You know what? I could be a rich man by now.

If I knew all the times I’ve been thrown out of stores I could get $1,000, I would cause a ruckus in every store I went to.

I know that is a harsh exaggeration, but I have a point.

I have lived in East Lansing for about 17 years. In the seven or so years I have been a consumer, I have been kicked out, asked or told to leave and somtimes not even let into area businesses.

I don’t know why, but for some reason, they didn’t want four or five little high schoolers tooling around their store because of a fear of theft or other concern.

Now picture a white male making an accusation of racism - oh, wait, that would fly about as far as a 300-pound gorilla. So, isn’t that racism? Isn’t that discrimination?

By definition, it is. But by society, it isn’t. How does that work? Mathematically, it’s impossible, yet I can’t get any slack when it comes to discrimination. Again, isn’t that racism? Isn’t that discrimination? Can you imagine a white boy accusing somebody of racism? Everybody would just laugh and say, “Silly little boy, only minorities are discriminated against.”

Everybody is discriminated against at some point. Some of us just can’t collect on it.

Andy Bledsoe
merchandising management junior