclination to get involved in things. He's not young, any more.

Great story about the former General losing his tooth. A true hero.

[lunasun]

30. That child under 10 who came in with the white man is learning to hate if not already fully primed

[superpatriotman]

31. It's past time for black men to open carry everywhere

They are an endangered group, and need to exercise their second amendment rights to protect themselves.

Not sarcasm.

[Honeycombe8]

36. A lot of people carry in Louisiana.

My brother has guns in his truck. Some open carry. I'm not afraid of guns, but all these guns being in the hands of ordinary citizens gets me nervous. It's too easy to press a trigger in a rash hot-tempered moment.

I have a gun at home for protection, and I know how to use it. I'd be scared to death if someone broke in, but I sure would use my gun if necessary.

[Ferrets are Cool]

33. Bullies backed by a wanna be president.

They think they are under his protection.

[Honeycombe8]

37. I think that's part of it. It's not so hidden, any more. It's in your face, now. nt