Racism - does it exist in Bismarck? Yes!

Earlier this year, as I was crossing an intersection, a white Bronco driven by a white male entered the intersection and nearly ran me over. Besides that, the driver put his head out the window and yelled, "Why don't you get off the road, you drunken Indian?" I was very shaken up by that, and forgot to get his license-plate number.

On May 12, I decided to walk to work, and as I was going to cross the street, an older white male driver in a black pickup honked his horn and kept on driving, nearly plowing me over. I hollered, and he stopped and gave me the "bird" before driving on. I was very scared when it looked like he was going to back up and finish his bad deed, so I didn't get his license plate, either.

Maybe that I am a person of color didn't help matters any, and gave this ignorant, stupid person the right to say I can't walk the streets. It's sad, because a lot of drivers aren't aware that pedestrians have rights.

I would've just thought of that incident as due to ignorance or stupidity, but after being yelled at and called racial slurs, it is racism. And, if Bismarck and North Dakota are to solve their problems of outmigration and the inability to attract new business, racist attitudes need to change.

Attitude is what's it's all about. Attitude about how one is going to live makes all the difference. Remember, word of mouth is the most successful way of advertising one's business. After the May 12 incident, I couldn't write a favorable report card of the area. Many attitudes in our job market, school system, service industry, law enforcement, housing and restaurants need to change.

My children and I have lived in Bismarck long enough to have been victims of racist attitudes. A lot of it happens in subtle ways, and then some things smack you right in the face.

Bismarck has been a great community to live in, and my children and I have benefited greatly from living here. But a lot of things that have happened to us, we have had to ignore. It's a great place, and could become greater as we overcome our negative attitudes.