The Violent Black Guy

First let me give some backstory:

On my soccer team, there is one teammate of mine who recently got beat up by his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, and was therefore out of school and out of soccer for a few months. He was beat up pretty badly, and this event was kind of the talk amongst the soccer team for a good amount of time.

One day, I was sitting on the bench of a soccer game and some teammates were talking about the player who had gotten beat up a few months prior. One teammate who wasn't fully aware of the situation asked out loud, "why did that dude decide to beat him up, was he just black or something?" The kid genuinely asked this out loud in front of two black people and I was honestly shocked. He was straight up saying that random and unnecessary violence must be a trait that just lies within black people, and this could be the logical explanation as to why our teammate got beat up.

Usually in these situations when I hear racist things at soccer, because they come so frequently and from people who really do not care, I usually just bite my tongue. I know its not the best thing to do, but its sometimes easier to just ignore it. This time, I could not do that. I said back to him, "what does that even mean?? Black people are just violent?" I guess he was surprised anyone said anything to him because his face went tomato red and he had no idea what to say other then to smile awkwardly and repeat, "oh no its nothing. Oh no its nothing."

I don't know if my saying something changed his thought process or his outlook on black people at all, honestly it probably didn't. But it felt good to stand up for myself, and I will continue to prove him wrong by the way I carry myself. It is okay to ignore, and it is okay to say something. Everyone has a different approach to these situations. You are not a doormat for keeping quiet, and you're not rowdy for speaking your mind. Keep composed in your behavior and prove them wrong in your actions- they speak louder then words. Although your words can also make a difference, whatever you feel comfortable doing is what you should do.