‘I was walking into the grocery store when a kid asked, ‘Are you a looter? Do you like looting?’ Inside, I was boiling.’: Man turns racist incident into teaching moment for local kids

“I was walking into the local grocery store when one of these kids looked at me and straight up asked, ‘Are you a looter?’ He proceeded to ask me if I like looting. I politely said, ‘No, looting isn’t cool,’ and walked inside.

Inside, I was absolutely boiling, but before the door closed, I heard his friends yelling at him, asking him why he would say that. It made me feel a little better.

I finished my business in the store and went to hop over to another store. They were still outside, but the one who asked me the ridiculous question wasn’t there and his friends apologized.

I said it wasn’t their fault and continued on my way. As I was walking away I heard one of them say, ‘Man, the ice cream melted!’

I could’ve kept walking, but I thought about it for a second. I decided this could be a moment of learning for them, so I turned around, walked back into the store, and bought them a pack of popsicles.

I walked back out and all of them were back. The one who tried to offend me was there, and he said he was sorry.

I said, ‘Hey, look I get it that you guys were trying to be funny and cool, but in this moment in time, as you guys are growing to be young men, you really need to realize the massive changes this world is going through. And you’re lucky I was the guy you tried to offend rather than someone else who wouldn’t take that type of offense so lightheartedly.’

I continued, ‘But here’s some popsicles, I know it’s hot out. Before you take these, I want you to remember the next time you think you’re funny for poking fun of someone’s race, you remember me. I hope I showed you today that everyone is the same, regardless of color.’

I have no ill will in sharing this story. I’ve never met these boys before and I have no clue what kind of background they come from. For all I know, their parents could have just been marching in a BLM protest.

I do not blame the children for their actions. In fact, what breaks my heart more than anything is that these behaviors are taught. Ignorance begets ignorance. Right now, this is a huge time for literally the ENTIRE WORLD to start recognizing and changing how they view others.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Alex Wetzel. You can follow their journey on Facebook. Do you have a similar experience? We’d like to hear your important journey. Submit your own story here. Be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.

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