“Hello, Stranger”
What is so dispiriting about all this is that culturally we have not progressed beyond sentimentality – the default societally-induced emotional response – between strangers of different races. That sentimentality expresses itself in a variety of different ways: arrogance, fear, hatred, curiosity and pity. More frustrating, smiles are exactly what we would seek in a perfect world as strangers greet one another. But to be the recipient of a smile usually reserved for babies, at best, or for puppies and kittens at worst, challenges the potential for women to meet on grounds of equality and humanity.