I'm sorry that this happened to you. Your experience is 100% valid. I can assure you the majority of people being so unkind here are white or have deeply internalized racism.
There is plenty of research that shows the negative impact of these racial microagressions. Not only psychological but also for your overall health. Yes, your life could've been in danger. Several (unarmed, innocent) black and Latin people have been killed or assaulted by police while doing regular stuff (going to the store, driving, running, walking home) all because white fear (and no you don't have to be white to act on your white fear).
I'm sorry people are being insensitive and telling you it's insignificant and to get over it. If only they could take a minute to try to image what it would be like to go through life experiencing these type of interactions on a DAILY basis, even multiple times in a day. You can have the thickest skin and highest self esteem, it's still hard to go through life with the society around you making you feel like a second grade citizen.
As for advice: make a formal complaint about this employee. You're welcome to still sign up for Merritt. But my experience going there is that it's extremely white. They have black workers but mostly in cleaning positions while the white workers are in higher management and training positions. It sends a message to the people who workout there. It's expensive (I was paying $120/mo vs $50 at my gym now) so you might as well spend that money in smaller gyms, there are some black owned gyms.
Papirazo t1_ix9gpa7 wrote
Reply to Downtown Merritt Club Incident by MillyLife
I'm sorry that this happened to you. Your experience is 100% valid. I can assure you the majority of people being so unkind here are white or have deeply internalized racism.
There is plenty of research that shows the negative impact of these racial microagressions. Not only psychological but also for your overall health. Yes, your life could've been in danger. Several (unarmed, innocent) black and Latin people have been killed or assaulted by police while doing regular stuff (going to the store, driving, running, walking home) all because white fear (and no you don't have to be white to act on your white fear).
I'm sorry people are being insensitive and telling you it's insignificant and to get over it. If only they could take a minute to try to image what it would be like to go through life experiencing these type of interactions on a DAILY basis, even multiple times in a day. You can have the thickest skin and highest self esteem, it's still hard to go through life with the society around you making you feel like a second grade citizen.
As for advice: make a formal complaint about this employee. You're welcome to still sign up for Merritt. But my experience going there is that it's extremely white. They have black workers but mostly in cleaning positions while the white workers are in higher management and training positions. It sends a message to the people who workout there. It's expensive (I was paying $120/mo vs $50 at my gym now) so you might as well spend that money in smaller gyms, there are some black owned gyms.
Hang in there!
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.04.018