That is one of the best illustrations of the principle of privilege that I've ever seen, unfortunately. Because my name is not perceived as "marked", I have the "privilege" of people taking me seriously on the phone. I get to not realize that that level of blatant racism is still prevalent - that people can and will actually *say* things like that. Out loud! Jesus Haploid Christ on a pogo stick! What rock did these people crawl out from under, and can we drop it on them?

I would have been happier not knowing. But I would have been happy because I was believing a lie. The idea that people have to deal with assholes like this every day makes me ill.

Knowing it's happening is the first step to stopping it. Thank you.