Why I hope I never end up needing to wash my clothes in Richmond, Indiana

[ellid]

No, this is not a relic from the 1930s. You have no idea how much I wish it was.

"Chinese" laundromat in Richmond, Indiana.

The owners probably think this is hilarious....

Comments

[nicolaa5.livejournal.com]

I have relatives in Richmond. The cousin I'm in contact with is pretty danged right wing; she wrote in a FB update during the election campaign that Obama was a good speaker, but then again, so was Hitler. Must be something in the water there that makes people act like it's the 50s.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

And yet Richmond is home to Earlham College, a very (IIRC) liberal nominally-Quaker-affiliated school, so the entire town isn't in a 50s timewarp--parts of it are probably stuck in the 60s :-)

[shalandara.livejournal.com]

My ex-uncle lived in Richmond, Indiana ..... I can full well believe this based on some of his attitudes, as well as some of his children's. Luckily, not all of my cousins took after him, so the influence of my aunt and our family did some good.

[leni-jess.livejournal.com]

It's a worrying article, yes, even more for local acceptance than for the elderly white owner's prejudices (whatever they may be).

I don't think he'd be laughing, though. The article also made clear that whatever he thought or whatever anyone else said, he'd need creative help to change things, if the business is only borderline viable. "Point and laugh scowl" has limited utility in changing things. Does he even know the article was written? He's himself elderly and living in a time-warp to boot; maybe he honestly thinks it's just mildly amusing, away to single his laundromat out from others. What education has he had in perceiving racism?

We can't know, and probably never will.

Not saying the signs wouldn't worry me. If I was there, and had a car, I'd try to find another laundromat (Lord knows I've washed clothes at some horrors, faute de mieux). If I didn't have a car, I don't know whether I'd be morally upstanding enough to draw his attention to how offensive most would find his signage etc. That's something we only find out about ourselves on the spot.