Racism

It's an ugly thing born out of ignorance. I have been on the receiving end of it by some Greeks and Armenians right here in good old America. Do I hate all Armenians or Greeks because there were a few bad apples in the bunch? No. I like who I like because of their character, not because of their ethnic origin. If you are good to me, chances are I will like you. But that does not seem to be the case for some. So I am going to share this story that makes me sick to my stomach and you can tell me your thoughts. A few years back, I was hired to work for an organization where I was to share an office with an Armenian. When we first met, I had no idea that she was Armenian but, as it would turn out, she knew ahead of time the new hire (me) was a Turk. She knew this because she was told my name before I started working there. (I have a very, very Turkish name). Apparently, when she found out that she was going to be sharing an office with a Turk, she became livid, to say the least. She, like the Armenian propaganda machine, immediately got to work in telling everyone that we would be working with that Turks committed a genocide against Armenians. She basically said that we Turks were barbaric, not to be trusted, were vicious, blah, blah, blah. Needless to say, there were some people at the job that did not receive me all that warmly, initially. I was at a loss - and at a disadvantage. It was not until I learned that she was Armenian that it all began to make sense. Some of my co-workers noticed that she was rather cold towards me and when I asked them what her problem was, one person remarked, "well, it might have something to do with your ancestors killing off her ancestors". I quizzically scratched my head and said "what are you talking about?". Another co-worker fessed up and said that when she learned that the new hire was a Turk, she began telling everyone at work about all of the terrible atrocities that were committed by the Turks against Armenians (and by God, she was pissed). It disgusted her that she would have to be around a Turk. Needless to say, I had to do a whole lot of damage control not only to defend Turks, but to defend myself as well. I went into the history - the real history - between Turks and Armenians. It pissed me off that I was put into that position at the workplace. My focus at my new job should have been the work. But because of this racist pig that I worked with, I had to explain crap to my co-workers that had nothing to do with work. And all I really cared about was the work. But nooo... Here's the kicker: She was fresh out of graduate school whereas I was coming into this position with substantial experience. Where she could not win was that I was the better employee and she knew it. She actually started coming to me with questions about work because she didn't know squat about handling some situations that were second nature to me. And yes, I did help her when she asked for it. And, over time. I gained the respect of those whom she desperately tried to turn against me. She eventually came around herself. About one year later we were having lunch in our office and she stunned me when she blurted out, " ya know, I didn't think that I could ever like because you are a Turk". "Just knowing that they hired you (a Turk) made me go crazy". And I can never forget those racist words.