Chapter 12

Warning: This chapter is about racism in contemporary society. As such, some moments may be uncomfortable to read.

Spring, 2017...

In the Crewe Neck mansion she shares with her husband, Tom, Sandi Sloane (nee Griffin) was reading a fashion magazine while her two children played on the floor. The twins were now three years old. The boy, Shane, looked like a genderbent version of his mother while the girl, Alexis (whom everyone called Lexi for short), was a dead ringer for Tom's sister, Elsie. Sandi was elated when she'd first heard she was carrying twins. Tom had not been surprised as twins were a fairly common occurance on his side of the family. His father, Angier, had a twin sister. Tom and Elsie were also twins, so it came as no surprise that he'd impregnated Sandi with twins as well. Actually, he knew that fraternal twins were the result of the mother producing two eggs instead of one (identical twins and triplets are the result of one fertilized egg splitting into two and three fetus's respectively) and the fact that it happened so often in his family was nothing more than an errie coincidence. In any event, Sandi was trying to read the fashion magazine when...

"MOMMY!"

Sandi looked up from her magazine to see that Shane was playing keep away with his twin sister's baby doll.

"Shane, you give that back right now!" Sandi barked.

"NO, I WANT IT!" Shane protested.

Raising a hand, Sandi asked "Do you want it badly enough to get smacked? Because that's what'll happen if you don't give it back now!"

Believing her, Shane immediately handed the doll back to Lexi.

With a self-satisfied grin, Sandi returned to her magazine. In truth, she would've just forcefully taken the doll from Shane if he didn't comply. She didn't believe in corporal punishment but had found making the threat an effective means of ensuring proper behavior. She just hoped she could come up with another method before the kids were old enough to figure out that her threats to smack them are just a bluff.

Reading the magazine, Sandi rolled her eyes.

Like I would ever wear THAT!

Putting the magazine down, she turned on the TV and started channel surfing. She didn't have to do anything for the next few hours as servants did all of the housework. As she looked for something interesting to watch something occurred to her.

Daytime TV's sooo lame. Now I know why housewives in the fifties liked to trip out on Valium.

As she continued to scroll through the limitless selection of channels Sandi's mind wandered. She thought of how Lawndale had changed over the previous decade. Property values had peaked in 2006 only to collapse over the next two years, like in the rest of the country at that time. Unfortunately, Lawndale never fully recovered. The end of the recession after 2009 did not cause things to get better, they just stopped getting worse. This caused Lawndale to experience a slow but sure demographic shift in the years since then. Lawndale was becoming more diverse, which didn't bother Sandi but the other trends did. Newcomers were also less educated and less affluent, which led to further deterioration as more upper middle class people left and more riff-raff moved in. This was especially apparent in Crewe Neck as the neighborhood was now longer gated (the residents were increasingly unable to pay for that luxury).

Sandi stopped surfing as something caught her attention. That something was a morning news broadcast.

"Looting and violence erupted in Baltimore last night. Police attempted to quell the disturbance with tear gas and several looters were arrested. The violence occured in areas that are predominantly African American."

Rolling her eyes, Sandi thought That is NOT how you improve your lot in life, you lazy n #$%&s!

Sandi didn't believe that she was a racist, but seeing how minorities reacted to the election of Donald Trump, who she voted for despite her reservations, made her blood boil. She was not yet willing to acknowledge that marrying into the top one percent had not only re-awakened her old snobbery but also a dormant racism that she wasn't even aware she had.

Why can't they be more like Mack and Jodie? They didn't riot in the streets and accuse us of being racist. In fact, blacks seem to increasingly have it in for whites. THAT'S more racist than anything we've done in the last fifty years.

Sandi truly believed there was nothing racist at all about those thoughts. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Getting up to answer, Sandi had the following thought.

I can't believe we gave Ramon the day off, just because today's his daughter's quincinera.

After this thought, which she didn't think was racist, Sandi had reached the door and opened it.

"Yes" she politely said to the young couple at the door. They were black, wore clothes from Urban Outfitterz, and both had their hair styled in corn rows. The woman had fake nails, way too much makeup and when she spoke her accent was one best described as 'ghetto'.

The woman said "Yo, I'm Tamika Johnson and this is my husband, Jerome. We juz' moved in next doo'."

Jerome said "Wuzzup, shawty?"

While she hid it, Sandi couldn't help being put off by the fact that her newest neighbors were walking black stereotypes.

Meanwhile, at the offices of Grace, Sloane and Paige...

Tom was seated in front of the desk in his father's office suite while Angier was sitting behind the desk. Tom had been spending most of his working hours in the presence of his father in the last few years. This was because Angier, now 64, was preparing to retire and was grooming Tom as his successor. To that end, Tom was finding himself increasingly the public face of the company while Angier took less and less of a hand in things.

"Thomas" said Angier, "You've been watching the news these last few months I take it."

Nodding, Tom said "Yes".

Angier said "Here's the thing, Thomas. Racial tensions here in Baltimore have been rapidly increasing, to the point where I now longer think it's safe for us to maintain our headquarters here in downtown Baltimore. That is why I've decided to close up shop and move the headquarters to our New York office. The added benefit is that the New York office is within walking distance of the stock exchange, which allows everyone more time with their families."

"With all due respect, Dad," said Tom, "I don't agree with your reasons for moving our headquarters to New York."

"I know," said Angier, "You once almost married a Jap because you got her pregnant. The fact is, though, that it'd be easier to run a brokerage firm from New York than from Maryland."

Tom had to admit his father had a point there, even if his father's other motives for making the move made him uncomfortable.

"I see. Dad, I agree with the decision to move to New York, even if I don't necessarily agree with the reasoning."

In truth, Tom did agree with the reasoning but was unwilling to admit it, even to himself.

Angier said "Tom, as you know, merging offices means merging personnel. Naturally, we need to get rid of any staff who'd duplicate tasks. Since you're taking over next year I leave the decision of who stays and who goes up to you."

Tom nodded, though he had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, he hated firing people. On the other, he knew that if they kept everyone then the New York office would be over-staffed.

Tom and Sandi's house, evening...

Tom, Sandi and the kids were eating dinner. As the twins ate the adults had a conversation about their days. Tom was in the process of telling Sandi about his day.

"...so I have to decide who stays and who goes."

"Relax, bae," said Sandi, "I know you'll choose wisely."

Comforted by his wife's words, Tom asked "So, how was your day?"

"Pretty typical. I watched the kids until noon, then we went to the country club because we need to review membership applications. A lot of asians are applying this year. Most of them I'd have no problem admitting, but you know how the board feels about letting minorities in."

Tom nodded, remembering how much arm twisting his parents had to do to get the Landon's admitted to Wing Tree.

Sandi said "I also met our newest neighbors."

"What are they like?" asked Tom.

"they're black" Sandi answered.

"Interesting" Tom replied.

Sandi said "It wouldn't be an issue if they were like Mack MacKenzie or the Landons, but these people are actually transplants from the ghetto. You know what that does to property values. In fact, when I got home from the club I saw Mr. Anderson putting up a For Sale sign in front of his house. I asked him why and he told me that it was bad enought when poor people started moving into the neighborhood, but now that blacks were coming in it was time to get out."

Tom said "That explains the For Sale sign I saw going up in front of Steve Taylor's house on my way home. I guess the flight's in full swing."

Sandi said "That's different. We're gonna leave because your job's moving to New York, not because we've got a more diverse neighborhood."

Neither of them wanted to admit that the growing diversity was exactly why both they and the business were leaving the area.

Carbone house, a few days later...

Sandi and Quinn were chatting in the kitchen while their kids played in the living room. Neither woman was willing to admit it, but things had been somewhat tense between them lately. This was due to the fact that marrying into an old money family had caused a partial return of Sandi's old haughtiness.

"...so it seems Tom and I are moving to New York" Sandi finished.

Quinn thought that's sooo racist. Out loud, she said "That's nice. You and Nicole could catch up...if you wanted."

Sensing the undertone, Sandi asked "What do you mean by that, Kuh-winn?"

"Nothing, Sandi. It's just a statement."

Sandi said "Kuh-winn, I'm still in touch with Nicole, just like you."

"I know that, Sandi," Quinn said in a passively defensive tone, "I didn't mean to imply any different."

Sandi gave Quinn the stare she used to give whenever she was in bitch mode back during their Fashion Club days.

"Quinn, you can't seriously think Tom and I are leaving just because our newest neighbors are black."

Quinn said "Oh, Sandee, I know you aren't a racist and I never meant to imply that you ignore Nicole because she's asian."

Sandi said "Kuh-winn, Tiffany's asian and I didn't have a problem with her."

Quinn said "Sandi, I know you're not prejudiced against asians...or blacks."

Sandi could tell by Quinn's hesitation to mention black people was a subtle way of accusing her of being racist. "Quinn," she said, "I don't judge people by skin color, and I'm highly offended by your insinuation otherwise. I admit that my new neighbors are pretty ghetto, but that doesn't mean I have a problem with them being black."

Teddy, having overheard, rolled his eyes as he tried to ignore the hijinks of his brothers and Sandi's kids. Even at age three, Teddy could pick up on subtleties that could fly over the heads of even an adult. The fact that he didn't want to get involved was what stopped him from calling Sandi out on her passive racism.

Evening...

Quinn, Jim and the triplets were eating dinner in the kitchen. Quinn was explaining her awkward conversation with Sandi.

"...I thought I was being civil and she accused me of calling her a racist. It got so heated that by the time you got back from making that test-drive video she'd already left in a huff."

Teddy, sounding way older than his three years, said "Well, she doesn't wanna acknowledge that she's a racist."

"What's a racemiss?" asked Tommy.

"Racist," Quinn corrected, "It's a person who doesn't like people because they look different."

Tommy accepted this simple explanation and resumed eating.

Jim said "I have to admit, I'm a little surprised that Sandi has a problem with the molignon."

"Jim!" Quinn said in shock.

Not understanding his wife's reaction, Jim asked "What? I'm just surprised that Tom and Sandi have something against black people."

Quinn said "Jim, you didn't say black people, you used a racial slur."

"No I didn't" Jim replied defensively.

"Yes, you did," Quinn retorted, "You said a word that I know is used by Italian-Americans as a slur for black people."

Jim honestly didn't realize that he'd done that.

"Quinn, I said black people. I didn't use a slur."

Quinn decided not to press the issue.

Jim went on to say "You want racist, look at my father. Remember how he reacted to Trump's inaguration. 'Finally, we're rid of that n #$%&' he said. 'Thank god we no longer have a darkey running the country' he said. If I used a racial slur just now it was a minor one used entirely by accident and I didn't mean anything by it."

Teddy thought Actually, it's evidence that you're subconsciously racist, but said nothing.

"Daddy," said Timmy, "What's a n%$ ?"

In a stern tone, Jim said "An ugly word Grandpa Tony likes to say, and I don't ever wanna hear any of you say it again!"

Teddy rolled his eyes at the hypocrisy.

Lawndale High, the next day...

In the gym Brittany, now the cheerleading coach, was waiting for the whole squad to show up for practice. One by one, they assembled. Brittany, despite being pretty dense, couldn't help noticing how the racial makeup of the squad had changed over the years. When she was head cheerleader the entire squad was white. When she came back as a coach that was still the case. Then came a season where the squad included one black girl, which didn't mean anything to Brittany. The following year, two Latin American girls joined the squad. Brittany thought nothing of it. The season after that a few more black girls joined, along with some asians, and Brittany didn't even notice. Now, however, the squad was half black. The other half were a mix of other races. In fact, this year the only white girl on the squad was the head cheerleader, Lauren, a big breasted brunette who reminded Brittany of herself at that age. This made Brittany very uncomfortable.

I'm not racist she silently told herself, If I were racist I wouldn't have a black lover on the side. In truth, she just didn't want to admit that the current racial makeup of both the squad and the student body in general exceeded her tolerance threshold.

Once the squad assembled, Brittany got out a boom box.

"Okay, girls," she said, "We need a new dance routine for the pep rally. Here's the song we're gonna use."

Brittany pressed play on the boom box. The song blasting from the speakers was "Milkshake" by Kelis.

The squad, knowing this song was chosen because half of them are black, all rolled their eyes. Brittany, meanwhile, thought she was being nice by choosing a song on that basis.

"Isn't this great!?"

Lauren said "Mrs. Thompson, you don't have to choose a hip-hop tune just because we have African Americans on the squad."

"Yeah," added one of the black girls, "I'm not sure a song like that is a good fit for a high school pep rally."

The reasoning flew completely over Brittany's head as she said "Less talking, more bumping and grinding."

Everyone rolled their eyes, but did as they were told.

Meanwhile, at Sandi and Tom's house...

Sandi and the kids had just come home from an excursion to the mall. While she held Shane and Lexi's hands the butler, Ramon, was carrying the huge wardrobe of new clothes.

"Mrs. Sloane," said Ramon, "I could use some help with these."

Knowing Ramon doesn't expect her to do it, Sandi called out "CONSUELA!"

At this point the maid, a middle aged Mexican woman with glasses, emerged from the kitchen.

"Consuela," said Sandi, "Be a dear and help Ramon carry the clothes to my closet."

"No, no," said Consuela, "I clean kitchen now."

Sandi said "You can get back to cleaning the kitchen after you help Ramon."

"No, no, I clean kitchen."

"No," said an increasingly irritated Sandi, "You help Ramon put up the clothes I just bought."

"No, no, I clean."

"Do you want me to fire you?" Sandi asked as she rapidly lost her patience.

"No, no, I stay."

"Then help Ramon carry my new clothes!"

"No, no, I clean."

Sandi lost it.

"DAMMIT, CONSUELA! EITHER YOU DO AS I SAY OR I'LL CALL IMMIGRATION, YOU DAMN S #$&!"

"No, no, I legal."

Sandi threw up her hands in frustration.

"UGH!"

With that, she walked away in a huff. Rapidly calming down, something suddenly occured to Sandi.

Ohmygod! I just called Consuela a s&%! and accused her of being an illegal alien!

Quinn and Jim's house, later...

Quinn was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on a tiramisu she'd made while a tripod mounted camcorder recorded everything.

"Annnd...Viola!" she said to the camera, "We now have the perfect tiramisu. Just don't forget to put in an hour at the gym so you won't get fat. However, if you ignore this advice my next video is a tutorial on how to look good at any weight guest starring Melanie from the channel Big But Beautiful. Don't forget to like and subscribe. S'mores 'n' Pores, cooking good and looking good. Bye!"

With that, Quinn shut off the camera. Suddenly, to door bell rang. Quinn went to the front door. It was Sandi.

"Quinn," said Sandi, "We need to talk."

The living room, a short time later...

Quinn and Sandi were sitting on the couch and talking.

"You were right, Quinn," admitted a shamefaced Sandi, "I am a racist."

"I didn't say you were" Quinn replied.

Sandi said "But I know you were thinking it, and you were right. Quinn, today I got so mad at the maid that I called her a sp...something racially insensitive and accused her of being an illegal alien."

"And that reminded you of our conversation the other day" Quinn correctly guessed.

Nodding, Sandi admitted "The truth is that my new neighbors do make me uncomfortable. Even if Tom's job wasn't relocating to New York I'd still consider moving because black people make me uncomfortable if not sufficiently white-washed. I...I just didn't want to admit it."

Quinn reassured her friend.

"Sandi, it's okay." After a brief pause, Quinn elaborated. "Well, actually, it's not, but it doesn't make you a bad person overall. We all have prejudices. Remember high school. We hated anyone who wasn't attractive and popular."

"That's different," said Sandi, "Not liking people because they dress a certain way and don't look like the airbrushed models in magazines isn't the same thing as racism."

"Yes, it is," said Quinn, "We were judging people based on superficial criteria, just like someone who looks down on people of a different skin color. Just like a racist ostracizes minorities we ostracized people who didn't look like us when we were in the Fashion Club. You remember how we got over that?"

Sandi said "You developed a crush on a history geek while I had to suffer being shut out by family because I happen to be sexually attracted to both men and women."

"Yes," said Quinn, "but in the process we both learned not to make snap judgments about people just because they're not exactly like us. You just need to apply that to your interactions with people from other races."

"Quinn," said Sandi, "I can't help feeling uncomfortable around people who are too different."

Quinn said "You can give them a chance despite feeling uncomfortable. Look, I may sound like a total geek right now, but look at the history of racism in this country. One of the reasons things are so tense right now is we wanna pretend racism's a thing of the past. We insist people not harbor prejudice at all, but that's not how the mind works. Positive change isn't even possible if we won't even acknowledge that there's a problem in the first place. What we need to do is learn to ignore our own bias and not judge each other until we know each other. That's easy. I've done it, you've done it. Next time you feel uncomfortable around someone just ask yourself if it's because of how that person is acting or because they don't look like you, and give them a chance despite these misgivings."

Sandi thought it over and quickly realized that Quinn's right. Smiling, she said "Thanks, Quinn."

A few weeks later...

Quinn was in the home office paying some bills when the door bell rang. She went to the front door and answered. It was a black couple her and Jim's age with two little girls, one who appeared to be the same age as her boys and one who appeared a little older.

"Hi," said the man, "I'm Steve Jackson, this is my wife, Tamika, and our daughters, Natika and Naija. We just moved in across the street."

Quinn couldn't help feeling nervous about the skin color and African names of her new neighbors.

To be continued...

Author's notes: This chapter was intended as a brutal social commentary on racism in early 21st century America. As such, I wanted to depict the deeply ingrained mentality that continues to fuel it by showing that even otherwise non-racist whites often harbor racist impulses as a result of social conditioning. While Angier Sloane is overtly racist I felt that in the interests of realism it was best to depict any racism by Tom, Sandi, Jim, Quinn and Brittany as largely subconscious. This chapter was intended to be a critique of race relations in contemporary society and a scathing indictment of the cultural bias that continues to fuel it. I did not include Daria in this chapter for fear that giving her unconscious racist beliefs would have tarnished that character, and I don't think I carry enough pull in the fandom to get away with opening that can of worms.