A racist woman, Emmy, mocked a Black mom, Susan, on a plane. Emmy had no idea whatsoever who Susan truly was. The flight was full and had flown for a couple of minutes when Susan noticed that a middle-aged woman sitting next to her was looking rather moody.
“Is anything bothering you, dear?” the Black woman politely asked the young woman. Susan was a kind-hearted woman who always felt deep empathy for people, even strangers, so her question stemmed from genuine feelings of empathy for her co-passenger. If only Susan had known the kind of reaction her question would elicit from the strange woman, then perhaps she would have kept her concerns to herself.
Like a ticking time bomb that was set to explode, the middle-aged woman, Emmy, lashed out at Susan.
“Yes, something is bothering me. When was the last time you washed your clothes? The smell you’re emitting is so pungent that I feel like puking right now.”
Susan was so stunned and embarrassed at Emmy’s response that she instinctively brought the tip of her gown closer to her nose and smelled it. Susan then politely told Emmy in a calm voice that she didn’t think that her clothes smelled bad. Susan even tried to explain to Emmy that she had just brought the gown straight from the laundromat, where it was well-washed and ironed that very morning before she put it on. But Emmy wasn’t convinced at all. She suddenly raised her voice and started shouting at Susan, calling her all sorts of names.
Her raised voice attracted the attention of other passengers sitting close to the two women. Some of the passengers tried to calm Emmy down with soothing words, but she kept on barking at Susan, who remained silent but looked so humiliated she was close to tears. Susan had never experienced such public humiliation in all her life. She never believed that a single question, borne out of genuine kindness, would cause her so much humiliation inside a plane of all places.
Soon enough, a white old man who sat two rows behind the two women came to Susan’s rescue. He was a priest, as he was dressed in a black suit with a priestly collar and was carrying a big Bible. The old man walked up to Susan and offered to swap seats with her just for peace to reign. Susan gleefully accepted the man’s offer at once. She stood up immediately, and they both swapped seats. With Susan gone, Emmy finally stopped shouting, though her face was still red with rage.
If only Emmy had known who the old Black woman she had just mocked truly was.
Emmy was born into a wealthy family. Her rich parents spoiled her silly with money. Emmy was a textbook example of a spoiled brat. She was quick to anger and had a venomous tongue; her words, especially when she was angry, stung like bees. Emmy was also extremely racist to the core; she believed in the white supremacy doctrine. Nevertheless, Emmy was quite beautiful, and most people thought she was kind-hearted. She was superficially charming, to say the least. Emmy even got herself involved in some charitable endeavors, but she was quite selective of the people she helped due to her racist leanings.
After she graduated from college, Emmy got a top job at a big bank with a mouthwatering salary and other perks. Shortly after she began this job, Emmy met Fred at a charity gala. She was immediately drawn to Fred’s intelligence and charisma, and Fred found Emmy’s confidence and beauty alluring. Emmy was Fred’s first love. To him, Emmy appeared so genuine, kind, caring, and selfless. However, it didn’t take long before he began noticing Emmy’s racist behavior.
At one of Fred’s work events, Emmy made a disparaging comment about affirmative action, suggesting that Fred’s colleague, a Black woman, only got her position because of it. Fred was mortified at Emmy’s comments. He tried his very best at smoothing things over between Emmy and his colleague. After the show ended, Fred confronted Emmy about her nasty comments. She simply dismissed it as a joke and a slip of the tongue. Fred reluctantly let the matter go.
However, this particular incident was just the tip of the iceberg of what Fred would soon discover about Emmy’s true character. One fateful evening, Emmy had dinner with Fred and his big family, a diverse group of Blacks and Indians. But the evening took an uncomfortable turn when Emmy criticized the food, calling it “too ethnic.” Her comment shocked Fred and his family, and things only got worse when she made a joke about hoping she wouldn’t get sick from eating the food. Her words left a bad taste in their mouths, and the evening ended in discomfort and tension.
Fred’s mom, Margaret, bluntly warned Fred about Emmy before he left with her after the dinner that evening. According to Margaret, Emmy was just pretending to be nice. Margaret felt that Emmy was too fake and racist. Fred thanked his mom for her advice but assured her that he would change Emmy and make her a better person over time, with patience and love.
“I hope so, for your good,” were Margaret’s last words to Fred. Fred just couldn’t fathom the reason why Emmy, who seemed so kind and selfless, could also be so racist at the same time. It was way beyond his comprehension. However, Fred had fallen head over heels in love with Emmy, so he just found it hard to let go despite all the telltale signs of her racist leanings.
Emmy had also fallen deeply in love with Fred. She simply didn’t want to lose him, so when she sensed that Fred was increasingly having doubts about her due to her racist acts, she suddenly became a saint who could not say a bad word about Black people. Emmy even took it upon herself to sponsor a Black child from a poor family to school. What’s more, she started going to charity programs in Black communities. Emmy made quite sure that Fred knew all about her new charitable acts for Black folks.
Emmy’s manipulations worked wonders on Fred. He became convinced that perhaps Emmy wasn’t as racist as he’d initially thought. Moreover, Fred deeply believed that with time, their deep love for each other could surely overcome whatever flaws Emmy might have. So he set aside all his initial doubts about Emmy and proposed to her after a dinner date one night. Emmy happily accepted the proposal with a sweet, warm smile. Emmy moved in with Fred three days later, and the duo started planning an elaborate wedding in earnest.
But a leopard never changes its spots, they say, so as the wedding day approached, Emmy’s racist leanings started rearing their ugly head again. She insisted on having an all-white staff at the wedding, claiming that it would look more elegant. Fred was utterly horrified at the mere thought of it, but he continued trying to reason with Emmy to change her mind.
Then the last straw that broke the camel’s back between Emmy and Fred happened just two weeks before their wedding. On that fateful day, the duo attended a fundraiser for a charity education program for poor Black kids. During the event, Emmy openly mocked the organization’s efforts, making intentionally loud comments about how those kids would never amount to anything despite the help. She even referred to the predominantly minority attendees as “charity cases” and suggested that the whole program was just a waste of precious time and money.
Fred was utterly disgusted by Emmy’s comments. Worse off, at the end of the program, several attendees approached him and expressed their disappointment and anger over Emmy’s loud remarks. It was at that point that Fred finally realized that Emmy was unforgivingly racist to the core. Acknowledging all his unsuccessful efforts to change Emmy for the better, Fred decided that he could no longer tolerate her behavior. It wasn’t an easy decision for Fred to make, to say the least, but he was simply fed up.
Back home in their apartment that very evening, Fred wasted no time at all in confronting Emmy about her actions at the program. He bluntly told her that her racist views were unacceptable to him in all ramifications and that he could never marry someone who held such deeply prejudiced views. Emmy showed no single sign of remorse after Fred’s words. She even accused him of being overly sensitive and failing to stand by her.
Fred was aghast. “You know what, Emmy? We’re done for good,” he barked at her.
“Fine!” Emmy spat back at Fred before she gave him a taste of her legendary venomous tongue. Emmy first started by reminding Fred that she was way richer than him, just in case he had forgotten. She even pointedly told Fred that he wasn’t even handsome to start with.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing with a poor ape like you all this while,” Emmy screamed at Fred, who stood rooted to a spot, staring at her in dismay with his mouth agape. When she was sure enough that she had her fill at mocking Fred, Emmy picked up her handbag and angrily stormed out of his house, banging the door loudly behind her.
It took Fred several seconds before he could recover from the mere shock of Emmy’s insults. After her departure, in a conspicuous display of her wealth, Emmy sent her chauffeur in her luxurious SUV to retrieve her belongings from Fred’s house early the next morning. That was exactly how Emmy and Fred’s chapter closed forever.
After the breakup, Emmy made considerable efforts to find another suitable replacement for Fred as soon as possible, to spite him. She tried dating several other men, but nothing concrete came out of her efforts. It was the same old story: they all dumped Emmy as fast as hot potatoes as soon as they had a taste of her nasty behavior. As a result of her failure to find another serious suitor, no matter how much she tried, Emmy became lonely and gradually slipped into depression.
With Emmy’s depression came terrible mood swings and more frequent use of her venomous tongue. Emmy was simply a pain to be around. Even Emmy’s relatives, neighbors, and colleagues all seemed to
steer clear of her way. In trouble, Emmy’s mom, Vanita, stumbled upon her hurling insults at a Black female neighbor one Friday evening when she visited her daughter. Vanita was horrified at her daughter’s venomous tongue. She later tried her very best to convince Emmy to work on her anger issues and be nicer to people, but Vanita’s words all seemed to have fallen on Emmy’s deaf ears as she remained the rude and openly racist woman that she was.
Two years after she broke up with Fred, Emmy, in a desperate bid to find another suitor, signed up on a dating site. The decision to try out the dating site option had hit Emmy like an idea from above as she lay tossing on her bed one sleepless night. The dating site was Emmy’s last resort to find a replacement for Fred, whom she heard had married a wealthy and stunningly beautiful lady just three months prior. The news hit Emmy like a missile from which she never fully recovered.
Luckily for Emmy, she met a wealthy white man on the dating site shortly after she signed up on it. His name was Dave, and he was 41. Emmy just couldn’t believe her luck; it was like a dream come true for her. It was love at first sight for Dave and Emmy. Emmy didn’t even believe the relationship was real until Dave flew down to meet up with her in person for the very first time after several weeks of chatting online with her. Dave came prepared with loads of gifts for Emmy, which included the latest trendy designer bags and shoes and expensive gold jewelry, among other things. Emmy was over the moon with happiness; she had finally found the perfect man she wanted. Dave was every woman’s dream. He was so good-looking, neat, funny, caring, and above all, he was wealthy.
Things happened quite fast between Dave and Emmy. He proposed to her less than six months after they met, and Emmy said a big yes. Dave soon invited Emmy to his base to meet his family. He planned to take her to his home, where she would spend the night, and then the following day he would take her to see his family. It was on her way to meet Dave that the racist Emmy mocked the Black woman Susan.
Dave had initially planned to welcome Emmy at the airport, but just a few minutes before she boarded the flight, he called her and informed her of an upcoming impromptu board meeting at the big management firm where he worked as a branch manager. Dave then directed Emmy to wait for him at a renowned luxury hotel in the city, where he would pick her up at the close of the board meeting. Dave further told Emmy to make sure she had as much fun as possible at the hotel, all at his own expense.
Emmy had no problems whatsoever with Dave’s sudden change of plan. She quickly agreed to it and even ended the call by blowing a loud kiss to Dave. Once she alighted from the flight and was through the procedures at the airport, Emmy boarded a taxi that took her to the luxury hotel. At the famous top-notch hotel, Emmy had a wonderful time while waiting for Dave. She first had her favorite meal for lunch, washed down with an expensive grape wine. Emmy then went swimming at the hotel’s beautiful swimming pool. When she was done swimming, Emmy then retired to one of the hotel’s posh rooms for a much-needed rest.
Three hours later, Dave was at the hotel to pick his lover up as planned. Emmy flew into the arms of the moment she sighted him and almost drowned him with warm kisses. The lovebirds were so happy to see each other. Dave then drove Emmy to his posh home. She was wowed by the opulence on display both inside and outside the exquisite mansion. Dave and Emmy had a wonderful night together that day. It was surely Emmy’s happiest night ever since she broke up with Fred.
The following morning, Dave drove Emmy to meet his mom and younger sister at his mom’s house. As fate would have it, as soon as she entered the house, Emmy discovered to her utter horror that Dave’s mom was none other than Susan, the very Black woman she had mocked on the plane the previous day. The two women stared at each other in sheer disbelief.
“But how can your mom be Black?” Emmy stammered at Dave, who stood beside her, in a teary voice.
Dave was surprised at the question, but he still managed to reply to Emmy, “Forgive me for not having told you this earlier, but I was actually adopted. My biological mom abandoned me at birth, and it’s my beloved adoptive mom, Susan, to whom I owe everything that I am today.”
Emmy just couldn’t take it any longer. She felt like she was going to faint if she stayed inside that house one second longer. Being fully aware that Susan would explain everything that happened between them on the plane to Dave, Emmy quickly turned around and ran out of the house. Dave, who was utterly confused and shocked at Emmy’s weird reaction, made an effort to go after her, but Susan, who had remained silent all the while, called her son back. She then told Dave about everything that had happened between her and Emmy on the plane the previous day. After Susan’s story, Dave was horrified that the Emmy he knew could be so harsh on his beloved mother for no reason at all. It was then that it heavily dawned on Dave that Emmy must have been pretending to him all the while that they had been together.
Susan left no stone unturned in convincing Dave that Emmy was not the least suitable for him as a wife. Helen, Dave’s 18-year-old sister, even chipped in some words in total support of her mom’s views. Dave vowed right there to cut off all forms of contact with Emmy, and he stayed true to this.
Back home, Emmy cried her eyes out while regretting why she never listened to her mom’s advice to work on her anger issues and be nicer to people. Emmy decided to give Dave some time to call, but he never did. Two days later, Emmy finally dialed Dave’s line several times, only to discover to her great horror that he had blacklisted her number. He had even blocked her on all social media platforms. Emmy flung her phone and cried while deeply cursing herself for being racist in the first place. She wished she could turn the hands of time, but it was unfortunately too late. Once again, Emmy was back to being single, depressed, and lonely.
