Have you ever wondered where blacks, homosexuals, disabled people, Jewish communities or a raft of other groups come off complaining that they are discriminated against? You never had anyone discriminate against you, so obviously all the above groups are made up of idiots, too thin-skinned or just plain liars who want to besmirch these good old United States. Where do they come off making disparaging comments about any of that treatment in America by red, white and blue Americans?

Well, America isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. We have a great country, but we have a little problem with seeing things as they really are. We blast statements across the globe about the ways others act, and then we fail to focus on some of the more rampant defects that we have within the country that need to be addressed. Discrimination is one of those flippant activities the majority of the country — meaning white people — has a problem understanding.

For those of us born white in the U.S., we never see the true evil hand of someone giving us poor service, or driving us from the door or being abusive because of who we are. We wander through our lives enjoying the fruits without any of the rotten spots that creep up on that delicious fruit. Perhaps we would all benefit from a little down-home discrimination directed at us so that we could know for a moment what discrimination really feels like.

I have benefited greatly from a recent trip to Hawaii, where although the islands are referred to as “paradise,” they don’t quite have the shine they once did. I got to experience discrimination up close and personal, and I must say that it opens up one’s eyes and provides at least a small glimpse at what discrimination is like. I must preface the description of my experience with the statement that one brief brush with discrimination does not in any way put you into a category of individual who faces discrimination on a regular basis. The brief encounter simply opens your closed eyes to things that you may have denied in the past.

One of the things I was looking forward to was eating at a favorite Japanese seafood buffet, which has superb food despite being a chain restaurant. When I arrived for lunch, I was the only customer coming through the door. The maitre d’ asked if I was eating alone, and when I responded that I was, she immediately seated a party of four that had walked in after I did. When she returned she ignored me and went to a party of three that had entered. Finally, she returned and informed me that I had to pay before I ate — even though not one of the groups was required to do this. I should have walked out, but I gave her my credit card, she swiped it and went to seat another group. Two seated groups later, I asked if there was anything wrong with my credit card since it had been a while since she swiped it. She tore off the slip, told me to sign it and I was taken to my table in a corner.

Middle-aged, white male, tourist, eating alone: Not the usual description of a person being discriminated against, but it was a brush with an evil that I had not really experienced before. The big difference is that I can leave that restaurant and settle back into my protected status, a status that would allow me to get good service, better tables and smiles from those around me. Others who face discrimination on a daily basis don’t have that luxury. They bounce from horrible experience to horrible experience at the hands of ignorant, prejudiced cretins who do not deserve the title of Americans.

Discrimination is still rampant throughout the nation. It didn’t flee our shores when national movements brought new laws and seeming understanding of the problems to light. You need to look at your own lives and see where the small doses of discrimination arise to gain a better understanding of what still needs to be done in combating a festering sore that still plagues America. Your contact with discriminators may be slight, but joining in the fight to eradicate discrimination lends itself to the old saying, “United we stand, divided we fall!”

Craig Gunn is a State News columnist and director of the communication program for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Reach him at gunn@egr.msu.edu.