Never Presume You Know What I Believe

I am a little dumbstruck this morning.

I received what I consider to be a deeply offensive political email from a broker who is handling part of my deal. It is the infamous “Who is Barack Obama” email, which has been thoroughly debunked for months.

I replied back to to say that I thought the broker’s system had been compromised because I could not imagine the broker would have sent something so “deeply offensive” to me and my client Mrs. A, the wife of a famous athlete.

Rather than apologize, the broker wrote back: “I wasn’t meaning to offend you, this email was sent to me and I thought it was important.”

Er, what?

In other words, I am not sorry I offended you, I thought you needed to know.

On its face, “I thought it was important” is almost okay. But then there is this: choosing to send it to me, a woman you know has African-American friends and associates, and to Mrs. A, a woman married to an African-American, is at best patronizing, and at worst, incredibly racist.

Is the assumption that because I am comfortable around black people, I would automatically vote for a black man, and therefore, I need to be told, in violation of all business protocol, how truly dangerous this black man is with his MUSLIMness?

Because I do business with this broker, we have never discussed politics. I rarely discuss politics with anyone. My own family is deeply divided politically, and many of us are politically active, so politics, like religion, are not the subject of casual conversations. I would never seek to impose my beliefs on someone else, and I cannot believe this broker thought that I needed to know the offensive lies in this email.

Now, I need a shower.

And perhaps a new broker.