Racism in the West Monroe community

 

Racism in the community of West Monroe

I have lived in West Monroe, Louisiana all my life. I grew up in the public school system, and the first time I remember having a class with a black person was in 6^th grade social studies. This would have also been my first active conversation with one. I explicitly remember approaching the girl in my class and asking point blank, “is that real hair or rope”. I had no idea what a weave was. The ignorance was so blatant at such a young age, that the amount of unknowingly racist remarks I’ve made in my life would probably be more that I could count. But I didn’t think I was racist, nor did I think it about my school, friends, family, or community. It wasn’t until May of 2020 that my mind was blown by the responses of the murder of George Floyd, that I began to notice that there seemed to be a massive problem I and other white people have been blissfully unaware of. As I observed and sought conversations I notice three key points- there is a community of people hurting, there is very clear racism in our area that I have been blind to, and it is super important that I know how to respond.

Over the last two years, the racism embed within the city of West Monroe has become easier and easier to spot. I began to search and evaluate what it was that made me miss this, and why is it still missed today? Why is West Monroe so racist and why are people so blind to it? Today, I would like to explore what is happening, what the problem is, why it’s happening, and a potential solution.

Racism makes up a massive piece of American history. Between slavery, Jim Crow laws, and civil right movements, it’s completely inescapable. Yet it somehow still, it seems that our area has missed it. This is not to say that there are no activist or young people stepping up and willing to make a change, but the general white population seems to be quite clueless to the problem being anywhere close to home. There is an odd middle ground now of awareness in the sense of them knowing racism is a problem because of recent events, but there doesn’t seem to be an active understanding of how it exists in our area.

One of the most common lies that I heard and believed in my past is “racism still exist, but it isn’t as prevalent as it was in the past”. The issue with that, is it has no bearing on micro aggressions, which are indirect and subtle phrases that are demeaning or derogatory. If I said, “for a black guy, you speak pretty clearly” or “you’re acting pretty white right now” then I would be subtly making a racist comment in a way that isn’t internally intended to be racist, but definitely is. This gets us down to the core of the issue for the West Monroe community; it’s in their lingo. So often, senseless racist remarks will just find their way into conversations naturally. When discussing a frustrating experience with a person, the question “were they black?” comes up. When talking about friends you will hear them say “my black friends”. They are sub consciously attributing social experiences with black skin, because racism is embedded within the dialogue and culture of a large portion of white people living in West Monroe.

Speaking of culture, our city is enamored with West Monroe High School. Being such a small town with such a big school, it’s difficult to avoid the fandom. West Monroe rebel football is a huge deal to the community, and they are incredibly successful and profitable. The issue that stems from this pride is that it’s often coincided with a confederate flag. Although the school does not endorse the flag and has removed any representation of it for years, this hasn’t stopped the longtime fans from flying it on their trucks on Friday nights or posting it in their yards. There is even a dedicated, fan run Rebel Store that sells lots of confederate flag merchandise. It is such a large part of so many people’s upbringing, that the idea of someone being offended by the use of this flag is laughable.

People are very set in their ways. There isn’t much of a desire for change here. West Monroe is a simple town that is very family oriented. People have been doing the same things, going to the same stores, going to the same churches, and hanging with the same people for years and they seem to like it that way. There were recently new round abouts built on a busy road that most locals took every day. There was a massive uproar of frustration, because it wasn’t what people were use to. This is the mindset of a large percentage of the white population here; they are set in their ways and they won’t listen to anyone who tells them to change it. They are comfortable people that would rather turn an eye to racism than potentially disrupt the comfort they have in their ignorance.

The reason this is so horrible, is because we have people going thought their daily routine, and not even realizing it is hurting people. The microaggressions, the confederate culture, and the stubborn lifestyle is haunting the black community. So how do we stop it? It will definitely take young people stepping up and being a generation that is willing to make changes, and teaching more black studies in school would be immensely helpful for kids to know their history. But even more than that, it will take a real heart change from the people in our community. We would radically have to begin to stop caring about ourselves and our own comfort, so that we can care about those that are hurting.