Family's rules to avoid racism

This article, written by Lawrence Otis Graham, displays the disgusting racism that prevails in our current society. To avoid the suspicion that he faced in his youth for doing nothing wrong whatsoever, Graham spent his life building a solid economic base on which he raised his family while teaching his children to follow certain rules. Graham and his wife instructed their children to go to such extremes as only wearing t-shirts when participating in athletic activities, and even then making sure the name of a respected school was written across it. While these measures are drastic and severe, it is revolting that anyone would ever need to resort to them to avoid being pulled over by the police for being a “black man driving an expensive car,” or being called a derogatory name. The fact that this kind of racism is still prevalent in today’s world is awful, but at the same time, Graham’s methods instill a kind of fear in his children. By making such strict rules, he is telling his children that racism is inevitable and that they should change to avoid it, instead of teaching them to deal with problems. He uses money and status which most people don’t have to cover up a problem with which many people struggle, and while it is understandable that he would go to such lengths because of his experiences growing up with racism, he should be working to solve the problem and not simply avoid it by dressing nicely.