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Racism in Utah through one woman's eyes


2News sat down with a former educator, entertainer and woman of color, Joy Lane. She shares her experiences with racism that she said happen daily. (Photo: KUTV)
2News sat down with a former educator, entertainer and woman of color, Joy Lane. She shares her experiences with racism that she said happen daily. (Photo: KUTV)
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Racism in Utah, people of color experience it every single day.

2News sat down with a former educator, entertainer and woman of color, Joy Lane. She shares her experiences with racism that she said happen daily.

“Racism is in every aspect of what you do, who you are, what you deal with, where you shop, where you eat,” Lane said.

She’s lived in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina but said in Utah it is by far the worst she’s experienced.

“For the first time in my life, in all that experience. I’ve been to Italy, I’ve been to Spain, I’ve served my country and I’ve been called a nigger for the first time in my life since I’ve lived in Utah,” Lane said.

Racism for her, is overt.

“It’s very, very blatant,” she said.

She remembered a time when she had just moved to Utah. She walked to a 7-Eleven to get a soda.

“We got to the front of the counter and the guy said, ‘can I look in your purse?’ And I said, ‘for what?’ He said, ‘because I think you were stealing.’”

Lane walked out the door and left her soda behind. She said this is one small example of the racism she experiences daily. Some of her worst experiences were as a teacher.

“I taught math and science. The majority of my students were Hispanic, Latin American,” Lane said, “They were treated like criminals, period. Not students, not little boys, not little girls. Criminals. No different than when I worked at the prison.”

Lane said it’s one of the reasons she no longer teaches and has decided she’ll home school her young daughter.

Lane said while racism is still prevalent throughout the state, Utahns can actively work to dismantle it.

“Stop brushing it under rug. Admit that it’s real. Put a plan in place to educate people,” Lane said. “Not wanting to educate yourself is your fault. But you cannot go out in the world being blind.”
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