Standing up against Racism

Hey everyone,
So for today’s blog I want to talk about the Grace Elizabeth Hale reading we had for today, Making Whiteness. The part in particular I want to talk about is the scene in the car when a colored women and her son are forced to sit with convicts, chained to one another, and with vile odors. More than once the author says “It stank insufferably”. This scene really struck me and had me thinking about silent racism. It was later discussed in the reading that the mother and her son were “distinctly refused admission elsewhere (and thus forced to travel in that filthy car), because they were of African blood”. Why did no one stand up and say anything on behalf of the mother and her son?? Would I have? Last Friday in class we were asked to describe a scenario with silent racism. Meggie and I were partner and discussed silent racism in the work environment. Here was our scenario:
A job position is being filled at work and the selection process has narrowed down the applicants to only two people: a white male and a black male. Both applicants remaining are equivalent in intellect and interpersonal skills. The boss then says: “Let’s go with the white guy. Our business involves a lot of interacting, business negotiations and conference meetings and I think it would “look better” if the white guy were representing us.
This is evidently a case of silent racism and one in which it might be “uncomfortable to speak your opinion but you would be reprimanding a superior: your boss. The reading we did for today made me think of this scenario because I fell as though many injustices were committed, such as publicly setting apart colored people, in which no one voiced their opinion due to a fear of reprimanding a superior or standing up against the law. What would you do if you were in the conference meeting discussing with the executive board who should be hired?? Would you stand up to your boss??? Would I??? Would you stand up for the mother and her son?? Would I?? Who’s responsibility is it to do so??