My New Friend Rahim Experiences 'Murica

On a Friday night perhaps a month ago, the lovely Mrs. Gammons and I stopped in at our usual haunt.  I immediately noticed my old friend and neighbor puffing a cigar in the outdoor smoking area, so I stepped out to say hi and chat him up.  He had been talking to a couple fellow smokers, young men who he introduced as "the Algerians," and we shook hands.

Now, you must understand my friend.  He's a hard-working family man, a real sweetheart, and a basic Jersey Guy who is, against his own self-interests, a staunch conservative.  I don't know what he and the Algerians were discussing, but I can take an educated guess.

Because one of the young men immediately asked me if I knew where Algeria was.  "Northern Africa," I replied, earning myself an appreciative fist-bump.  (I'd guess my friend got the same question and was unable to answer correctly.)  Then the young man asked me if I was going to vote for Donald Trump!  I did a spit-take laugh/choke -- "No!  No fucking way!"  The Algerians chuckled along with me.  (And again I'd guess my friend got the same question and answered in the affirmative.)

And that was pretty much the end of that amusement.  I left them with their smokes and went back inside.  The Algerians must have departed soon after.  I didn't have a chance to speak with them further.  They seemed like good guys.

All of which is preamble to what I want to tell you.

Last night, we visited the usual place again and this time I was properly introduced to one of the Algerians.  His name is Rahim, and he's a delightful, soft-spoken young man.  He remembered me from before.  He's lived in the U.S. for not quite a decade, has a college degree, works in the medical supplies business, is a big basketball fan and a proud American citizen, as well as a citizen of Algeria.  I'm very glad to have made his acquaintance.

Rahim was flying solo last night, minding his own business, when he was suddenly button-holed by one of the more unpalatable denizens of our little watering hole -- a prejudiced old white guy* who often wears plaid shirts and hunting vests, talks about guns and terrorists and right-wing conspiracy theories, and has never been seen (by me) in the company of a woman.

For some reason, this belligerent gasbag decided to go full Ugly American on Rahim, quizzing him on Islam, asking him why Muslim men mistreat women, and all but accusing him of being a knife-wielding ISIS headman.  Stunned by such out-of-nowhere antagonism, Rahim wisely did not take the bait and engage with this asshole, and the ugly scene was over quickly.

But Rahim was shaken by the episode.  He told me it was the first time he'd ever experienced anything like it -- an obvious bigot making wild assumptions based on "my name and the way I look."   Rahim is not a Muslim.  Algeria may be majority Muslim, but Rahim ain't one of 'em.  He told me he's agnostic!  How wonderfully ironic.  Yet he must endure a faceful of Islamophobia just because he's dark-complected and his name is Rahim.

It's sad that racism and ethnic/religious prejudice still exist.  It's also encouraging to hear Rahim say it was his first encounter with it.  I hope there won't be too many more.  The world is changing, America is changing, and Rahim and others like him are part of the new face of America.  They are the future, our new citizens and our new majority.  And people like the old hate-monger are part of the past -- the angry, take-our-country-back people.  To borrow from Dylan Thomas, they are raging, raging against the dying of the white.
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(* Definitely not my aforementioned friend and neighbor.)