racism and the religious balance

In pointing out that interracial relations are edgy because too many of one race coming into an area upsets the existing religious balance, Poppy is stating the bleeding obvious – but it is always denigrated as racism.

"The first newcomers in our neighborhood were Catholics from Lebanon and Korea and we welcomed them,” says Poppy. “And then came the Vietnamese – and we welcomed them – and all was harmonious until the second generation when we realized we had become minority second class citizens in our own town because we were Protestants.”

"And then, in the early nineties,” says Poppy, ‘a trickle of Muslims arrived during the Middle East conflict and although they are still a minority group in relation to the Catholic population, they now completely dominate everyone else in their demands.”

“Our antagonism has nothing to do with the color of the immigrants skins,” says Poppy. “Instead, it has everything to do with religion.”

“Our community was predominantly Protestant sixty years ago,” says Poppy. “Now it is predominantly Catholic, and within sixty years it will be predominantly Muslim.”

“Protestantism is a North European religion, separate and distinct from South European Roman Catholicism – for very good historical reasons,” says Poppy, “and Islam doesn’t belong here at all.”

“I believe that the rapid social disintegration and interracial tension we are experiencing is directly related to global wars designed to shift the religious balance at home (with immigrants) and abroad (with conversion).”

Read more by Poppy on this issue:

engineered demographics

the fate of indigenous populations

demographic engineering

religiously motivated wars

the curse of the katholikos ethos

katholikos is Greek for global

the enemy within

disgusted by foreign people?

When people exhibit signs of racism, it often comes from a mindset that makes some people think they are better than others in every respect – because they are perfect – and it’s not something that’s peculiar to one race. Steffi is a ‘perfect’ person, and it’s not just foreign people who disgust her sensibilities but just about every other physical and cultural difference between her and everyone else.

“I am disgusted by foreign people because they are so different,” explains Steffi, “but I am also disgusted by ugly people, deformed people, sick people, old people, and people with all sorts of disabilities.”

“I know it’s cruel, people can’t help who they are,” says Steffi, “and I am sure many foreigners feel the same way about me, and I can understand that.”

“I am most certainly not rude to foreigners,” says Steffi. “I tolerate them and I’m courteous to them just like I am to everybody – just as long as I don’t have to spend too much time with them.”

“I cannot help myself for feeling this way about foreigners, but I can help myself by not showing my feelings to those I am offended by,” says Steffi, “and this is what toleration is all about.”

“It is not about training myself to love what I hate -- I can’t do that,” explains Steffi, “but I can be pleasant to a foreign person who disgusts me when I really have to relate to them.”

“And, I can choose to turn away and mind my own business when I don’t have deal with foreigners.”

Read more by Steffi on this issue:

perfect tolerance

disgusted by fat people?

disgusted by breast-feeding?

overcoming disgust of different people

disgusted by older workers!

perfect tolerance of smokers

migrant entitlement delusion

The attitude of our more recent 'educated' migrants never ceases to amaze Xanthe – child of poor migrants – because they expect as a god-given right the sort of recognition, opportunity, wealth and lifestyle that their class may once have commanded at home (but no longer command due to increasing population, education and breaking down of class barriers – which is why they were forced to migrate); and they fail to respect the universal expectation conferred upon all migrants – shape up or ship out!

"Instead of being grateful to be accepted as a new resident, and working hard at integrating into an established culture and earning their stripes – as earlier immigrants like my parents did," says Xanthe, "we now have 'entitlement' migrants who not only demand everything on a platter, but also want to change our culture to reflect their minority presence."

"For instance, a recently arrived young immigrant lady with dramatic pretensions was on the radio the other day complaining about our monocultural image and demanding more diversity in our television shows, sports teams and tourism campaigns," sighs Xanthe. "I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her outrageous proposal that the global image of our country would be better represented by replacing a lot of white faces with those of her particular skin color."

"She based her claim on a perception that almost every ethnicity in the world can be found in our big cities," says Xanthe. "That being the case, in her view, these people reflect the nation better than the established white inhabitants do.”

"Hello? Apart from airports and ghetto suburbs, the diversity she raved on about just doesn't exist in mainstream western nations – the last time I looked at census data, whites were still the majority.

“Any big city anywhere in the world is teeming with foreign tourists, students, migrants and illegals," says Xanthe, "but western nations, on the whole, still reflect the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds if not thousands of years of white habitation, and having discovered the truth of this fact after she migrated it is sour grapes for her to complain about it and want to change things."

"Sure, we reflect a fair bit of diversity in our culinary tastes as well as in our media," says Xanthe, "but media depiction of minorities is often tokenism, not to be taken too seriously because if taken too far it is divisive rather than inclusive."

"I believe migrants are fed, and swallow, a lot of political hype about western nations being truly multicultural.," says Xanthe, "and while I sympathize with this woman if she emigrated on the basis of a pack of lies, I believe her energy would be better directed at cautioning her country men and women not to make the same mistake she did.”

"Nobody voted for multiculturalism here, and despite all the weasel words that the politicians and other government departments spew forth, you only have to look at their hierarchies to see who’s on top and who’s at the bottom - who barks the orders, and who stands behind the post office counters."

"Migrants are increasingly being brought in to do the jobs that white natives don’t want
to do, and if you’ve migrated in expectation of being given a job commensurate with your qualifications then it’s natural, I suppose, to feel you’re being discriminated against on account of your skin color when the only work you can get is in a menial occupation."

“What this woman fails to see if that there are highly skilled white people also trained at our nation's elite schools, who can't find suitable work either," says Xanthe, "and while not having a white face may be a drawback, especially in a media job where what you look like counts, skin color is rarely an issue and to cry ‘racism’ in order to gain preference in the employment market is an entitlement delusion of epic proportions.”

"If I migrated to, say, India or Africa, went to an elite Indian or African drama school and expected my white face to be projected as the face of India or Africa then I'd be rightly considered delusional," laughs Xanthe. "If I then stamped my foot and demanded to be fast-tracked in my career because I was white in a predominantly non white community, then my delusion would be called, quite rightly, a racist entitlement delusion."

“For centuries western nations have provided a haven for refugees and migrants who have successfully integrated into our society, and if our newest migrants - educated here or overseas - cannot appreciate their good fortune and learn to integrate then the reason for this could very well be an inflated perception of their intrinsic value.”

be proud of your race!

Dakota is 35, single and well-traveled, and remarks that western nations stand apart from the rest of the world as far as racial pride is concerned -- there isn't any, and when it's shown it's blasted as racism!

"Whatever political correctness dictates, being 'white' is without doubt the major criterion of western civilization in much the same way that being 'yellow' remains the major criterion of Chinese civilization," says Dakoka, "and yet we have been cowed by our governments into being ashamed of our color."

"Starting with the granting of citizenship to non-white and largely non-Christian populations at end of the colonial era -- and continuing with the granting of citizenship to a relentless influx of refugees from other non-white and non-Christian nations -- western nations have experienced a dramatic ethnic and cultural change at the hands of their governments," says Dakota, "and people from other parts of the world find this difficult to understand because it is not something that their governments would do."

"Western civilization is no longer distinguished by being ethnically white and culturally Christian, and this places it in a dilemma," says Dakoka. "Our governments have betrayed us and bet your life the mighty global dollar is behind it all."

"Other civilizations -- particularly the Chinese, Japanese-Korean and Indian civilizations -- are based more on racial purity and racial superiority than anything else," says Dakota. "You just have to visit these places to see how proud these people are of their race."

"Why have we been cowed into being apologetic of our ethnicity?"

"Sure, geography, language and customs do figure in other nations," says Dakoka, "but racial purity is the cement that glues these civilizations together and keeps them separate and distinct from other civilizations and that's the way they like it."

"The Japanese, particularly, forbid citizenship to other races and so do the Islamic nations," says Dakota. "They jealously protect their ethic and cultural traditions. Why aren't we doing the same?"

"Everyone should be proud of their ethnicity," says Dakota, "but when you leave your ethnic homeland to live permanently in another culture you must necessarily adopt that culture."

"For goodness sakes," laughs Dakota, "when I travel to other countries I take pains to dress and behave like the people who are hosting my visit. I can't hide the fact that I'm white -- nor should I -- but I do my best to blend."

Read more by Dakota:

Breivik’s July 22 Sarajevo Code
immigration promotes white shame?
Breivik the white knight
Stepfamily loners
Breivik, Christ’s Knight

culture shock in india

Lynne and her husband, Troy, have just returned from a trip to India - where they spent most of their time in Bombay, or Mombai as the Indians call it - and the first thing she talks about is the amount of Coca Cola they were forced to consume for want of anything more palatable.

"Troy and I don't drink Coca Cola - or Pepsi, or any type of cola drink - at home," says Lynne, "so that's an indication of how scared we were of disease while visiting India."

"There are two distinct areas of Bombay - one for the haves and one for the have-nots," explains Lynne, "and Troy and I drank Coca Cola in both areas. Whether we were in the plush establishments filled with dusky women draped in purples silk saris and adorned with more gold than any western women would dare wear, or the filthy market places lined with armless and legless beggar children, we opted for Coca Cola rather than drink the local beverages, or anything out of a glass."

"We just didn’t trust the water system, the hygiene standards of kitchen staff or bottled beverages carrying alien names," says Lynne. "Sure, Coca Cola was alien to our systems - we hated the stuff - but it was less alien than the local beverages and the brand name carried some warranty of hygiene."

"Even if it had been manufactured in India," says Lynne, "it had to be safer than drinking the stuff that was offered to us by our gracious guides."

Thankfully, nobody thought it odd that Lynne and Troy would prefer Coca Cola - it was assumed that all Americans consumed Coca Cola for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper - and they tried gallantly not to gag as they swallowed the tooth-rotting stuff.

Lynne and Troy’s guides were two Bombay students who had been studying and working in America for a while. Lynne had befriended them at her workplace and looked them up when she and Troy were in Bombay.

They showed the young couple places they would never have visited on their own, and Lynne is not too sure whether she even wanted to see and smell what she did, but she maintains that seeing places like Bombay makes home all the more something to be thankful for.

Lynne says that the upmarket area of Bombay is much like any other big city, with an Asian flavor, but the downmarket area of Bombay is like the black hole of Calcutta.

"The smell is indescribable," says Lynne. "Abject poverty has a stench about it that no human being should have to bear, and wild animals live cleaner than the poor people of Bombay."

People were lying in filth and puddles along the roads. They might have been dead for all Lynne knows. But what got to her were the children.

Naked or dressed in rags, Lynne had never seen so many maimed children outside of a hospital or war zone. They hobbled up to her and begged, their little hands cupped.

Lynne was advised not to give them anything. Her guides quite matter of factly told her that the parents of these children had deliberately maimed their sons and daughters in order to make them better beggars.

"All those television advertisements we see of impoverished and sick children in India are true," says Lynne, "and when I asked our guides why the rich people of India allow their people to live in such filth and poverty I was given a lecture on karma and the Hindu caste system."

"Apparently," explains Lynne, "the poor in India are called 'untouchables' and they are living their life destiny in the Hindu caste system which is also a religion. Because it is their destiny, they don't aspire to live decent lives. Oh really, I thought. What crap."

"There are many extraordinarily wealthy people in India who openly flaunt their wealth," says Lynne. "You would not see western people behaving in such an ostentatious manner around poor people."

Lynne can now understand why Christianity is on the rise in India.

"The only way the 'untouchables' can gain a better life is to convert to Christianity," says Lynne, "so bang goes the Hindu destiny theory."

Two phrases Lynne and Troy learned quickly in India were: 'tom jow' and 'ider row' - with the 'ow' pronounced as in 'cow' - meaning 'go away' and 'come here' respectively.

"Believe it or not," laughs Lynne, "but those two phrases - and Coca Cola - were all we needed to know in order to get by in India."

Now safely home and back at work, Lynne admits that any romantic notion she had about India - or Bombay in particular - is soured.

Unfortunately, she has even developed a racist attitude towards Indians, believing that their culture is abominable.

"There are pockets of poverty in plenty of rich countries," says Lynne, "but our culture - and our rich people - would never allow filth and human degradation to co-exist with luxury in the way they do in India. It's unnatural."

"That we are supposed to be economic partners with India is a frightful thought," says Lynne. "No matter how many of our jobs go offshore to India, the jobs and wealth will go to the wealthy, not the poor."

"No matter that India is the biggest democracy in the world," says Lynne, "it's culture is deliberately designed so that the underclass will always be the underclass."

culture proud, not racist

Yolanda married well and enjoys being a stay at home mom. With plenty of time on her hands during the day when her kids are at school, she does community work helping refugees.

"I wasn't born to lead a 9 to 5 life in an office," laughs Yolanda, "but I certainly don't waste my time on soaps or gossip. I fill my time with plenty of activities, one of which is helping refugees settle into the community."

"Ever since the 9/11 tragedy the world has been obsessed with Moslems and terrorism," says Yolanda, "but the cultural differences between radical Moslems and everyone else has been a problem in my community for as long as I can remember."

"Frankly I'm fed up with people calling me a racist when I am simply proud of my country, its culture and values," says Yolanda. "I am so proud to be an American and I am so grateful that this wonderful country gave refuge to my Italian grandparents."

"I live in a multi-racial community and people from every race and culture have settled down fine and assimilated well," says Yolanda, "all except for those following the radical Moslem faith who, mostly, do not want to be part of our community."

"Not only are most of these people separatist - wanting to benefit from our freedoms and wealth without embracing the culture that made such freedoms and wealth possible," says Yolanda, "but they are also openly disdainful of us and everything we believe in."

"I cannot understand why they would want to settle here when they hate us so much," sighs Yolanda. "And I cannot understand why our government permits them to settle here when they have no intention whatsoever of embracing our culture and values and becoming one of us."

"How can I be racist when I embrace people from all over the world?" asks Yolanda. "If anyone is racist it is those radical Moslems who feel that they are better than we are because of their religious beliefs."

"As far as I am concerned people can believe in whatever they want to believe in just as long as they don't try shoving it in my face or belittling me or my children or the community I live in," says Yolanda.

"Building mosques and sending their children to Moslem schools is not a problem," says Yolanda. "It becomes a problem when those mosques and schools are teaching their children to vilify non-Moslem people and cultures."

"My little girl has been called a 'whore' for wearing clothes that expose her midriff," says Yolanda. "And it angers me immensely when Moslem children actually born in our community are behaving like medieval aliens rather than regular kids."

"My heritage is Italian and I admit that my grandmother still wears a headscarf, black garb and follows her quaint old customs," confesses Yolanda, "but she was quite happy to allow my mother to adopt the customs and culture of the country that gave the family sanctuary after the 1939-45 war."

"That has been the case with every other immigrant nation except those from Moslem nations," says Yolanda. "You don't see Chinese girls in Mao suits or Indian girls in saris so why are Moslem girls born here forced by their parents to wear clothes that cover every part of their bodies bar their eyes?"

"You expect to see women and girls dressed like this in the country of their origin," says Yolanda, "but you don't expect to see them dressed like this at the local supermarket - or the beach - especially on a stinking hot day - and especially when their men are dressed normally."

"All last century, western women fought for equality in voting, pay, family planning and social acceptance," explains Yolanda, "and it breaks my heart to see these Moslem women clinging to a medieval male-dominated culture and wearing themselves out having anything up to twenty kids."

"Frankly, our toleration of their backward culture is damaging our community values, especially in relation to women."

"My husband urges me to get involved with something else - mainly because it's not a good topic for dinner parties - but I am determined to assert my beliefs against radical Moslems in my community," says Yolanda.

"The young Moslem boys actually think bin Laden is a hero," sighs Yolanda. "My husband says they are just kids and mouthing off and should be laughed at, but I think differently. I think it's abominable that we should tolerate such talk."

"At some primeval level I think a lot of western men admire bin Laden," says Yolanda. "Not because of his terrorist activities, but because of his seeming 'manliness' and oppression of women."

"The beard, for instance, is a symbol of manliness," says Yolanda, "and although nobody can see much of his face because of it he does seem to have the piercing eyes of Valentino, the old silent movie matinee idol, doesn't he?"

"I can understand his appeal to both men and women," says Yolanda, "but as far as I know there is nothing in the Koran that says women must be oppressed and wear head to toe garments."

"Look at how young boys are indoctrinated by radical religion in the Moslem culture," says Yolanda. "Don't tell me that that sort of indoctrination doesn't have devastating effects on their physical, mental and spiritual development."

"I don't believe any sane Moslem male lives in expectation of being given virgin girls and boys for his sexual pleasure upon death any more than any sane Christian believes in paradise," sighs Yolanda, "but when you are indoctrinated with such beliefs when you're young, who is to tell how your psyche is affected?"

"The radical Islam as preached by bin Laden and others like him is based upon male domination over women," explains Yolanda, "and it's also perverse, unnatural and so far out of touch with the 21st century that it's amazing that they can cling to such beliefs while driving fast cars and using modern technology. It's hypocritical!"

"Let's face it," says Yolanda, "if someone as rich as bin Laden and the other Moslem leaders truly wanted to alleviate suffering and misery in the Moslem nations then they would share their vast riches - but they don't. These guy aren't humanitarians in any shape or form and they are bad role models."

"I'm not saying that our leaders are better role models," adds Yolanda, "but at least they don't take all, give nothing and force us to seek refuge in other lands. Allah be praised for that! But if I were forced to seek refuge in Yemen, do you think they'd tolerate my western ways?"

"Of course they wouldn't, and neither would I be so arrogant that I'd expect them to," explains Yolanda, "and this is why I am so incensed by the behavior of the radical Moslems in my community. It has nothing to do with racism and when they point that racist finger at me I point it right back at them."

why is racism the colonial legacy?

When the colonies matured, embracing all of the institutions and ideals of the mother nations, independence was ultimately granted - either by conflict or peaceful means - but the racism of the colonial legacy, like the guilt of slavery, is one that is still hurting today.

The new worlds in North and South America had their own unique history in that the British and Spanish colonies had to import and enslave Africans to do their work - creating a problem of what to do with these people when the abolitionist movement ended slavery.

Liberia in Africa was created by the North Americans for this purpose, but few Africans wanted to leave. Having lived in the colonies for as long as their white masters, the Africans considered themselves to be as much an American as anyone else. And quite rightly so. In this respect, the new western civilization as it developed in America is distinctly different to how it developed in other colonies.

The colonial legacy in other colonies - or dominions such as British India - was not slavery but a unique problem related to race and citizenship. Colonial independence led to dual citizenship of the mother country as well as the new nation, and once given a passport to Europe many of the formerly indigenous populations used it to their advantage and in doing so sparked racism in the white nations they migrated to.

Because of its foundation on slavery, the racism that developed in the American colonies - which is still evident today - is very different to that which developed in post-WWII Europe.

The pre-WWII European colonial governments mostly had a benevolent attitude towards native populations, and in granting former colonies or dominions independence it was probably never expected that the populations of these places would want to use their former colonial status to emigrate to the lands of their former governors.

Racism, as it developed in post-WWII Europe, was a backlash against massive immigration. Europeans were in war recovery, rationing continued for many years after the war, everything was in short supply and they did not like their jobs and housing and schools and meagre government benefits being taken over by a mass of people from former colonies - especially those people from countries which had not been touched by the war.

In Europe, there is little, if any, intrinsic hatred of non-white people as evidenced in America with a history of slavery. What is called 'racism' in Europe is similar to the hostility shown by Americans to Mexicans.

Basically, nobody likes their jobs and houses and schools and government benefits being taken over by people who have no birthright to it, and it is unfortunate that a different skin color was involved.

job interview racism?

Colette is 24, highly educated, and living at home with her parents who migrated here from Asia three years ago.

"I've been selectively job hunting for a long time and I have no trouble winning interviews," says Colette, "but I have yet to be called in for a second interview for the jobs I want."

"Some of my friends suffer crushing blows to their self-esteem when they fail to get a job offer," says Colette, "but I am not particularly crushed because I expect rejection."

"This is a positive not a negative way of thinking," explains Colette, "because very few people are hired on the spot at the first interview. We must all be patient when we want a prized job."

"If it takes 10 resume rejections to score an interview, then I expect 10 interview rejections before I make it to the final interview," explains Colette," but so far I'm not having much luck and I'm beginning to wonder whether racism is involved."

"I'm Asian with a dark skin," explains Colette, "and while interviewers are always very nice to my face, I don't know what they're really thinking."

"All job hunters must adopt a positive and upbeat attitude and not allow the process to get them down," says Colette, "and to keep my self-esteem intact I don't bother requesting feedback after an interview rejection because they will invariably lie about their reasons."

Colette was once told in a roundabout way that she was not assertive enough for the position she applied for.

"Had the job advertisement indicated that being assertive was a requirement of the job," says Colette. "then I would have pushed my way through the interview - even danced on a table if that would have proved how assertive I can be - but it was really not that type of job."

"In that particular job interview I really felt that racism was involved," says Colette. "I saw no Asians at the company when I went for an interview, and they did show surprise when I turned up."

"You see," explains Colette, "my family had deliberately Anglicized our name to avoid racism - it gets me treated like everyone else on paper but it doesn't whiten my skin in person!"

"For someone who is continually experiencing trouble with interview rejection like I am," says Colette, "I feel it is subjective factors like racism rather than objective factors - education and experience - that are operating."

"Everyone goes to job interviews looking their best," says Colette, "so dress and grooming are not going to be as important as appearance."

"If you don't fit in with the company's specific expectations of what is 'perfect' then subtle discrimination must apply," explains Colette.

"These perfect expectations are never made known in the job advertisements," sighs Colette, "and it's something we all go through - whatever our skin color."

"It's normal I suppose in that we all do it to others when we meet a person for the first time."

"Like most everyone else there are flaws in my appearance over and above having a different skin color to the predominant race," says Colette, "and I often wonder whether I should decide to stay as sweet as I am on the basis that I wouldn't want to work for any employer who judged me on such shallow criteria - or take steps to improve my appearance."

"Being yourself at interviews is good advice, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with enhancing what you've got!" laughs Colette.

"I can't do anything about my skin color," says Colette, "but I am of short stature so I do practice walking tall, wearing shoes that elevate me and choosing clothes that do not give the appearance of 'cutting' me in half - such as a one-color outfit."

"I'm not overweight or cursed by facial blemishes," adds Colette,"but if I were I would definitely lose weight or seek professional guidance on make-up and chemical peels."

"Most of us are nervous at interviews and a good interviewer will take that into consideration," says Colette, "but I often wonder if my communication skills are seen as being less than perfect."

"I have heard that people with communication disorders, a language difficulty or are just too loud, quiet, pompous, boring or garrulous are rejected outright," says Colette.

"I speak English perfectly but I do tend to be a bit quiet - as befitting the culture I came from - and I may have a slight accent that upsets employers," adds Colette.

"Maybe a speech therapist or a good communications trainer will help me achieve the perfect tone, pitch and speed for my speech - or maybe I should join a public speaking club such as Toastmasters to help me gain confidence," muses Colette, "but if I went to such troubles and still got rejected it would all have been a terrible waste of time and money."

"Personality can - and often does - override any flaws in appearance and communication skills," says Colette, "so I do try to make an interviewer see that I am a friendly girl."

"I'm not a strong introvert going for a job that requires a great deal of human interaction," says Colette, "and I'm not a strong extrovert going for a job that requires spending a great deal of time on my own."

"I do take pains to apply for the right type of job for me - a job that wants a friendly person, neither too introverted nor too extroverted."

"An Interviewer knows the right type of personality needed for the job and it's always stated - in various ways - in the job advertisement," says Colette. "So I don't believe I was ever rejected on that score."

"Interviews are sometimes so stressful that all we can think of is ourselves - how we look and sound," says Colette, "yet I always try to make a good impression by stepping outside my insecurities and showing - without aggrandizing myself - that I relate very well to others and do good in the community."

"I also acknowledge the interviewer - exchanging pleasantries, maybe even asking him or her some personal questions such as 'How do you feel about interviewing people for this job?'," explains Colette, "and yet I am still rejected!

"I comfort myself with thoughts that I was rejected because other candidates were superior to me on appearance, communication skills, personality and empathy," says Colette.

"And I take heart in the fact that once these paragons of virtue get snapped up the better my chances of passing the next interview."

"Yet, after fourteen months of job hunting I cannot believe that there are so many paragons of virtue out there - so many people superior to me," sighs Colette. "I've been helping out with the family business while job hunting and I'll continue doing so until I get the job I want. I am a patient person. I will wait."

"I have excellent qualifications and references," says Colette, "and I am a positive, likeable person."

"The only thing I don't have is a white face and if that is my only failing then perhaps I should limit my job search to Asian companies?"

minding a black baby

Juliette's family lived in an intolerant white supremist district and when her mom took pity on a young black single mother and offered to mind her baby without charge while the girl worked and got on her feet, Juliette saw the evil side of human nature pitted against the saintly nature of her mom.

"I was about eleven at the time," says Juliette, "and I remember coming home from school one day and finding a baby pusher in the kitchen."

"I knew that mom didn't know anyone with a baby," explains Juliette, "so I was a bit surprised - but nothing surprised me more than looking into the pusher and finding a little black baby!"

"She was the cutest thing you could ever see," enthused Juliette. "And when mom told me about the dire circumstances the baby's mother was in and how she'd offered to mind the baby for her while she worked and had saved enough to pay for a permanent placement for the baby, I thought mom was a saint."

"Mom had spent her lifetime helping others - mostly people referred to her by her pastor," explains Juliette, "but it was the first time she had brought anyone home and got personally involved."

"Mom explained that the baby's mom was in real trouble and didn't need money as much as she needed someone she could trust to look after her baby for a while."

"I didn't press mom for the details but I think it had something to do with child abuse - which is why the girl preferred my mom rather than anyone else to help her. I suppose she just didn't trust anyone in her own family - and that must have been terrible for her."

"From then on, I just couldn't wait to get home from school and play with the baby," laughs Juliette. "She was a gorgeous child and never cried - she just smiled and cooed and made us so happy."

"I first became aware that my mom was in trouble when a neighbor stopped me one day and asked me what on earth my mother was doing minding a black baby."

"I told mom what the neighbor had said to me and mom admitted that even the women at church had scorned her."

"Dad wasn't too happy with the situation, either, but he never stopped mom from doing what she felt was right."

"And then the anonymous hate calls and letters arrived," sighs Juliette.

"Mom didn't flinch," adds Juliette. "All that hate made her more determined to do the right thing."

"We had the baby for about two months and then one day I came home from school and she wasn't there."

"Mom told me that the mother had come early and taken the baby away - saying that she had found a permanent placement in a nursery - and for a while I believed her."

"Afterwards, I wondered why the mother never left her new address with us or made an effort to contact us. It didn't seem in character with her. Surely she would want to let us know how she and the baby were?"

"When I pressed mom for an explanation, she told me that she wondered about the situation herself."

"I don't think mom had lied to me," says Juliette, "but I'm pretty sure that someone had lied to her."

"I never discovered what really happened, but I think someone put pressure on the girl to find someone else to mind her baby, and probably told her not to contact us ever again."

"Why else would she disappear so quickly without saying goodbye or leaving a contact number for us to remain in touch?"

"The cruelty and unfairness of that incident preyed on my mind so much that I vowed that when I grew up I'd do something to help single moms and put a stop to racism," says Juliette, "and I'd like to think that in my welfare work I've done just that."