Brianna Carroll Racial Observation

Brianna Carroll
Race Relations
Racial Observation Paper

The United States of America is unlike any other country in the entire world, representing nearly 200 nationalities within its citizens. Naturally, due to these statistics, everyday people from different ethnic backgrounds are forced to interact with each other and exchange differing social and cultural norms. In this process, it seems to frequently happen that those of one race treat those of another in a poor manner, whether it is a subtle action or a profound one. From a personal standpoint, I work in a restaurant where many different people of every race come to eat on a daily basis. A restaurant is somewhere that it is possible to observe many cruel interactions between two different races. Certain races are associated with certain tipping behaviors, which therefore form schemas in the minds of servers. Ultimately, these ideas cause them to unfortunately act accordingly due to the preexisting idea they have about a certain race.
Last week, an Asian family entered the restaurant and had been seated. After initially greeting them and getting their drink orders, the family had explained how they had been at another restaurant right before they came to eat at this one. They had to leave the other restaurant because after 40 minutes had passed, no server or any staff member had acknowledged the family, as they heard the staff fight over who was going to be stuck taking their table. Instead of observing the interactions that occur in my own restaurant, I chose to go to another restaurant in the area and listen in on what was going on around me. Our server was a polite girl, most likely a college student, and Caucasian. From a server’s standpoint, she was friendly, informative, and quick with everything that we had needed. A few minutes after we had been settled in, a table was sat behind us. It was an Indian family of four; the mother, the father, and two little boys. Listening in, it was shocking to find out that this was the same server who had been at our table a moment ago. She was short in response, gave no intro, and simply took an order with little interaction. Shockingly, a few moments later, a middle aged white couple had been seated near our table as well. While listening to the server greet them, it was clear that the same, lovely server that had taken care of us had suddenly reappeared out of nowhere. She explained the daily specials, suggested different drinks, and laughed casually with her guests. Refilled drinks arrived at the table before the last sip was even taken of the first drink, while the Indian table had not received refilled drinks even once. It was clear that the girl was treating those of another race in a completely different manner than she was treating those who were Caucasian, like her. I believe that these sorts of interactions take place between any two races, no matter where in the country, or of what races are interacting. It is obvious to assume that a person is going to treat those of the same race in a more welcoming way due to the shared beliefs and cultural norms, but to treat those of another race in such a poor manner is something that is hard to understand. It is natural for one to prefer those who are most similar to you, but I believe that many Americans are afraid to step out of their norms and experience those of another race, which leads to ignorance and these cold interactions. Going out and watching these interactions just once was enough to show me what occurs on a daily basis between different races, and enough to show me why accepted diversity is so hard to come by.