Why Racism Makes Me Wear a Polo or Dress Shirt 90% of the Time

The crazy times we live in make me dress nicer than wearing an old t-shirt.

In most of my online photos, you’ll see me wear a polo or dress shirt. Normally, I’m comfortable wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.

The big question is why do I wear a polo or dress shirt?

It’s because of one disgusting word that makes the news almost daily.

Racism.

If you’re white, you could walk into a store in a t-shirt and jeans and no one would say a word to you. As a minority, it’s a different story. Wherever you go, someone is always watching you.

The other day, I had to make a quick trip to Walmart. I didn’t have time to change since I had dropped my son off at school. When I make quick trips like this, I’ll wear my t-shirt and sweatpants.

On this trip, I had to make a stop at Walmart to pick up some groceries. It wasn’t a lot of food but also an item needed at home.

I tried to make this a quick trip. I wanted to get in and out of the store in a few minutes at the most.

As I was using the self-checkout, I noticed one of the Walmart clerks walked up and stood a few feet away from me. This was not normal since I have used self-checkout many times before.

Since I was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, I wasn’t surprised.

“Retailers surveyed reported an average of 560 employee theft apprehensions in 2019, up from 323 the previous year, and 689 shoplifting apprehensions, up from 509 the year before.”

After I finished paying and left, I was mad.

I have been to the store over 20 times easily this year. To me, a minority; I was mad. For me to go out in public, I have to dress up. Yes, it sounds crazy but I have to do that.

I don’t want to stand out more than I already do.

As a minority, it’s hard to blend in when your surroundings. Where I live, if you are not white, Asian, or Hispanic, you will stand out like a sore thumb. I live in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood. Even though you might think a Hispanic person is a minority, but in many places, Hispanics are the majority.

The same is true if you go into an Asian neighborhood.

When I was younger, I used to go to Korean stores in the Philadelphia area. My mom got me a few jobs working in these stores since she knew the owners.

While I was there, I was told to spy on the customers who were predominately black. As a kid, I thought this was normal to make sure no one was stealing.

I was actually stereotyping the customers and automatically accused them of being a thief the second they walked into the store.

Now as an adult, I am getting stereotyped by store workers.

Any time I plan to go to a store, I take off my t-shirt and sweatpants and put on a polo shirt and jeans. Sometimes it becomes a pain changing clothes but I do that to avoid getting stereotyped.

It is crazy the world we live in today.

I’m a successful person with a college degree and drive a nice luxury car. But I can’t walk into a store unless I dress nice and fit in.

As a parent, I teach my kids the same thing

With two kids, I don’t get on my daughter too much since she is still in elementary school. As for my son, I have these discussions with him too often.

My son wants to dress how he wants to dress and wear his hair how he wants to wear it. When you look in his closet, you’ll see a dozen green polo shirts. Green is his favorite color, and he doesn’t like to wear other colors.

Every time I have to take him somewhere, I have to remind him to change his clothes. My son isn’t a kid anymore. He is closer to becoming an adult rather than seen as a child.

When you look at my son, he could easily pass for a high school senior. He is already my height and clearly weighs more than me.

Whenever there is a killing of a black male that makes the news, I have to remind my son that black people are getting killed over minor stuff. This is why I stress to him how to dress and how to act in front of adults.

Even though my son watches his manners, how he dresses is the most important thing before he steps out of the house.

My son plays sports so if he is out playing with his friends, he can wear his t-shirt and shorts.

However, when we go out somewhere, he has to change his clothes and wear a polo so he can fit in.

Final thoughts

It’s crazy the world we live in. I normally don’t write about racism. The recent Walmart incident made me realize racism still exists.

I try not to think about race but some days it’s hard to ignore.

You see the headlines about the latest police killing of a black person.

Then you’ll read someone say why do you have to make this a race issue.

Or you’ll hear about the Asian man who was knocked down while walking along the street.

We live in a crazy world today.

Don’t misunderstand what I wrote. White people still get attacked, and the story doesn’t always make the headlines like other stories do.

Sometimes it makes you sad when you hear about a tragedy when it happens.

We don’t live in a perfect world. Every person you meet also isn’t perfect.

The best you can do is to fit in as best as you can. Trying to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb is almost impossible these days.

Just make sure you raise your kids so they understand how they should treat other people.