Speaking Up

I had a conversation today with an older couple and I noticed something a couple times during the conversation that I've been wrestling with ever since.

At a couple of points in the conversation, the couple were talking about other people and I noticed that they were specific to mention if a person was African-American. But didn't say anything about the others (who I assume are white... they didn't describe them as white anyway). Honestly, I did not understand what the fact of the people being black had anything to do with what these people were talking about and the first time it happened I think the description came off a bit derogatory. They told me that they bought their house from "black people" and that it was very dirty when they moved in. Was the house dirty because the people were black and that means they can't clean or just because they were people who didn't clean? Why did they feel the need to share the information that the couple was black?

So here's where my wrestling comes in... should I have said something? It seems that there are some underlying prejudices there and I feel called to speak up against injustice. Yet I think to a certain extent I didn't want to make the observation because I didn't want to offend them (they are prospective members). But was I right in not trying to offend them? Is this something that is worth my energy wrestling with or is it something that I should just let slide? I guess is it really important enough to make the observation to these people or would it just disrupt too much?

But I also have to recognize the age difference as well as the difference in where we grew up. These people are probably in their 70s (they're within two months of their 53rd wedding anniversary) and have lived in Ohio if not all their lives but most of it (where there is much more racial tension I've noticed). I'm only 25 and grew up in New Mexico before moving to LA - so multiculturalism is a huge part of my life (and honestly, as much as I like Ohio, I miss a lot of it out here). So I guess I'm more sensitive to all of that and in some respects it's not surprising to me that I noticed it. I'm sure a huge part of it is due to age also - I've noticed that even the older people I know who have lived in New Mexico for a good portion of their lives are occasionally susceptible to the same sort of comments (although not as frequently I think).

So what do you all think? Was I right to just not say anything at all or was there a better way of handling it? Maybe this is just nothing and I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. I don't know....

Kate