The Same Bad Horse, but a different Colour!

BLOGGING ABOUT WHATEVER

ENTRY - 24

TITLE: "The Same Bad Horse, but a different Colour!"

AUTHOR: J. William Bell

DATE POSTED: 2026-07-02

An interesting question I come across on certain questionnaires; online and offline; is this:

"Have you ever been discriminated against, because of your race?"

I find it also interesting, and very disappointing, that the author(s) of these questionnaires almost never include follow-up questions to this particular question. Questions like:

- What is your race?

- What was the race of the person who discriminated against you?

- Were there any other reasons why they discriminated against you?

One of the lessons which was drilled into me, back in my school days, when I was being taught the basics of Journalism; is that there are six questions your article has to answer in order for it to be considered responsible and accurate Journalism. Those questions, of course, being:

WHO? WHERE? WHY? WHAT? WHEN? and HOW?

So, to begin with; I appear to be Caucasian and obviously Celtic-- but, I would be ignoring too many of my ancestors if I just said that I was a white-skinned man. The comedy and tragedy of my existence, racially-speaking; is that I am of a mixed heritage: English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Mohawk (there might be more, but the science of forensics and genetics can only tell you so much about your ancestors; as of the time of this writing). But, to the lazy eye of the casual and not-so-casual racist; it is very convenient to write me off as a white-skinned man, and assume that I personify all of the negative stereotypes attributed to white-skinned men; by the people who believe they are doing nothing wrong by openly hating white-skinned people (which, ironically and tragically also includes self-loathing Caucasians). With all of this information now established; that should answer the question: What race are you?

Now to tackle the question: What was the race of the person who discriminated against you? To be fair and honest; the short answer to that question is: A lot of people who were obviously not Caucasian, but were interviewing me for a job. These people were:

- A woman over the age of 19, but under the age of 30; who appeared to be of Chinese or Korean ancestry. The lame excuse she would probably give as an explanation as to how she was not being a racist is that I came looking for a job on a day when she was in a bad mood, and there were too many men on the staff already; and not ^enough^ women to ensure a ^gender-balanced workplace^.

- A man of about 40 or 50 with obvious Arabic ancestry; who would claim that he was trying to create employment opportunities for underprivileged Muslims, and that the presence of a very white-skinned Christian in a predominantly Muslim workplace might cause a ^disturbance^ unto the desired state of peace.

- An Editor with a very gender-neutral sounding name, who only ever communicated with me through a very nervous and overworked secretary. The Editor worked for a First Nations Focused Publication; which shall not be named. But, I was informed that while my submissions for an article and a puzzle page were interesting--- it would be more appealing to the publication's targeted readership if my name sounded less "Sawgnosh" (Which is another word for: ^White-skinned Demon,^ when used within certain contexts).

The pathetic and well-rehearsed excuses each of these people used certainly should answer the question: "Were there any other reasons why they discriminated against you?"

Now you might be inspired to ask me: Why didn't you put up a fuss at the time you were being casually mistreated? Why didn't you demand fair treatment and justice? To answer that question, as poetically as possible:

"Sometimes, justice is like revenge. It is a dish best served cold."

Just like Martin Luther King, I have a dream: I dream of a world where you are judged only by the quality of your character; and not by the colour of your skin!!!

I'm still waiting for that world to come into existence; and I know that I'm not the only one.

Excelsior...